Account Executive Resume: The Best Template to Highlight your Skills

Account executives find jobs, typically, with companies like advertising agencies, and their job is to sell advertising opportunities to businesses in need of such services. They work with various clients such as retailers, service providers, and restauranteurs. If you're looking for a career in this field, you will need to prepare a good resume to impress potential employers. We recommend you review several account executive resume samples so you can choose the right template to highlight your skills.

Account executives are not just salespeople. They often facilitate business deals from start to finish, which may include advertising campaign creation and planning, researching the client's products or services, and helping clients choose the best options for their needs. In addition, most account executives fill out paperwork, execute agreements, and perform other administrative tasks to complete sales contracts.

While this may sound like a lot of responsibilities, account executives who produce results will probably earn a high salary when compared to other types of employment.

Account Executive Skills & Qualifications

This job requires both sales abilities and administrative skills, so those desiring a career in advertising sales should have strengths in both areas. Although higher education isn't always necessary, your chances of getting hired are greater if you have a college degree. Bachelor's degrees are usually adequate, but larger companies may require a master's degree.

Sales Abilities

Foremost, account executives are sales professionals. They should have good people skills and know how to work with different personalities. They must be relatable to earn the trust of potential clients and to work through sales objections and obstacles. Relationship-building skills are important to most advertising agencies because building trust is a key to success in this career area. If you have relevant sales experience from past jobs, you'll want to make sure your account executive resume highlights that experience.

Administrative Skills

While your ability to sell is the cornerstone to success in this industry, administrative skills are almost as important. Why? Because you will need to fill out contracts accurately before signing them to execute advertising agreements. That means administrative skills are a vital component to your success as an account executive, and your resume should reflect skills such as:

Qualifications

You should also include the following qualifications in your account executive resume:

Resume & Interview Tips

Your ability to get hired starts with a well-organized, well-written resume, which will probably lead to the landing of one or more interviews. It's best to work on your resume layout and to hone your interview skills, as both are important to getting hired as an account executive.

Chronological Resume

The most popular format for a resuming showing off account executive skills is the chronological resume. This resume type presents your work history in reverse chronological order. That means going from your newest experience to your oldest. If you have relevant sales experience in account management, we recommend this format so you can prove you've learned how to perform the job from previous experience.

Functional Resume

The functional resume is a good choice for those who have the right skills and qualifications without drawing attention to lapses in job history or irrelevant work experience. It focuses on education, skills, and personal traits needed to be a successful account executive.

Combined Resume

As the title suggests, the combined account executive resume is a well-balanced blend of chronological and functional styles. This is the ideal format for those with no account executive experience, who have proven experience in sales or management. Candidates using a combined resume should also list/highlight any relevant education, skills, and qualifications.

Targeted Resume

A targeted resume, as the name implies, is one you customize to show your qualifications for a specific position. A targeted account executive resume will list only relevant work experience and bring attention to any related education, qualifications, and skills you have. For this resume, you must research the company and the job description so you can tailor your resume to show you have what the company is looking for.

Interview Tips

A great resume won't help you interview for your dream job. To prepare for an interview, research the company, its vision, and goals so you can intelligently speak about how you can help the organization. In addition, you'll want to know your resume inside and out, as it relates the position you're applying for, so you can answer questions about your work history and qualifications.

Account Executive Resume Samples

Your account executive should highlight your sales abilities, administrative skills, relevant experience, and education. You should review multiple options to highlight your best skills while drawing attention away from skill sets that aren't your strongest.

Entry-Level Account Executive Resume Sample

If you're a new college graduate or haven't worked in sales or account management, prepare a functional resume to highlight your education and skills, and reduce the focus on work history.

• Career Objective
• Education
• Work Experience
• Skills and Qualifications
• References (Today, recruiters say don't include on a resume, but send when asked to provide)

The Career Objective should focus on your personality traits and education. For example: Customer-focused, driven individual seeking opportunities in account management. Looking for a rewarding career in sales to match my sales-driven nature and education in business.

If you have limited sales experience, be sure to draw attention to parts of any previous job, internship, or project that relates to the position you're applying for. You should also mention any relevant computer skills, personality traits, and accomplishments in your resume. Previous professors and supervisors are the best kind of references, and when asked for references by a potential employer, you will need their contact information.

Seasoned Account Executive Resume Sample

If you already have experience, your account executive resume should be chronological so you can show hiring managers you have the experience to be successful in the position.

• Summary
• Work Experience
• Skills and Qualifications
• Education
• References

Your summary should state your title and give the hiring manager quick insight into your job functions and experience. For example: Senior Account Executive with 5+ years of experience building trust and relationships with clients, exceeding sales goal, and leading the entry level team to success. 

List work experience in chronological order, starting with your most recent job and ending with oldest job you've had. Many account executive resumes only list 3 to 5 jobs in this section even if they've had over 5 jobs. If you have a long work history, replace "Work Experience" with "Relevant Work Experience" and list your current job along with previous jobs related to the position you're applying for.

Prepare a separate sheet of professional references that includes coworkers, supervisors, and previous clients. Be sure to speak to references so they are ready in case you're asked to provide references, and in case they're contacted.

Relevant Sales Experience Resume Sample

If you have sales or account management experience but have never been an account executive, your resume should zero in on sales skills and any qualifications that help you become a successful account executive. Chronological, combined, or targeted resume are all good options in this scenario.

• Career Objective
• Work Experience
• Skills and Qualifications
• Education
• References

Your Career Objective should highlight your sales abilities and accomplishments. Mention any skills and work experience relating to the account executive role. For example: Seasoned sales professional with 10+ years of B2B sales success seeking an opportunity to use my skills in account management, relationship selling, and team leadership. 

List your work experiences starting with the most recent job. Use bullet points under each position and focus on job functions that could easily translate to an account executive position. Mention sales success and account load, along with a demonstration of administrative skills/responsibilities.

References should include previous supervisors if possible, or any professional who can speak to your worth ethic and skill as a sales professional. Previous clients also make great references because they can speak to your relationship selling skills and your willingness to work hard, which is relevant in any account executive job.

Conclusion

Whether you're just entering the career field, have specific work experience, or are looking to transition into a new role, your resume is an important first step. Therefore, we recommend that you edit your resume and use the right format to land interviews with hiring managers. Many job-seekers will create multiple iterations of the same resume for various job opportunities, and some edit their resume for each new account executive job they apply for.

With your resume focusing on your commitment to sales and building lasting business relationships, you should be able to secure account executive interviews. The next step is to brush up on your interview skills so you can make lasting impressions with hiring managers.