It seems like every other day that there’s a headline about the growing decline of retail jobs due to artificial intelligence. Even The New York Times has published an article about this very matter called The Robots Are Coming. Prepare for Trouble. The article explores how artificial intelligence is directly threatening existing retail jobs, as more consumers shop online and, in turn, more retailers set up e-commerce stores.

It’s no wonder why retailers find the switch to selling online enticing. Not only will doing so ensure they stay relevant as consumers increasingly abandon brick and mortar stores, but it also allows them to substantially cut their running costs. After all, it’s far more cost-effective to pay for an e-commerce platform and web hosting than thousands of dollars in rent, electricity, and wages every month.  

Frankly speaking, this isn’t good news for retail workers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employment of retail salespersons is projected to decline 2 percent from 2018 to 2028. The implication is that with less jobs to go around, competition is only going to get stiffer for job seekers.

If you want to ensure you get hired, it’s crucial that you fix up your resume. Ultimately, your resume is what a recruiter or store manager will base their decision to interview you or not on. If they find your resume to be impressive, they’ll be eager to do so. But if they find it lacklustre...well, they’ll ask one of the hundreds of other candidates who applied to come instead.

Now that you understand just how important perfecting your resume is, it’s time to learn about how to make an eye-catching one. Our retail sales associate guide covers all of the essential information you need to know including:

• The best format for your resume
• How to ace a job interview
• Which qualifications are best to have in this line of work
• Expert tips for putting forward your best attributes
• How to customize your resume for each application 

1. Multiple Template Examples

2. How to Write a Retail Sales Associate Resume That Will Get Your Phone Ringing

How to format your resume

If you’re wondering, “How should I format my retail sales associate resume?” we’re glad you asked. Many job seekers overlook the impact their resume’s format has in conveying their viability as a candidate. 

Think about it: a recruiter will be tenfold more likely to take your application seriously if your resume is well-organized and professional-looking. On the contrary, they won’t give it a second glance if it’s disorganized and difficult to read.

So which format should you use? We recommend using a reverse-chronological format as it’s regarded by most HR professionals and resume experts as the go-to format for anyone who has at least a few relevant jobs to their name. This format positions your work experience front and center by ordering each job you’ve had from most to least recent. In turn, a recruiter will be able to ascertain if you have the necessary experience they’re looking for.

Pro Tip: If you have little to no work experience, we recommend using a functional resume format instead, as it emphasizes skills over experience.

Creating a strong resume also relies on following a handful of layout rules, which we’ve listed below. To be perfectly clear, these are not optional! Recruiters expect you to strictly adhere to them and most will have no qualms about dismissing your resume if you fail to.

• • Number of Pages: 1 page maximum. 
  • Fonts to Use: An easy to read serif font like Goudy Old Style or sans serif font like Tahoma.
  • Fonts to Avoid: An unprofessional, childish font like Jokerman and Bubblegum. 
  • Margins: 1 inch on all sides.

• Line Spacing: 1 or 1.15.

• Header size: 14-16 point size.
• Text size: 11-12 point size

What makes a great retail sales associate resume? How do you give recruiters what they’re looking for?

The difference between a good retail sales associate resume and a great one is that the latter will take every opportunity to sell the candidate as the best choice for the position. Even with a quick glance of a great resume, a recruiter will be able to quickly gather that the candidate has an ideal mix of the right skills, professional achievements, qualifications  (if necessary), and attitude to thrive in the role. 

That means in order to give a recruiter what they’re looking for, your resume needs to address the specific criteria they’re evaluating each and every resume by. This is why simply copying and pasting your last resume is one of the worst things you can do. Instead, it’s crucial to customize your resume each and every time so that it highlights your suitability for each particular job.

All in all, if you want to get hired, you’ll need to create a customized resume that communicates both in its appearance and content that you’re an ideal candidate. Our guide will teach you exactly how to do this, so keep reading to learn more.

How to prepare for a job interview as a retail sales worker

In order to effectively prepare for a job interview as a retail sales worker, you need to remain organized and motivated to succeed. Here our our top tips for how to succeed in your next job interview: 

• Practice answering interview questions: A tried-and-true method of preparing for a job interview is to practice answering interview questions. We’ve listed 16 of the most common ones below to get you started. It’s advisable to practice them out loud in front of a mirror so you get used to the interview process.

• Use the STAR interview response technique: If you’ve always struggled to stay on point or make an impact when answering interview questions, give the STAR interview response technique a go. STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. If you use this technique to answer any behavioral questions an interviewer throws at you, your answers will sound both logical and impressive. 

• Research the company: Many candidates can confidently answer questions about themselves but will fall flat when asked any about the company. Don’t get caught out when you’re unable to standard questions like, “Who is our CEO?” or “What inspired the founders to start the company?” Check the company’s website, social media channels, and LinkedIn to learn about the company’s history as well as what they’re currently up to.

• Try to ease your nerves: While it’s vital to be prepared, your preparation will be for nothing if you’re too nervous to perform at your best. That’s why you should prioritize easing your nerves in the leadup to your interview. If you’ve been prepping like crazy, take a break. It will also be helpful to learn some breathing exercises for relaxation.   

Which questions are likely to be asked during the interview process?

As we pointed out above, it’s vital to practice interview questions to ensure you’re adequately prepared to respond to them. Below, we’ve shared some of the most common questions asked at retail sales associate interviews:

Practical questions:

• Can you tell me a bit about yourself?
• Are you able and willing to work weekends / night shifts?
• What is your availability?
• Are you able to open and close up?

Questions about you as a professional:

• What skills do you have that would be beneficial to this role?
• Do you work well in a team?
• How would your coworkers describe you?
• What is a difficult situation you confronted at your previous workplace and how did you deal with it?

Questions about working at the store:

• How do you define ‘good customer service’?
• What would you do if you don’t know the answer to a customer’s question?
• If a customer was being rude to you, what would you do?
• In what ways would you go up and beyond for a customer?

Questions about the business:

• Why do you want to work here?
• What would you say makes our business special?
• How would you attract more customers to our store?
• What do you think we could be doing better?

What are ideal retail sales associate job qualifications and how do you list them correctly? 

Generally speaking, most retail sales associate jobs don’t require candidates to hold any specific formal qualifications. That being said, most employers will look favorably on candidates with a high school diploma or equivalent – and some may even require one. The BLS points out that this is particularly the case for businesses that sell “big ticket” items like cars and electronics.

In terms of ideal retail sales associate job qualifications, the key is to list those that are relevant to the given job. While it’s certainly not required, you'll likely catch a recruiter’s attention if you hold a business, sales, or marketing degree from a college or community college. 

Moreover, if you hold a degree or have any training or certifications in an area that’s clearly connected to what the business sells, listing them in your resume will be sure to impress. For example, if you want to apply for a job in a plant store and you hold a Certificate of Achievement in Agripharmatech from a community college, listing it is an easy way to stand out.

So how do you correctly list any qualifications you’d like to highlight? If it’s a degree, add it to your “Education” section, whereas if it’s a certification, add it to your “Training and Certifications” section. Make sure to include the following information about each one:

• The name of the degree or certificate
• The name of the college or institution 
• The state the college or institution is located
• The years you studied

For example:

• Bachelor of Science in Marketing, University of Minnesota, MN, 2019 - Present 
• Certificate of Achievement in Electrical Technology, Henry Ford College, MI, 2017 - 2018

How to highlight your most important achievements

The achievements you highlight in your resume shouldn’t be arbitrarily chosen because you think they sound good. Your selection should be based on evidence of what sounds good to a recruiter. 

Fortunately, there’s a straightforward way to determine which achievements will leave a positive impression on a recruiter. The keywords you’ll find throughout a job ad offer a direct insight into what a recruiter values in an ideal candidate. They will either represent the tasks a candidate will need to perform in the role or the ideal skills they should possess. 

In order to show you represent what they’re looking for, you can frame each of your achievements around one or more of the keywords you identify in a job ad. However, keep in mind that there’s a right and wrong way to go about this. 

To make this clear, let’s compare the achievements of two different candidates who targeted the keyword ‘exceptional customer service’.

First, take a look at an example of a bad retail sales associate achievement:

• Demonstrated exceptional customer service every day to ensure customers were happy.

This achievement is exceptionally vague and bland, so the recruiter’s eyes would definitely glaze over. Beyond this, the candidate hasn’t instilled any confidence in the recruiter that they actually understand how to provide exceptional customer service. After all, they failed to provide an example or evidence of this skill they claim to have.

Now, take a look at an example of an amazing retail sales associate achievement:

• Demonstrated exceptional customer service by attending to each customer’s unique needs, as exemplified by my sales consistently being 50% or more above the store’s monthly sales targets.

This candidate knocks their resume achievement out of the park because they’ve provided specific details about their ability to provide exceptional customer service. By sharing how they do so (“...by attending to each customer’s unique needs”), the recruiter would recognize this candidate has a strong understanding of what is required to excel at it.

Another notable thing this candidate did is quantify their achievements. In other words, they provided tangible evidence (“...my sales consistently being approx. 50% above the store’s monthly sales target.”) to back their claim up.

If you’re ready to impress like this candidate does, be sure to refer back to these do’s and don’t when the time comes to write out your own achievements. 

Pro tip: A huge resume no-no to steer clear of when including keywords is something called ‘keyword stuffing’. As Jobscan points out, this describes when a candidate features skills in their resume in a dishonest or out of context manner, tries to hide keywords using white text, or over-optimizes a given keyword. If a recruiter catches you doing any of these things, your chances of being hired will be as good as gone.

Which soft and hard skills should you mention? How do you do this  correctly?

There’s no doubt about the fact that all talented retail sales associates boast numerous useful skills. These skills can be divided into two categories:

1. Hard skills: Tangible and teachable skills that tend to be more technical in nature.
2. Soft skills: Intangible and interpersonal skills that are focused on how we interact with others and conduct ourselves.

It is crucial to include a combination of both in your resume. You’ll need to list out 6 to 8 skills in your “Skills” section and additionally pepper some naturally throughout your “Employment History” section. We also recommend mentioning a few more in your resume objective or summary.
 

You can select the right skills to feature in the same way we explained how to select your achievements. In short, you will need to scan a job ad for keywords. Most of the keywords you find will already be skills-based, so it’s perfectly fine to repeat them throughout the three sections we mentioned above. Just remember that they should flow naturally and make sense within the context of each sentence.

If you’re after some examples of the skills commonly expected of retail sales associates, consult our list below. We sourced these skills straight from real-life job ads, so they should give you a good indication of what many recruiters are after.

Hard skills

• Providing exceptional customer service
• Maintaining the appearance of the store 
• Conducting product inventories
• Arranging and replenishing displays 
• Achieving daily/weekly/monthly sales targets
• Hitting individual and shop sales goals
• Operating the register & EFTPOS machine
• Cashing up
• Administering repairs and returns 
• Handling customer complaints and queries

Soft skills

• Customer focused
• Ability to work as a team member 
• Excellent verbal communication
• Self-motivated 
• Sense of personal accountability
• Detail oriented 
• Ability to handle several tasks simultaneously
• Professionalism
• Integrity
• Approachability

How to write a resume objective or summary and examples of both

Both a resume objective and resume summary have the power to influence a recruiter’s first impression of a candidate. The best ones entice a recruiter to read on and help position the candidate as worthy of being interviewed. They’re also both 2 to 4 sentences long and appear right at the start of a resume.

But that’s where the similarities end. A resume objective is designed for entry-level candidates and focuses on their career aspirations and potential. In contrast, a resume summary is designed for experienced candidates and focuses on their most relevant and compelling professional attributes and experiences. 

Once you know which one is right for you to include, keep reading to learn how to write a strong one.

Resume objective 

When writing your resume objective, there are some crucial pitfalls you will need to avoid. On one hand, it’s vital not to downplay your attributes and show your desperation, like the following candidate did: 

• Aspiring retail sales associate with zero experience who would give anything for this chance to work at your company.

On the other hand, it’s also important not to be cocky or overconfident – especially if you don’t back up what you’re saying. This is what the following candidate did:

• Aspiring retail sales associate who would definitely become your best salesperson ever due to my charisma and other great qualities.

So what should you do instead? Use your resume objective to leave no doubt in the recruiter’s mind that you possess the required qualities to excel in the given job. While you may not have previous retail experience, you can instead highlight all of the other relevant skills, experiences, education, training, and attributes you offer.

Be confident in your abilities and provide evidence for why you believe you’d be an asset to the company. You’ll get bonus points if you can quantify your achievements! The following candidate did all of these things to great effect: 

• Aspiring retail sales associate who is skilled in customer service, verbal communication, and organization. With a 100% satisfaction rating in my current role as a customer service officer coupled with the fact that I am a loyal customer at Sparkle Jewelry, I have the know-how and positive attitude to keep customers coming back. 

When you compare this example to the previous ones, it’s clear how much more powerful it is. A recruiter would be immediately impressed by the effort this candidate put into writing it, let alone how they sold themselves as a perfect fit for the role by quantifying their achievements. If you also want your resume objective to shine, be sure to follow the tips we just shared.

Resume summary

The secret to writing a fantastic resume summary is to know what to aim for – and what to avoid. Let’s first take a look at all the things you shouldn’t do by examining the following not-so-great resume summary:

• Retail sales associate with 3+ years of experience who lives and breathes the art of selling. I have all the skills a great sales associate needs. I want to work for you as I desire to work in an upper-end retailer.

There are a number of red flags a recruiter would spot in this resume summary. Firstly, everything they’ve written sounds generic. While they do provide a few details here and there, they don’t set out to provide a clear picture of who they are as a retail sales associate. 

They also don’t mention the company directly. This would make a recruiter suspicious that they’ve used this resume summary on multiple applications to ‘upper-end retailers. What’s more, the candidate has spent their whole resume summary talking about what a catch they are as an employee without providing a skerrick of evidence to show this. 

With all of this in mind, take a look at an example of a killer retail sales associate resume summary:

• Retail sales associate with 3+ years of experience working in upper-end retailers who is equally known for being customer-focused and approachable as they are for maintaining a store’s appearance and conducting meticulous product inventories. With a strong ability to upsell, as demonstrated by the $1 million worth of sales I made last year, I aim to bring this same dedication and talent for sales to the full-time position at Precious Antiques.   

If you can tell that this resume summary is significantly better than the previous one but don’t know why, let us explain. This one is written with the purpose of capturing a recruiter’s attention. The candidate has achieved this by providing specific and relevant details about their professional experience (“3+ years of experience working in upper-end retailers”). 

They also put a spotlight on both the soft skills (“customer-focused and approachable”) and hard skills (“maintaining a store’s appearance and conducting meticulous product inventories”) that the recruiter was looking for. 

One particularly effective thing they did is drive home their “strong ability to upsell” by providing an eye-catching example of the amazing sales they made. Finally, the candidate further customized their resume summary by making their goals for working at Precious Antiques clear.

If you follow all of our pointers above, you’ll be able to make a resume summary that any recruiter would be captivated by. 

How to target your resume for each application

A recruiter is responsible for tracking down a retail sales associate who not only boasts relevant competencies, but also demonstrates an eagerness to work for the given company.

It’s therefore pivotal that your resume conveys both your attributes as well as your enthusiasm to work for each particular company you’re applying to. You can easily do this by targeting your resume for each application. 

As we’ve discussed extensively above, incorporating keywords from a job ad will help you to effectively address each recruiter’s specific criteria. The keywords should not only dictate what you feature in your resume, but also how you feature it. For example, if the keywords in a job ad indicate that they’re looking for someone who has experience making $10,000+ sales, emphasize your experience working in a designer clothing store over working in a dollar store where your sales averaged $2000 a day. 

But remember, don’t just focus on your skills and work history. You need to make sure to also customize your resume objective or summary. Recruiters often look to these sections to see whether a candidate has targeted their resume, so be sure to write a new one each time.

Pro tip: It’s a good idea to mention the company’s name in your resume objective or summary. It’s the only section where it’s possible to do this, so don’t skip this opportunity to highlight the fact that you made your resume just for them. 

How to make your resume stand out

Settling for a ‘good enough’ resume won’t do you any favors when it comes to competing against other candidates. You need to know how to make your resume stand out if you want to lock in a job interview. Below, we’ve shared our top insider tips for doing so:

• • Keep your resume to one page: Don’t take the fact that you only have one page to work within as a challenge to try to cram in as much information as you can! Recruiters hate wordy resumes that are filled with irrelevant information. Most won’t even bother to read resumes that are more than one page, so don’t take the risk. Instead, focus only on the most relevant attributes you offer and aim to create a resume that has a good balance of content and white space.

• Strategically hide any gaps: Is your resume looking a bit patchy due to any employment gaps? There’s no need to stress. If you were unemployed for more than three months between jobs, you’ll just need to be strategic about how you present your resume. While we generally recommend job seekers to use a reverse-chronological resume format, a functional resume format is best for hiding resume gaps.

• Don’t ever lie on your resume: This may seem like obvious advice, but sadly, many job seekers still haven’t gotten the message. They think that a white lie here or there won’t come back to haunt them, but 9 times out of 10 the truth always comes out. After all, recruiters will fact check as part of their routine vetting of candidates. HR Consultant Adele Alligood says that, “Every once in a while, someone will forget to recheck their dates, job titles or job duties.” Alligood says that in her opinion, doing so is even worse than typos! The bottom line is that lying is never worth the risk.

3. How to Make an Impressive DIY Resume Using Resumebuild.com Streamlined Resume Builder Tool 

Any job seeker who spends the time to create their resume from scratch should be commended for their effort. But unfortunately, effort doesn’t necessarily equal success. Many job seekers who take this 100% DIY route make many major and minor resume mistakes. 

This makes sense when you think about the fact that most people don’t have countless hours to spend on creating their resume. Consequently, they often end up trying to speed up the long and laborious resume making process by taking shortcuts. For example, they’ll download any old resume template from a quick Google search or copy and paste resume examples from questionable sources.

These shortcuts may seem like an easy way to hack the process, but they’ll usually cost you your chances of getting an interview. 

So what should you do instead? 

Use ResumeBuild.com’s powerful resume builder to craft an eye-grabbing resume. Our resume builder has already been used by thousands of job seekers who were searching for a straightforward way to create a resume that lands them jobs. 

It has been designed with job seekers’ needs in mind, so you’ll find it streamlined and easy to use. It guides you step-by-step through each of the essential sections you need to feature in your retail sales associate resume. From the first step of selecting an HR-approved resume template, to filling out each section, to reviewing your completed resume, our resume builder makes the entire resume making process quick and painless. Did we mention it comes complete with access to pre-written examples?

If you’re ready to get your dream job, you can rely on our handy resume builder to help you get it.

The job of a translator involves far more than most people realize. After all, it isn’t simply a process of directly translating words from one language to another. As Anthony Burgess, the famed writer of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest once put it, “Translation is not a matter of words only: it is a matter of making intelligible a whole culture.”

Needless to say, this isn’t news to either translators themselves or recruiters of translators. They both know that there’s a world of difference between a mediocre translation and one that has been completed with a high level of skill.

In the end, the quality of a translation primarily comes down to one person: the translator.  That’s why recruiters are only willing to hire the best of the best. If you want to position yourself as a world-class translator in your job hunt, you’ll need to submit a world-class resume for each job.

With the demand for translators soaring, there’s never been a better time to fix up your resume so you can finally snag your dream job. The Bureau of Statistics projects that employment of interpreters and translators will grow 19 percent from 2018 to 2028. This is significantly faster than the average for all occupations – in fact, an astounding 14 percent points higher!

But don’t let this news make you complacent. Even if you’ve built your reputation as a highly-skilled translator, you still need a resume that shows off your most relevant and attractive professional experiences, qualities, and skills to a recruiter. Don’t know how to do this? Check out our translator resume examples and writing guide below. It will shed a light on:

• The essential components of a translator resume
• Insider tips for preparing for an interview (including practice questions)
• How to create a formidable “Skills” section
• How to grab a recruiter’s attention with a resume summary or objective
• The importance of tailoring your resume for each application and how to do so

1. Multiple Template Examples

2. How to Write a Translator Resume That Will Get You the Job?

How do you format a translator resume?

As a translator, you’ll know what a difference good or bad document formatting makes. Being given a poorly formatted document to translate can make your job substantially more challenging and frustrating to carry out.

So why would you subject a recruiter to the same experience? Formatting your resume correctly will not only encourage a recruiter to view your application in a positive light, but also give it the full attention it deserves.

If you’re wondering which format to use in your translator resume, it’s worth keeping in mind that most HR experts recommend using a reverse-chronological format. It’s designed to put a spotlight on your work experiences so a recruiter realizes what a consummate professional you are. In addition to presenting your work experiences prominently in your resume, it also orders them from most to least recent.

Pro tip: If you’re just starting out as a translator, experts recommend opting for a functional format instead. This type of format hones in on your skills so that you can draw a recruiter’s attention away from your inexperience.

There’s another crucial consideration you will need to be mindful of: how to expertly arrange your resume’s layout. Pay careful attention to the following layout guidelines to ensure that your resume matches up with recruiters’ expectations:

• • Number of Pages: A single page.
  • Fonts to Use: Fonts that are recognizable for their professional nature, such as Georgia and Time New Roman.
  • Fonts to Avoid: Any you wouldn’t dare to hand over a translation in, such as Brush Script and ITC Kristen.
  • Margins: 1 inch on all sides.

• Line Spacing: 1 or 1.15.

• Header size: 14-16 point size.
• Text size: 11-12 point size.

How do you make a great translator resume that addresses what recruiters are looking for?

A great translator resume should showcase why you – out of the hundreds of thousands of other applicants – should be hired. This is no doubt a lofty goal to achieve, but it is far from impossible.

You will be able to put together a great translator resume once you have an understanding of what a recruiter is looking for, from the skills a candidate should have as a translator, to the formatting and layout expectations they have for resumes (see the section above for more about this).

Generally speaking, recruiters will be after translators who are able to offer the necessary experience, qualifications, and skills to effectively carry out the responsibilities of a given job. However, recruiters won’t all be looking for the same qualities in the candidates they shortlist. After all, the idea of a so-called “perfect candidate” will differ from job to job, and therefore, from recruiter to recruiter.

For example, some jobs only require an entry-level candidate, while others require someone who has been in the industry for a certain amount of years. Some jobs require candidates to be generalists, while others require them to possess a very specific skill set. And needless to say, the focus languages sought for each job will change each time as well!

In short, if you want to make a great translator resume, you’ll need to address what a given recruiter is after from an ideal candidate for a given job. To do this, you’ll need to customize your resume to perfectly match the requirements of each application.

If you’re wondering how to do this, refer to the section, “How to target your resume for each application,” below. The fantastic thing about putting in the effort to customize your resume is that you’ll soon be rewarded with more interview requests than you’ve ever had to handle!

How do you prepare for a job interview as a translator?

If you’re like most people, you’ll be a bundle of nerves before an interview. While you may not be able to get rid of your nerves completely, thoroughly preparing beforehand will at least allow you to get a better handle on them. Here are our top tips for how to effectively prepare for a job interview as a translator:

• Refamiliarize yourself with the role and company: A huge mistake many candidates make is that they focus exclusively on preparing answers to questions about themselves. However, it’s worth remembering that interviewers also place substantial importance on candidates’ answers to questions about the given role.
  
  To ensure you flawlessly answer these types of questions, make sure to study the job ad carefully to pinpoint what the role entails as well as what the interviewer is looking for.

• Research the company: In addition to knowing the role like the back of your hand, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the company you’re interviewing at. Interviewers are only interested in hiring candidates who can genuinely show that they want to work at their company, so they’re likely to quiz you on your knowledge of it. Even if you’re not asked any specific questions, peppering your answers with relevant tidbits about their company is a surefire way to impress.
  
  When conducting your research of the company, try to memorize a few notable details about the company such as its history, vision and values, plans for the future, etc.

• Complete a few practice translation tasks: When you’re busy preparing your answers to practice questions (of which you’ll find some examples below), it’s easy to forget to brush up on the very skills you’re being interviewed for: translating. Even if you can translate a document with your eyes closed, being asked to do so during your interview is a completely different story. Even the most competent translators can become frozen with anxiety, so preparation is key.

To ensure you perform any translation tasks you’re asked to do just as well as usual, make sure to schedule the time to practice translating at least a few passages before your interview. If the job also involves interpretation, be sure to practice this too!

• Believe in yourself: It sounds trite to say, but it will truly make a difference if you walk into an interview with your head held high. Many candidates end up severely underselling themselves during an interview because they lack confidence in their own abilities. They may even question how they managed to get the interview in the first place.
  
  Remember, a recruiter chose to interview you because they saw that you bring something valuable to the table. So be confident and strive to put your best foot forward. If you truly lack self-confidence, try to fake it ‘til you make it!

Which questions are likely to be asked during the interview process?

If you’re wondering what questions a recruiter, hiring manager, or your future manager are likely to be asked during a translator interview, you’ve come to the right place. Below is a selection of 20 common questions you can use to prepare for your interview:

Practical questions:

• Can you give me an overview of who you are, professionally speaking?
• When can you begin?
• Why do you think we should hire you?
• Do you have any questions about the position?

Questions about you as a professional:

• Can you describe yourself in 3 words?
• What languages can you translate? 
• Why did you decide to become a translator?
• What qualities set you apart as a translator?
• Can you understand different dialects and accents?
• What areas do you need to improve on as a translator?
• Do you prefer to work alone or in a team?
• What are your top skills?

Questions about working at the company:

• What is your process of preparing for a translation task?
• What tools do you rely on to complete a typical translation task, if any?
• What would you do if you’re experiencing difficulty translating a certain piece of text?
• Can you share some examples of previous translation problems you’ve faced and how you overcame them?
• Can you share details about a time you encountered a problem with your manager or a coworker and how you resolved it?

Questions about the company:

• When was our company founded?
• What is our company’s mission statement?
• What makes our company unique?
• What other languages do we offer translation services for?

Pro tip: Once you’ve mastered your answers to these questions, search on Google for more. The more questions you’re acquainted with and have solid answers for, the more you’ll boost your chances of acing your interview.

What are ideal translator job qualifications and how do you list them correctly?

Education

While not a requirement for all jobs, it is considered ideal for a translator to hold a bachelor’s degree. Ideally, a translator’s major should be in one of the languages they specialize in translating, although many jobs will simply require a bachelor’s degree in any major.

To list your bachelor’s degree or any other educational qualifications in your resume, add them to your resume’s “Education” section.

In order to get this right, avoid providing a detailed account of your educational experiences, like this candidate did:

EDUCATION

• I completed a Spanish Bachelor of Arts at the University of Texas at Tyler because I wanted to learn a language that would prove to be useful in both my career and my life. Once I discovered that Spanish is the fourth most widely spoken language in the world, I knew Spanish was the right choice for me. After studying diligently every day for 3 years, I finally graduated in 2019.

This is far too much information to feature in your “Education” section. As a consequence of how difficult this is to read, it would be challenging for a recruiter to identify the most fundamental details regarding your educational background.

In order to make these details crystal clear to a recruiter, you should list them out rather than write about them in full sentences. There are 4 main details you should list, unless specified otherwise. These details are:

• The name of your degree
• The institution or college you received it from
• The state the institution or college is located in
• The years you studied your degree

Putting this in practice, the example above should, in actual fact, look like this:

EDUCATION

• Spanish Bachelor of Arts, University of Texas at Tyler, TX, 2016-2019

See how much easier that is to read? Make sure to follow this same format when adding your educational qualifications to your resume.

Pro tip: If you wish to share more details about your educational background with a recruiter, you can do so in your cover letter. Just make sure that any additional details you provide are relevant to the job you’re applying for!

Language Proficiency

Your job as a translator is dependent on your mastery of at least two languages, with one of them usually being English. It’s therefore vital to state your language proficiency levels in your resume.

Ideally, you should be able to quantify your language proficiency by showing that you hold a relevant language certification. Many jobs even require candidates to hold a specific language certification level as evidence that they have the language skills necessary to excel in the job. For example, an English to Japanese translation job may require you to have passed a particular level of the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT).

To list any languages you are proficient in, list the following information about each language in your resume’s “Languages” section:

• The name of the language
• The dialect of the language, if any
• The level of your proficiency
• The names of any language proficiency certifications you have 
• The level you achieved with your certification

For example:

• English (American): Native proficiency
• Chinese (Mandarin): Full professional proficiency, HSK VI
• Spanish (Latin American): Elementary proficiency, DELE, A2

Pro tip: While it may seem obvious to state that you speak English at a native level, it is important to include this fact in your resume.

Training and Certifications

There are no mandatory training sessions or certifications that translators need to undertake in order to work. That being said, it is considered ideal for translators to have some relevant training and certifications to their name as it is one way of demonstrating your commitment to your profession.

A certification that will most definitely help your resume stand out is an American Translators Association (ATA) certification. As the ATA explains, holding this certification “Reflects a strong commitment to the profession and its ethical practice—a distinction that can attract clients and open doors to new business.”

Training and certifications may even be mandatory or strongly desired for certain jobs. This is particularly the case for jobs in niche areas of translation. For example, if you want to apply for a job translating documents as a court interpreter in California, your resume will need to highlight the fact you are a certified court interpreter.

So how can you include relevant training and certifications in your resume? List the following details in your resume’s “Training and Certifications” section:

• The name of the training or certification
• The name of the institution that provided it
• The state you received it in
• The year you undertook the training or obtained the certification

To show you how this should look like in action, take a look at the following example:

TRAINING AND CERTIFICATIONS

•  American Translators Association (ATA) Certification, ATA, California, 2020

Pro tip: It’s important to keep your translator certifications up to date on your resume. You should also be willing to undertake more professional learning even once you’ve been hired. 

Which soft and hard skills should you mention? How do you do so correctly?

The “Skills” section is without a doubt one of the most important sections in your entire resume. It provides an overview of your skills so that a recruiter can ascertain if you have the right skill set to perform well in the given job.

This is why it’s critical that you carefully select which skills to showcase. It’s considered best practice to only list around 6 to 8 in this section, so you’ll need to be cut-throat. Fortunately, this isn’t the only opportunity you have to highlight your skills in your resume. You should also feature them in your “Employment History” section and “Resume Objective” or “Resume Summary.”

So how do you go about selecting the most appropriate skills to showcase in your resume? You need to select the skills a recruiter is actively looking for from a candidate. To determine what these skills are, consult the job ad of the job you want to apply for. If you look carefully, you will notice that a variety of skills are mentioned throughout the entire job ad.

These are technically known as “keywords” in the HR industry, as they represent the ‘key’ qualities a recruiter is after. By including keywords in your resume, you’ll be able to tell a recruiter, “I offer the precise qualities you are looking for.”

It is important to keep your eyes peeled for both soft and hard skills. Soft skills are skills that rely on your communication or interpersonal abilities. Hard skills are practical skills that rely on your technical knowledge and abilities.

Below, we’ve provided some examples of soft and hard skills we identified in real-life job ads for translators. Look at them to see what types of skills you can expect to come across in your job search. Remember though, you need to feature the skills you identify in each particular job ad.

Soft skills

• Ability to work well with others
• Familiarity with academic language
• Customer service oriented
• Ability to be flexible
• Detail oriented
• Accurate
• Ability to cope with several tasks simultaneously
• Professional attitude
• Working well under pressure
• Flexible to meet scheduling needs

Hard skills

• Translating from English to target language and vice versa
• Reading and interpreting documents
• Document translation using technical language
• CAT (computer assisted translation) tool expertise (e.g. Plunet, Memsource, and SDL Trados Studio)
• Writing routine reports and correspondence
• Ability to collaborate with other translators and customers on editing of completed document
• Obtaining additional information by contacting key stakeholders
• Proofreading translations and transcriptions
• Transcribing and translate audio recordings in both languages
• Performing effective research of unknown terminology as needed

Pro tip: Be sure to keep a lookout for “cultural awareness competency” keywords in job ads. These work almost as a combination of soft and hard skills because they demonstrate your ability to understand that language is an expression of culture and how to put this into practice. For example, you may need to show that you can “avoid generalizations and stereotyping by recognizing the cultural patterns.” Or that you can use “culturally-appropriate behavior.”

How to write a resume objective or summary and examples of both

If you thought that recruiters are going to pore over your resume, think again. Studies have shown that recruiters only spend an average of 6 seconds reading each candidate’s resume. That’s barely enough time to read more than a few lines of your resume!

Of course, recruiters will take more time to read the resumes of candidates who can show that they have strong potential.

The easiest way to convince a recruiter in only 6 seconds that your resume is worth reading properly is to craft a 2 to 4 sentence long resume objective or resume summary. Entry level candidates should opt for the former while experienced candidates should include the latter. You can learn more about how to write each one below:

Resume objective

A resume objective is basically a concise self introduction that emphasizes why you’re a star entry-level candidate. Given how important it is, you shouldn’t rush writing it like this candidate did:

• Aspiring translator who is really good at French and can speak a few other languages. I offer a range of enviable qualities as a soon-to-be translator which are sure to be valued at Translations United. I can’t wait to put my strong translation skills to the test at your company.

It may not seem too bad to an untrained eye, but this is precisely the type of resume objective recruiters can’t stand. Look more closely and you’ll see that the candidate hasn’t shared any specific skills or attributes they offer. They didn’t even specify what their language proficiency levels are for the languages they speak!

Recruiters want to see specific and relevant details about your skills, attributes, and any other information that frames you as a valuable candidate in your resume objective. These qualities are exemplified by the following candidate’s resume objective:

• Highly organized and motivated multilingual translator who specializes in French to English and English to French translations is excited to apply for the role at Translations United. In addition to holding a DALF C2 certification in French, I am also highly-proficient in Italian and am currently studying beginner Spanish.   

The recruiter for Translations United would anticipate reading the rest of this candidate’s resume as they successfully used their resume objective to establish themselves as an entry-level candidate with a number of attractive qualities. They did so by noting their French certification, the level they achieved, and the fact that they can do two-way translations.

They also made sure to mention their proficiency level for Italian or Spanish, despite not holding certifications in either. Another great thing this candidate did was mention their soft skills (highly organized and motivated).

Resume summary

Your resume summary should show how everything you developed and attained in your years of experience as a translator come together to make you the perfect candidate for the job. Before you set off to write one, be sure to avoid the mistakes this candidate made:

• Translator with 6 years of experience is looking for a full-time role at Travelers’

Paradise. In my years of being a translator, I have translated countless documents from English to Spanish. I am highly skilled at it and couple my translation skills with other skills too. I am certain I would be able to make a positive impact at your company and develop my skills further if given the chance to work at your company.  

The problem with this resume summary is that the candidate tried to build themselves up to be an amazing translator, but failed to provide any proof they actually are one. For example, they repeatedly mention their skills without elaborating on what they are. Moreover, they focus so much on themselves without explaining how their competencies relate to what Travelers Paradise is looking for from a translator.

• Detail-oriented English-to-Spanish translator with a DELE C1 certification and 6 years of experience working as a translator in the travel industry wishes to bring their customer-oriented approach to translating customers’ queries to Travelers’ Paradise. I am known for my dedication as well as my ability to work under pressure. Skilled in using Plunet and SDL Trados Studio.

A recruiter for Travelers’ Paradise would be eager to discover more about this candidate because they made their most relevant professional experiences, skills, and attributes shine. For example, instead of just stating they are an English-to-Spanish translator, they backed this up by the fact they have a DELE C1 certification. Moreover, they further highlighted their suitability for the role by sharing that they already have substantial experience working in the travel industry.

A recruiter would also appreciate the fact that the candidate addressed some of the skills they outlined in the job ad. For example, the candidate put a spotlight on both their soft skills (detail-oriented, customer-oriented approach, dedication and ability to work under pressure) and hard skills (English-to-Spanish translation, translating customers’ queries, ability to use Plunet and SDL Trados Studio).

How to target your resume for each application

As you’ll be well aware, every translation job is different. That’s why you can tick all of the boxes for one job and then barely meet the requirements for another.

Why, then, are you using the same resume for all of your job applications? Just as you adapt your translations to meet the particular needs of each project, you should also adapt your resume to meet the particular needs of each job.

This is called targeting or customizing your resume for each application. While you could completely rewrite your resume each time, there’s a smarter way to do this. Just modify each section of your resume until it reflects what a recruiter is after.

If you have read the prior section about how to put together your “Skills” section, you’ll already know how to do this. Simply identify which keywords appear in a job ad for the job you want and naturally incorporate them throughout your resume and entire frame your resume around them. This will in turn help you make your resume as relevant as possible to a given job ad and a recruiter’s expectations.

For example, let’s say you have professional experiences and skills in translating from Japanese to English as well as from Chinese to English. If you want to apply for a job that only involves Chinese to English translation, focus your resume predominantly on these skills and experiences. Of course, you can also mention your Japanese to English skills and experiences, but to a much lesser degree (and only if they are relevant to what the recruiter is seeking).

How to make your resume stand out

A good-enough resume isn’t going to snag you the job – you need to ensure your resume shines. Here are 3 expert tips that will help you make your resume stand out:

• Quantify your achievements: A surefire way to make your resume stand out is to ensure each of the responsibilities you list in your “Employment History” section read more like achievements. That means you shouldn’t only be stating what duties you were responsible for in your current and prior jobs. You need to frame them in a way which highlights the value you brought to each given task.
  
  The easiest way to do this is to provide tangible examples of your achievements and/or quantifying them with numbers and percentages. For example, you can make the vague achievement, “Completed a translation task given by a client at the last minute in record time,” sound far more impressive by using numbers to clarify what “record time” means. With this in mind, you could instead write, “Completed a translation task given by a client at the last minute in one-third of the usual time.”

• Don’t underestimate the power of having useful soft skills: Translators sometimes make the mistake of thinking that their second-to-none language and translation abilities will be enough to get them hired. As we explored above, your resume should not only highlight your technical skills, but also your interpersonal ones.
  
  Even if the job ad doesn’t specifically mention any soft skills, you should still include a handful that you possess in order to show that you’re a well-rounded candidate.

• Ensure you address any additional criteria: Some jobs will require candidates to meet additional criteria that have nothing to do with their translating skills or experience. For example, a job ad may state that only candidates who have a driver’s license or a BLS/CPR card will be considered.
  
  If you want to apply for a job that has additional criteria like this, be sure to address the fact that you meet it somewhere on your resume. Remember, you put your application at risk of being rejected if you don’t make this clear. Depending on what the criteria is, you may be able to mention it in your “Skills” section, “Employment History” section, or even in your “Resume Summary” or “Resume Objective.”

3. How to Write a Winning Resume Using Resumebuild.com’s Easy-to-Use Resume Builder

You may assume that you’ll find making your resume an easy task, given your superior languages abilities. While you may indeed fare better than those who don’t have such a way with words, resume-making is hardly ever a walk in the park. After all, there is a seemingly innumerable amount of things you need to account for in order to make a resume that recruiters love.

Given all there is to do, there’s no getting around the fact that it takes hours and hours to make even a half decent resume…or is there? Our streamlined resume builder at Resumebuild.com makes compiling your resume a completely trouble-free process.

It separates each section of your resume into manageable steps so that you can easily put together your resume piece-by-piece. You can even look forward to using any one of our HR-approved resume templates that catches your eye.

If you’re ready to make 2020 the year you get hired for your dream translator job, give our resume builder a go!

You don’t need us to tell you that the real estate agent job market is cutthroat. Between the larger agencies and more independent agents than you can count, finding a way to stand out is more challenging than selling the worst fixer upper.

While developing your real estate skills and experience is helpful, you need to land your next job now. That’s why the best way to get a leg up fast is to step up your resume game.

We’ve got good news! There are some key real estate agent resume tricks that your competition is probably missing. In this guide, we’ll break down all the key things you need to do to get hired at even the most competitive real estate agency.

This guide will show you

• Useful real estate agent resume examples
• Tips on formatting your resume for maximum impact
• An overview of the most important sections to include
• An explanation of how Applicant Tracking Systems work and how your resume can get past them
• A deep dive into the psychology of a recruiter in the real estate space and how you can appeal to them
• Which certifications and trainings recruiters are looking for from real estate agents
• Which soft and hard skills you’ll want to include on your resume
• How to choose between a resume summary and objective (plus how to write both with examples)
• How to craft the perfect real estate agent resume if you have little or no experience (with examples)
• How to make your resume stand out from the competition
• And more!

Before you start feeling overwhelmed, we’ve broken this guide into helpful sections so it’s easy for you to check back on any section you need. That blank page might seem intimidating now, but we’re going to start with some examples so you can get a feel for what you’ll be creating.

Real estate agent resume template examples

The best place to start when you’re creating a resume is with examples. Whether you’ve got decades of experience in real estate or are just getting started, you probably don’t have a good sense of what other real estate agent resumes look like.

So start by looking through these examples and take notes about what you like and don’t like about each. This way you’ll start with a set of ideas instead of a white screen. Also think about these examples as competition, how can you stand out from other resumes like these? Consider what will set you apart.

[Examples]

How to write a real estate agent resume that tells a compelling story

Now that you’ve got some inspiration, let’s begin with the fundamentals of creating a real estate agent resume that will get you hired. The first lesson to take is that a resume is more than just a list of facts in the same way a piece of real estate is.

You don’t sell a house just based on the size, number of bedrooms, type of backsplash, etc. A house is sold by the story it tells, by appealing to the buyer’s emotions just as much as their brain. That’s why your resume needs to tell a story. But before you worry about how on earth you’ll do that, we’ll explain everything you need to do throughout this guide.

Next, once you’ve got a feel for how your resume can tell your story, you need to understand the audience for that story.

Start with understanding your audience

Who’s actually going to read your resume? A shockingly small number of people ever ask that question. But creating one without answering it would be as crazy as trying to sell a property without ever thinking about who the buyer might be. Understanding your audience is key to success here. So let’s walk through the two audiences you need to be thinking about.

How to bypass ATS

Unless you’re applying to a small real estate agency, there’s a good chance the first audience for your resume won’t even be human. These systems are currently used by 98% of Fortune 50 companies, 66% of large companies, and 35% of small companies. In other words, not having an ATS optimized resume is a gamble even if you’re applying at a smaller agency.

Why are these tools so popular? The idea is to weed out all the resumes that don’t match the criteria. In other words, to not waste a recruiter’s time reading resumes that will go straight into the trash anyways. But, these systems aren’t perfect, so it’s essential that you understand how they work, to make sure you make it past them.

While every ATS works a little differently (and there are dozens of them on the market), at their core they use artificial intelligence to scan your resume for key words and information. For example, if the job requires 4 years of experience as a real estate agent or a specific certification, the system will try to filter out resumes without those things.

What you need to do to get past ATS is:

1. Make sure your resume format is ATS-friendly. This means submitting a .doc, .docx, or .pdf file in most cases. Otherwise, if the ATS can’t read your resume it’s likely to get discarded immediately.
2. Study the keywords in the job description and include as many of them on your resume as possible. Be sure to word them the same way to ensure the ATS doesn’t misunderstand what you’ve written.
3. Make sure you meet the requirements. If the job ad says you need to be a Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager (CRB), then make sure that you are. Otherwise, you’re probably wasting your time.

Now that you’ve got a sense for what will get you past ATS, let’s go over your second audience: the recruiter.

How to give recruiters what they’re looking for

Once your resume has gotten past ATS, it still needs to convince a recruiter that you’re the right real estate agent for the job. Again, you need to approach this by thinking about your resume as a piece of real estate and the recruiter as your ideal buyer. Everything about your resume needs to be tailored to appeal to them, from how it’s formatted, to how you phrase your achievements.

Fortunately, many of the same things you already did to get past ATS will also help your resume appeal to a recruiter. Everything else you read in the rest of this guide will also help you tailor your resume for a recruiter. But overall, the key is to put yourself in their shoes.

A recruiter is interested in hiring the best agent possible. But they also want the easiest route to do that. So, for example, if your resume is 4 pages long, the first reaction from the recruiter will probably be “ugh, I have to read 4 pages of text, why couldn’t they fit it into 1 or 2?” Or, if you used some strange font/formatting they might think “I can barely read this!”

In either case, right from the first moment you’re annoying the recruiter. In other words, your resume should make it as easy as possible for them to say “yes” to you. Make their job easy and they’ll view you positively.

How should you format your real estate agent resume?

Before you start writing anything, you need to have a sense of your resume’s format. The template examples above should give you some ideas, but there are also a few principles you need to keep in mind.

First, the most important information should go at the top. That’s why your real estate agent resume should be reverse chronological, meaning your most recent work experience goes at the top. This ties back to making things easy for a recruiter. The most important information they need to see should be at the top, so they can quickly get a general feel for you as a candidate.

What should be at the top of your resume?

One obvious choice is an excellent headshot. Every real estate agent needs to be able to project confidence and success in a photo, so you can demonstrate this on your resume. That said, some places do have laws against photos on a resume, so be sure to check the applicable rules.

Otherwise, many people will top their resume with information like their address. But ask yourself, is that the most important information for a recruiter to see? Absolutely not. There are few cases they would ever need to know your address at this stage, so you’re wasting valuable space with useless information. Instead, an objective or summary will work best (more on how to write those below).

What are the most important sections to include?

First, one caveat. The sections you include on your real estate agent resume need to be tailored for you. Remember it’s all about selling yourself to your audience, so that’s what should decide which sections you add. That said, these are the sections you should consider adding:

• Resume objective
• Resume summary
• Work experience
• Certifications
• Achievements
• Education
• Hard skills
• Soft Skills
• Languages
• Volunteering
• Hobbies/interests

Now, we’ll break down exactly how you can make these sections the most effective.

How to list additional training and certifications as a real estate agent

This is easily one of the most impactful sections on any real estate agent resume. Training and certifications show two key things. First, they provide hard evidence that you have critical knowledge and skills. Second, they show that you went above and beyond by obtaining those certifications.

For less experienced agents, this is particularly important. You may not be able to magically obtain years of more experience in real estate, but you can obtain valuable training and certifications in just a few months. These can even the playing field when a recruiter is comparing you to a more experienced candidate. All that is to say, this is a great section to put effort into.

Here are some certifications you should consider (from the National Association of Realtors, NAR):

• Accredited Buyer's Representative / ABR®
• Accredited Land Consultant / ALC
• Certified Commercial Investment Member / CCIM
• Certified International Property Specialist / CIPS
• Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager / CRB
• Certified Residential Specialist / CRS
• Counselor of Real Estate® / CRE®
• General Accredited Appraiser / GAA
• NAR's Green Designation / GREEN
• Graduate, REALTOR® Institute / GRI
• Performance Management Network / PMN
• REALTOR® Association Certified Executive / RCE
• Residential Accredited Appraiser / RAA
• Seller Representative Specialist / SRS
• Society of Industrial and Office REALTORS® / SIOR
• Seniors Real Estate Specialist® / SRES®

Your training and certifications section should include the year you obtained each one as well as the organization which granted it. For example:

General Accredited Appraiser, National Association of Realtors, 2016 

How to choose which hard and soft skills to include

Anyone can list skills, but a great real estate agent resume will really show that you possess them. So your first challenge is to choose the right skills to list. Then, you need to find ways to demonstrate those skills as much as possible.

In general, the best skills to list will always be the ones asked for in the job ad. You should already have a list of all the hard and soft skills mentioned in the job ad from your ATS optimization. This is where you need those skills to be listed. Once your resume has made it to a recruiter, you want them to be able to quickly scan your skills and say “they’re perfect!”

However, besides skills specifically mentioned in a job ad, there are still some skills that are broadly in demand for real estate agents. Here are two lists of hard and soft skills you should consider adding if they apply to you (or obtaining if you have the ability).

The best hard skills to include on your resume

• Risk analysis / due diligence
• Title, escrow, and deed search
• MLS
• Languages
• Knowledge of local and state regulations
• Property management software
• Photography
• Familiarity with the local area

The best soft skills to include on your resume

• Negotiation and mediation
• Problem solving
• Charisma
• Networking
• Sales

How to highlight your most important achievements

We just talked about how important it is to back up your skills whenever possible. There are three key places where you can do this: certifications, work experience, and achievements. Certifications are straightforward, but now let’s go over how to demonstrate skills in an achievements section or in your work history.

But first, you may not be familiar with an achievements section. It’s an ideal place to list things you’ve achieved outside of the workplace that still might be relevant to your work as a real estate agent. This section can have a tremendous impact, because it offers you the chance to show personality, skills, and make your resume more memorable overall. Let’s look at some examples to see how to get achievements just right:

“Sold the most girl scout cookies in my troop during the 2009 season.”

While sales skills are highly relevant, this example just makes you sound childish. It’s too old and puts you in a bad light, so leave it out.

“Helped sell artwork for a charity event.”

This example could be great. Charity work always makes you look like a solid and reliable candidate and sales skills are important. But this example is just too vague to mean very much. It should include some more tangible details about what you did to help, what was sold, and the nature of the charity event.

“Created and ran an apartment subletting website at my university, designing the website, taking the photographs, and ultimately helping an average of 100+ students find summer sublets from 2016-2018.”

This example is excellent. True, it’s from university, but it’s recent enough to be relevant. It also shows self-motivation, web design, networking, photography, and a general sense for matching customers with sellers in a market. In other words, in just 29 words this example demonstrates a whole range of highly relevant real estate skills.

How to write a resume objective or summary that hooks recruiters

As mentioned above, one of the best sections to include at the top of your resume is an objective or summary. But what’s the difference and which one should you use?

A resume objective is a short sentence or two simply stating what you aim to achieve. It’s an ideal choice if your experience for the real estate agent position is fairly standard and doesn’t require much explanation.

On the other hand, if your experience isn’t as self explanatory or there’s some other element of your resume that needs to be explained, a summary is best. A resume summary will generally be a bit longer, more of a paragraph. Let’s look at some examples to see how each should be written.

Real estate agent resume objective

A resume objective should be short, to the point, and packed with relevant information. It’s generally the first thing a recruiter will read so it sets the stage for the rest of your resume. This is your first impression, so think about what conclusions they will draw from it. Here are some examples:

“I’m an experienced real estate agent with all the qualifications to work at your agency.”

This is too vague. When a recruiter reads this, it tells them that this is a cookie-cutter resume sent to many agencies (because the name wasn’t mentioned) and that you don’t seem to possess any real sales skills. Compare that to this next objective example:

“Spanish speaking lifelong resident of Springfield with SRS certification looking for an agent position at Springfield Real Estate LLC.”

This objective tells you a lot in a few words, immediately giving you a sense of the candidate, their background, and why they would be a good fit. It also specifically mentions the company they’re applying to, indicating this is a customized resume (more on why that’s important below).

Real estate agent summary

Summaries are ideal if you’re making a career change, have a gap in your work experience, or simply have some other element of your resume you’d like to explain. They’re also a fantastic place to demonstrate that you can tell a compelling story that sells you as a candidate. So, for real estate agents, the bar is set quite high. Here are some examples to show you what yours should (and shouldn't) look like:

“I may not have very much experience in real estate, but the work I did in sales shows that I can excel in this career. In particular, my high sales numbers from 2018 show I understand the kind of customers you need to reach. Please review my resume and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.”

There are a few problems here. This summary is vague, it sounds unprofessional (you generally want to avoid speaking in the first person on your resume), and it wastes time asking the recruiter to do their job. Overall, this summary makes a poor first impression.

“4 years of experience in the top 5% of representatives selling luxury vacation packages, looking to change careers and apply those sales skills and customer knowledge to selling luxury real estate for Springfield Luxury Real Estate. Actively pursuing an RAA certification.”

This summary tells the reader why you’re making a career change and exactly how your experience has prepared you for it. It also shows that you’re actively pursuing a relevant certification. Lastly, mentioning the specific company you’re applying for here tells the recruiter you took the time to personalize your resume. Overall, this summary tells a recruiter that you’re dedicated, get to the point, have relevant skills, and are self-motivated. 

How to write a real estate agent resume when you have limited (or no) experience?

The good news is, many large brokerage firms have extensive in-house training and are willing to hire candidates with little or no real-estate experience. So the first thing to do is focus more on larger firms that will have the resources to train you.

Then, start obtaining training or certifications on your own. This will go a long way towards showing that you’re serious, eager, and self-motivated enough to succeed. Using a summary to explain why you’re trying to become a real estate agent will also help. You can also try starting in a more junior position in a real estate company before working your way up.

Lastly, find ways to show you have relevant skills in your work experience and achievements as detailed in the sections above. For example:

“Negotiated contracts with vendors”

Can be turned into:

“Led biannual contract negotiations with 4 primary vendors, obtaining a 16% cost decrease by agreeing to a new payment schedule.”

By being more specific, your previous work experience is far more impactful, even if you’re never worked in real estate.

How to make your resume stand out from the competition?

To summarize the advice of this guide, standing out from the competition comes down to:

• Having a clean resume design that doesn’t distract from the content.
• Putting an impactful objective or summary at the top.
• Crafting your skills based on the job ad.
• Being specific about your achievements.
• Including relevant certifications.

Together, nailing this 5 things will put you in an excellent position to land the real estate agent job you want.

How Resumebuild.com helps you create the perfect real estate resume

The last thing you need to create a real estate resume is a powerful resume builder. These days, a basic resume created in Word isn’t likely to make a strong impression. As a prospective real estate agent, you need to be able to sell yourself and a well-crafted real estate resume template will help you do that.

You also need a resume builder that is ATS-optimized to ensure you make it to a recruiter. The last thing you need is to spend the time to create a real estate agent resume only to discover it can’t make it past the ATS of a company you’re applying to.

Resumebuild.com makes this whole process easy. Simply browse through the array of professionally-developed templates, fill out your information based on our guide, and print or save the results. Now you’ve got a stunning, ATS-friendly, and well optimized resume that’s sure to delight recruiters.