The sales CV that survives a hiring manager's questions
Quota attainment, average deal size, cycle length, ramp, territory. The four numbers that decide the call, written for one specific job ad.
In sales, every claim on the page gets checked
Sales managers read your CV the way they read a forecast. They already know what strong attainment looks like in their market, and they can tell when a good year is being stretched to cover four. So give them the number, the quota it was measured against, and the period it covers. A claim carrying all three holds up in the interview. A claim missing them gets quietly discounted.
"Exceeded targets consistently" is the line recruiters skip. No quota, no timeframe, no unit. "Built strong relationships" and "grew the territory" fail the same test. Each one has a measurable version waiting underneath it: 118% of a $1.4M annual quota, 41 new logos in a greenfield patch, a median cycle of 92 days. Write that version instead, then let the interview fill in the story.
Context is what separates a good number from a believable one. An 85K average deal in a two-month cycle is a different job from an 85K deal in nine months with a six-person buying group. Name the segment, the motion, the ramp you were given and whether the book was inherited. The HRLens CV builder turns those details into bullets aimed at one job ad, so the top third of page one answers the question the manager is actually screening for.
Three lines that carry the whole CV
The attainment line
Percentage, quota value, period. All three together, for every year you want counted.
Deal shape
Average deal value, largest deal, win rate and median cycle. This is how managers price your experience.
Ramp and territory
Time to full quota, greenfield or inherited book, segment and region. Context that makes the numbers land.
What the builder does with your history
Aims one version at one job ad
Paste the posting. Your bullets reorder around the segment, motion and quota band that ad describes.
Flags the phrases recruiters discount
Every unmeasured claim gets marked, with a prompt for the number that should replace it.
Keeps your numbers readable to software
Achievements stay in plain bullet text, not charts or sidebars that parsing tends to drop.
Opens the cover letter with your best year
The attainment line leads, then the reason you want this territory. No warm-up paragraph.
Before and after
The same career, written two ways
| Claim | Version recruiters discount | Version they can verify |
|---|---|---|
| Quota attainment | Consistently exceeded targets | 118% of a $1.4M annual quota, three years running |
| Deal size | Closed large enterprise deals | Average deal $85K, largest single contract $310K |
| Sales cycle | Managed complex sales cycles | Median 92 days across a six-person buying group |
| Ramp | Quick to get up to speed | Full quota in month four against a six-month ramp |
| Territory | Grew my territory significantly | Greenfield patch, 41 new logos, no inherited book |
| Pipeline | Built a healthy pipeline | 3.4x coverage held all year, $2.1M self-sourced |
Put your best quarter where the manager looks first
Bring your numbers and the job ad. You get a sales CV built around both, in a format an employer's system can actually read.
Questions sales candidates ask us
How do I write quota attainment on a CV?
Give three things in one line: the attainment percentage, the quota it was measured against, and the period. "Achieved 118% of a $1.4M annual quota, FY2024" tells a manager more than any adjective can. Never write a percentage on its own, because a big number against an unknown target reads as padding.
What do I put if I missed quota?
Show the evidence around the miss. Rank against the team, pipeline you self-sourced, renewal or expansion figures, or a mid-year territory change that explains the gap. Every sales manager has missed a year. Most of them trust an honest 84% with context far more than four flawless years reported with no detail at all.
Which numbers matter for an SDR versus an account executive?
SDRs lead with meetings booked, accepted opportunities, conversion rate from outreach, and pipeline value sourced. Account executives lead with attainment, average deal value, win rate and cycle length. Sales leaders add team attainment, headcount managed and forecast accuracy. Pick the four metrics your target role is actually compensated on and cut the rest.
Do sales CVs have trouble with ATS screening?
The rules are the same, but sales CVs break parsing more often because candidates put their best numbers in charts, tables and sidebar graphics. Keep achievements in plain bullet text, use the wording from the ad for segment and methodology, and run the file through a free analysis before you send it anywhere.
Should I name the products and markets I sold into?
Yes, in one short line per role. Selling a $30K security platform to IT directors is a different job from selling $400K logistics software to procurement committees, and managers screen for that fit before they screen for attainment. Name the product category, the buyer you sold to, and the region or segment you covered.