Pack Your Resume With The Right Keywords to Get That Medical Sales Job
If you want your resume to actually be a marketing document for you, and get a recruiter’s or a hiring manager’s attention, you must pack that resume with the keywords that are relevant to the career area you want. Recruiters, hiring managers, and Human Resource departments use computer searches and applicant tracking systems to flag resumes worth looking at, and that means they use keywords to search for the ones they’ll be interested in looking at further.
But what if you’re new to the area and don’t have much experience? Well, then you have to be a little more creative in your mission. That does NOT mean you should lie on your resume. That’s always a bad idea, and you’re sure to be found out eventually. What I mean is that you should highlight what is relevant to the potential employer.
So, for example, if you want a job in medical sales, medical device sales, laboratory sales, biotechnology sales, or other health care sales area, here’s a few ideas for you:
- If you’re in real estate, but you sold to a group of doctors, you might want to list them as one of the accounts you sold to.
- If you sold copiers, maybe you sold to clinics, day surgery offices, etc. Not only does it help with the keyword count in your resume, it lets us know that at least you’ve been in the environment.
- By all means, go ahead and join professional organizations. So for a laboratory sales rep job, you could join AACC (American Association of Clinical Chemistry), CLMA (Clinical Lab Manager’s Association), or various other organizations where you’d find people in that profession. Then you can put them on your resume, and elaborate on your association with them, which gives you more keywords for your resume.
- Carefully read job descriptions and ads to see what keywords they use; then see which ones you could legitimately incorporate into your resume.
- Don’t forget keywords for sales skills.
Need some more resume help? Research resume writing skills using keywords online, or check out the Extreme Sales Resume Makeover Kit available from Career Confidential.
Resume Objective Statements: Tell the Hiring Manager Why He Should Read the Rest of Your Resume
Don’t be fooled by people who tell you that resume objective statements are optional, or that you shouldn’t have one at all. Their reasoning is usually that objective statements fence you in and limit your job-seeking focus.
I’m here to tell you that you need an objective statement on your resume. Why?
- An objective statement tells me why I should keep reading the rest of your resume.
It’s advertising, basically. It’s the teaser that will draw me in to reading the rest of your resume. (The cover letter won’t do it. Recruiters don’t generally have the time to read a cover letter–we go straight to the resume. So, make sure the first few lines of your resume make me want to read more.) Read about how to craft a compelling objective statement. At it’s core, it’s about creating a statement that fits your capabilities to fulfilling the needs of the organization. What are a few of your key qualities that will make you a good fit for this job? Be careful that you don’t make this too generic (boring).
- An objective statement makes it easier for me to figure out who you are and what you want.
Don’t be vague: Think of your resume objective as a Personal Branding Statement (thanks, Phil Rosenburg of reCareered). It’s not only saying what you want, but it’s also indicating what problems you can solve and how you can bring value to the organization. In that way, it’s tailored to the job you’re applying for. Jessica Holbrook’s article on Career Rocketeer agrees: Don’t start off by telling the hiring manager what you want, tell the hiring manager what you can do for the company.
Don’t worry: a well-crafted, tailored objective statement won’t stop you from being considered for other jobs. For instance, as a medical sales recruiter, I’m always looking for the best candidate to submit to my clients for consideration for jobs in medical sales, laboratory sales, medical device sales, health care IT, and more. If your objective statement has led me to read the rest of your resume to see what you can do (and what you have done), I’m going to think about you for any job you might be a good fit for because that’s what’s in the best interests of me and my client companies.
Peggy’s video about your Resume for Medical Sales
I actually go through my 12 inch stack of resumes that did not make the cut (maybe these tips will help you)….check it out:
I can look at your resume for you, coach you on how to get an interview, and coach you on how to ace the interview.
Good Luck.
Peggy
Sales Resume Tips: You must have numbers (#s) on your resume.
When a sales rep has a resume with very few #s on it, I wonder….do they not understand that their job is to ring the cash register? and that is all I am concerned about? or did they stink? or do they not care that their “brochure” doesn’t really sell them? or do they not really want a sales job?
What type of numbers?
Revenue generated -$$ and %
Growth
Competitor Kills
Customer increases?
Units
Over plan or budget or higher than others?
# of demonstrations or customer VIPs (onsite visits?)
What are your thoughts?
Keywords in your Medical Sales Resume
Peggy talks about how to get quality keywords in your medical sales resume (even if you don’t have specific experience). This is a creative approach, that you will need if you are trying to make a transition in your career. Human Resources and Recruiters will not keep your resume or pull it up in their applicant tracking system unless it has the medical sales keywords that are important to them. For example: a laboratory organization would look for resumes like this: “sales and laboratory”. If you have sales in your resume, great! If you don’t have laboratory on your resume you are out of luck. 
7 tips for a great resume
If you are looking for a position in medical sales, healthcare sales, medical device sales, imaging sales, pathology sales, cellular products sales, molecular products sales, biotechnology products sales, clinical diagnostics sales, laboratory sales, or pharmaceutical sales, here are seven tips to help you write the very best resume you can so that you can have the most impact:
1. Use bullets points, not paragraphs. No one reads the paragraphs. (Do you?) Whether it is to be read by Human Resources or a hiring manager or third party recruiters, your resume needs to have bullet points.
2. Have an objective, not a cover letter. You must have the objective clearly stated on your resume. Typically, hiring managers and recruiters do not upload the cover letter, only the resume.
3. Your resume should be no more than 2 pages unless you have publications or you are Superman….and I have not placed Superman.
4. Quantitative numbers on every job must relate to the bottom line. Determine your impact on the company’s bottom line and indicate that on your resume with numbers. This is easy for sales people with territories, budgets and revenue goals but it is not so easy for people who are not in a sales role.
5. Spell check. It is important to spell check your resume before sending it anywhere.
6. Don’t leave off the dates, please. It is a big red flag to not put dates on your resume.
7. Learn to use keywords-I can not search for your resume without them. Applicant Tracking Systems search by industry-specific keywords so it is important for your resume to have them. This is the same tracking systems used by corporate recruiters.
Part II – Pimp Your Resume!
Welcome to my 4-part “Pimp Your Career” series.
The previous post showed you how to pimp your personal brand. This post is focused on giving your resume the look that will get you the opportunities you deserve!
Many, many people do not know how to write a resume. It’s not just a list of jobs you’ve had, or skills you have. It’s a marketing document. You are marketing yourself. There’s a lot of competition in medical/healthcare sales, and your resume is the first place you can distinguish yourself from other candidates. (Too bad you can’t attach your winning personality to it, although you can at www.interview-on-demand.com/) So, you need to think about what kinds of ways you can jazz it up so that you appear professional, polished, and on top of your game.
Phil Rosenberg has a fantastic article showing you how to keep your resume out of Resume Hell, where “poor, sad resumes go that never see the light of day.” Some of his advice:
- Be a subject matter expert, in whatever your field is.
- Be awsome: show what you’ve accomplished, not what you were “responsible for.”
- Be customized. Heavily customize your resume for each job.
Phil offers some great advice to keep your resume from being ordinary. It’s very worth the read.
Penelope Trunk adds to that by showing you how to edit your resume like a professional resume writer. She says don’t focus on your responsibilities, focus on what you’ve achieved. Remember that it’s a marketing document, and don’t give everything away….give them a reason to call and find out more.
Don’t forget to take advantage of keyword optimization in your resume. Know the buzzwords and what’s going on in pathology sales, imaging sales, clinical diagnostics sales, research sales, or whatever your specialty is, and take a hint from the job description. Include those words and phrases in prominent places on your resume. Job descriptions tell you what they’re looking for…it’s your job to let them know you have it.
Key Pointers (briefly):
1. Shorter is better (1 page if you have less experience, 2 pages at the most)
2. Be sure to tell what the product of your employers is/was. You may be very aware of these companies and what they do, but recruiters and other hiring managers may not.
3. If you are in sales or sales management – you need numbers (revenue, growth, expenses, knockout accounts, etc.) I have had a couple of candidates who used a colored graph that worked well.
4. Objectives are important. I bet candidates would be astounded if they knew how unclear it is to a recruiter what position they are after. And you can’t put it in the cover letter (we don’t read them).
5. Leave out the “references upon request” line….we know.
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