Five CV-friendly skills you can gain through a job in telesales

As a salesperson you might be used to getting rejections – but that’s not a skill you want to transfer to your job-hunt. Instead, use your CV to highlight the positive experiences you’ve had and sell yourself and your skills to recruiters.

CV-friendly phrases

Organisations often want to employ people who are determined and who can handle difficult situations. Your experiences as a salesperson – some of which are outlined below – are likely to stand you in good stead here.

• Negotiation skills are a huge part of a salesperson’s job. They’ll also be vital in a graduate job if you’re working with people whom you have to influence.
• Experience of working to deadlines, particularly if you’ve met sales targets.
• Communication skills including explaining your products clearly to clients and listening to their responses.
• Understanding customers’ needs is a key skill both in sales and in any business environment where relationships with customers are important.
• Working on your own and using your initiative in sticky situations.

Make the experience your own

Don’t just take our word for it – use your own words to sum up your own experiences on your CV or application form. Employers will be looking for examples of times when you have demonstrated the skills they seek. You should include this information both within your CV and covering letter, or within the ‘additional information’ section of an application. If there’s space, use the STAR (situation, task, action, response) technique to explain how you contributed to your sales team.