General sales manager resume examples from 2025

A well-written resume summary is basically an elevator pitch. You are summing up your skills and experience in a few sentences to wow recruiters, hiring managers, and decision makers into giving you an interview. Here are some tips to putting your best foot first with your resume summary:

Step 1: Start with your current job title, or the one you aspire to. Are you a passionate manager? A skilled analyst? It's a good starting point.

Step 2: Next put your years of experience in general sales manager-related roles.

Step 3: Now is the time to put your biggest accomplishment or something you are professionally proud of.

Step 4: Read over what you have written. It should be 2-4 sentences. Your goal is to summarize your experience, not recite your resume.

These tips will help you demonstrate why you are the perfect fit for the general sales manager position.

Many resumes are filtered out by hiring software before a human eye ever sees them. A robust Skills section can let recruiters (and bots) know you have the skills to do the job. Here is how to make the most of your skills section:

1. Start with the job listing. Frequently, the keywords looked for by recruiters will be listed. Be careful to include all skills in the job listing you have experience with.
2. Consider all the software and tools you use on a daily basis. When in doubt, list them!
3. Make sure you use accurate and up to date terms for all the skills listed.

These five steps should give you a strong elevator pitch and land you some general sales manager interviews.

Your employment history is arguably one of the most important parts of your resume. It shows you have experience and foundation in your field to successfully master the general sales manager position. Here is how to most effectively structure your work experience:

1. List your most recent experience first, followed by earlier roles in reverse chronological order. Employers care about your most recent experience the most.
2. Start with your job title, company name, city, and state on the left. Align dates in month and year format on the right-hand side.
3. Include only recent, relevant jobs.

Your resume is your chance to show your biggest accomplishments. Don't just list your job responsibilities, instead take the opportunity to show why you're really good at what you do. Here is how you do that:

• Start with strong action verbs like managed, spearheaded, created, etc. Your goal is to show what you did and verbs will help demonstrate your contributions.
• Use numbers to quantify your achievements. Did you save time with a new report? Increase revenue? How large was the team you managed?
• Keep it concise. You're highlighting your achievements. Consider if all details you are sharing are relevant, or can be written more efficiently.

Here are effective examples from general sales manager resumes:

Here is the best way to format your education section:

• Display your highest degree first.
• If you graduated over 5 years ago, put this section at the bottom of your resume. If you lack relevant work experience, the education section should go to the top.
• If you have a bachelor's or master's degree, do not list your high school education.
• If your graduation year is more than 15-20 years ago, it's better not to include dates in this section.

Here are some examples of good education entries from general sales manager resumes:

If you have any additional certifications, add them to the certification section.

To list, use the full name of the certification and the organization that issued it, along with the date of achievement.

Here are some of the best certifications to have on general sales manager resumes:

1. Certified Sales Professional (CSP)
2. Sales Management
3. Automotive Sales Professional
4. Certified Manager Certification (CM)
5. International Accredited Business Accountant (IABA)
6. Associate in Insurance Accounting and Finance (AIAF)
7. Certified Management Accountant (CMA)
8. Certified Professional, Life and Health Insurance Program (CPLHI)
9. General Motors Parts Consultant
10. Certified Aviation Manager (CAM)