By John Reilly

As well as Marketing and Analytics people, I’ve recruited Business Development folk for a long time and a lot of sales talent is still passed over by hiring managers after just an initial view of their CV yet with sales people in particular, there is a need to look deeper.

When I launched Reilly People after a sales career, salespeople I’d worked with often sent me their CVs in the hope I’d help them find a better job. I noticed that the very effective ones, the salespeople I knew to be genuine talent and really good at their job often had worse looking CVs than those who talked the talk better than walked the walk.

 CVs are an imperfect means of candidate appraisal and that is never more the case than with salespeople who for some reason, I think mainly cultural, are often much better at selling their services than selling themselves. I speak here particularly about UK candidates because in this country many of us have been told since young not to ‘blow our own trumpet’ so salespeople, often highly adept at pitching out and singing the praises of their employer, suddenly come over ‘ever so 'umble’ when asked to pitch themselves. Since a CV is essentially a pitch document, this means they can fall at the first hurdle, which is not only a problem for them but also the hiring manager, who has missed out on a quality candidate.

The problem at the heart is dull responsibility-led CVs instead of much more informative achievement-led CVs. Managers love metrics and not unreasonably want a numeric picture of what salespeople achieved in their last role but often lose out on talent because this information is missing from a CV.

 A thorough interview with a salesperson is vital, drilling down into their targets; their working methods and their KPIs. I’ve often uncovered gems because I looked further than the CV; salespeople whose marketing of themselves stood in stark contrast to their sales achievements.

Salespeople aren’t marketers. Don’t judge them solely by their CV marketing. Time is always valuable and it’s tempting to dismiss applicants after a cursory fifteen second CV glance but taking the occasional chance and interviewing a few more people than you planned can reap rewards.

Good salespeople have always been hard to find. Don’t make it harder by not looking beyond a CV.

 About Us

Reilly People is a professional Search and Select recruitment firm specialising in Media, Marketing & Events - established in 1993.

We recruit up to board level in: Marketing; Sales and Business Development; Marketing Analytics; Conference and Event Production and Management. In more than three decades in business, using our industry knowledge and management experience we’ve placed candidates throughout the UK and all over the world, including EMEA; USA and Asia Pacific. 

About John Reilly

From a media sales career in London with Capital Radio; LBC; and latterly Kiss FM as Head of Sales, I established Reilly People in 1993 to offer the recruitment service I wish I’d received as an employer: a mature approach from an experienced manager to help Businesses hire talent without diverting time trawling through scores of CVs and interviewing a dozen hopefuls.

I’ve always utilised the latest tools from a rolodex to AI, which has included building, over decades, a large, targeted LinkedIn network. Yet the principles remain the same: clearly understand what you, the employer wants, and sometimes use my experience to help you define that; then deliver it with as little fuss as possible.

I focus on Marketing; Sales and Analytics roles with a variety of commercial companies, including Media and Events businesses.

“I have been working with John for many years and I have been so impressed by his ability to understand perfectly the type of profiles I am looking for. Today I have got two sales stars in my team and both have been headhunted by John. He is an expert when it comes to find the needed skills for your vacancy but also to get the perfect match for our company’s culture.

I highly recommend any media or events companies to work with John!” 

                                                          Adrien Collilieux, Group Event Director – CloserStill Media 

At Reilly People we’ve been helping businesses find Marketing and Sales talent and job seekers find their ideal roles for over 30 years. If you want to find out how we can help, call me on 0203 691 0040 or email here.