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Want a stronger resume? Use our extensive library of professional resume examples as practical starting guides. You’ll also find ready-made content with our helpful Resume Builder – simple click, customize, and download.

Looking for cover letter ideas? See our sample Car Salesman Cover Letter.

Find out what is the best resume for you in our Ultimate Resume Format Guide.

How to Format a Car Salesman Resume

Choosing the suitable resume format for a car salesman is simple — the chronological resume is the way to go. This layout focuses on work experience, including all relevant previous roles and listing highlights for each. Candidates with significant professional histories would benefit the most from using this format.

Those who lack experience may want to use an alternative format. Also known as a skills-based resume, the functional resume format prioritizes skills and abilities, marginalizing work experience if it’s included at all. Combination resumes strike a balance between experience and skills.

Which one is best for you? See how the candidates below approach the question. Candidate A is 20 years into his sales career, making the chronological resume an obvious choice. While Candidate B has 10 years of experience, he job-hopped quite a bit before leaving the workforce for a few years to take care of his family. He’s back and has decided to use a functional resume to give his wide-ranging skill set more attention.

Chronological Resume

Candidate A

  • 20 years of experience
  • 5 years at this job
  • HS High School Diploma

Work History

Car Sales Representative, B&E Auto
02/2018–Current, Boulder, CO

  • Helped create a new marketing strategy that increased monthly sales of pre-owned vehicles by $75K.
  • Exceeded individual sales targets by 18% in 2022 and 25% in 2021.
  • Developed in-depth knowledge of foreign and domestic automobile brands, increasing sales of a difficult-to-sell car by 20%.

Functional Resume

Candidate B

  • 11 years of experience
  • 6 months at this job
  • BA Psychology

Professional Skills

Customer Service

  • Provided quality service to all customers, leading to a 45% increase in customer satisfaction rate.
  • Met and greeted 50+ customers per day, developing rapport and acting as the “face” of the company.
  • Worked with every customer to truly understand their individual needs and help them find the perfect solution.

Sales

  • Exceeded individual sales goals by 30% in five quarters, helping the overall team meet its annual quota.
  • Developed extensive knowledge of home appliances, increasing sales of our import brands by 25%.
  • Created a new sales strategy that helped move used appliances.

Car Salesman Resume FAQ.

What should I put on my car salesman resume?

A car salesman resume should be compelling enough to grab the hiring manager’s attention. Here are three key points to keep in mind as you write your resume:

  • Make your professional summary or resume objective concise and engaging by targeting the keywords and requirements in the job ad.
  • List your previous roles in the work experience section. Each job should have a few bullet points where you can use active language like “sold,” “exceeded” and “created.”
  • Use quantifiable achievements to show the impact you’ve made. Standard metrics for a car salesman include the number of sales, new leads generated and customer reviews.

How do you write a resume for a car salesman?

When you sit down to write your car salesman resume, follow these steps:

  1. Read the job ad closely, taking note of any hard skills or soft skills you should import into your resume.
  2. Choose a resume template that fits your career. A salesman may want to choose a professional, attractive style that isn’t very flashy.
  3. Fill out the template. You can use a resume builder to fill it out, which will walk you through every section, including the header, work experience, skills, education and professional summary; or do it on your own in a Word doc.
  4. Consider adding optional sections like a foreign language, volunteer work or professional associations if any of them apply to you.
  5. Proofread the resume carefully, then give it to a friend to proofread.
  6. Download the document as a PDF or whatever file format the employer prefers.

What skills does a car salesman need?

Based on the resumes in our database, these skills are among the most important for a car salesman:

  • Customer service
  • Active listening
  • Reading body language
  • Product knowledge
  • Verbal communication
  • Relationship-building
  • Persuasion
  • Negotiation
  • Friendly and positive demeanor