The cursor blinked while Ellin wondered what she could do to make her CV more up-to-date. After an admirable seven-year stint as an account executive at Consolidated Smart Systems, she felt excited to pursue a change of scenery. But how could she bring her outdated, old CV into the modern, competitive job market of today?
Ellin needed some handy tips on how to get started, so she began researching what it would take to begin the next chapter of her life. She was eager to secure an amazing job that would give her a sense of fulfilment—and allow her to take that holiday abroad she’d been dreaming of, too!
Luckily, our invaluable CV-building tools were just a quick search query away! Our account executive CV examples and advice on building a CV helped Ellin secure her next interview. Find your own success by trying them for yourself!
Why this CV works
- Hiring managers always look for candidates who will enhance their business’s success. Therefore, you should clearly demonstrate the impact of your work on your account executive CV.
- Are you boosting sales, renewals, and upgrades for your business? Did you surpass targets, and if so, by how much? Did you excel in lead generation? Answer these questions to show the hiring manager that you’ll make a significant impact in your future workplace.
- Although your main focus should always be on your content, don’t feel you have to overlook aesthetics.
- Using a CV template can not only improve your formatting but also showcase some creative flair. Wouldn’t you rather read a CV with a unique layout and some colour over a black and white list?
Why this CV works
- By this time, you likely know the basics of how to write a resume, but that shouldn’t stop you from using a resume template to make the process easier.
- Templates are good for organisation and structure so the ATS can parse your CV. So, don’t be wary of using one for your senior account executive CV!
- As a senior employee, you probably have a range of additional responsibilities that don’t necessarily fall under your work experience.
- You can always include optional sections like certifications or projects to highlight experience that’s not quite a job. Of course, employers prefer to see work experience, but don’t avoid using these sections if they’re relevant.
View more senior account executive CVs >
Why this CV works
- If you’re applying for a more senior position, you should intentionally demonstrate growth throughout your experience section. When looking to progress in your career, you should always emphasise your past development (such as if you advanced from an intern to an executive, for example).
- We’d recommend using a reverse-chronological format to showcase how you’ve progressed in your career.
- You’re at the level of expertise where formatting your CV nicely really counts, so pay special attention to the format of your enterprise account executive CV.
- Reading from left to right, you can “flip” the arrangement of your CV to your advantage. If your experience is the real showstopper, place it on the left in block format. If you’d rather highlight your skills, keep those on the left.
View more enterprise account executive CVs >
Why this CV works
- When you’re looking for your next role as a sales account executive, it’s best to make a resume that reflects what the company is looking for in the account executive job description.
- For example, if the employer is looking for someone with experience in long sales cycles, you should mention any experience that is relevant to that specific requirement.
- You should also pay attention to the overall size of the business to which you’re applying. For example, if you only have experience with small businesses, you’ll need to be honest about that in your sales account executive CV.
- Space is valuable on your CV, so remove any unnecessary details.
- Start by removing any unnecessary adjectives or adverbs. Common examples include “successfully,” “closely,” and “as needed.” You should also eliminate personal pronouns in your bullet points.
- All the details you’d like to include about your projects and successes are best saved for writing your account executive cover letter.
View more sales account executive CVs >
Why this CV works
- A great way to demonstrate your in-depth knowledge of every logistics process is by allowing your career progression to speak for itself in your logistics account executive CV. A professional who has worked their way up the supply chain will be a valuable addition to any team.
- From starting as a warehouse operative to securing your current role, outline your journey and sprinkle in some key achievements here and there, such as “achieving 77% client retention” and “reducing order processing time by 3 minutes.”
Why this CV works
- Your junior account executive CV should immediately capture a recruiter’s attention with metrics and other examples of your success.
- Does your CV look somewhat sparse? Add a projects section! You can include academic projects, club memberships, side projects, or even volunteer work. Bonus: you can write these just like work experience bullet points, allowing you to add metrics!
- Measurable achievements can be a challenging area for entry-level applicants, so choose whichever of your accomplishments has the most significant impact.
- Having a foundation degree will certainly further your quest for an account executive position, and a bachelor’s degree is even better—list these in your CV if you have them!
- Even if you don’t have a university degree, you can still make an impact by listing relevant skills in your CV’s skills section. Incorporating them into your work experience bullet points is also beneficial! Add any additional courses or training sessions you’ve undertaken, too.
View more junior account executive CVs >
Why this CV works
- The last person a hiring manager wants to call for a senior role is someone who’s still working things out. That’s why your assistant account executive CV must clearly show you’ve been in the industry for a while and know how to excel in it.
- Discussing how you handled over 70 client records each week, collected feedback from more than 180 performers, prevented missed renewals, and wrote a content report that significantly boosted engagement metrics? For this role, that’s like waving a magic wand.
Why this CV works
- Writing your marketing account executive CV can be challenging. How are you supposed to convey years of experience on a single page?
- Our recommendation: write everything you want in the CV outline. Once you’ve written everything, rephrase your work experience bullet points so they start with action verbs (like “led,” “implemented,” “managed,” and “calculated”).
- Next, cut out unnecessary words (especially adjectives and adverbs). You might need to rewrite some things, but it’s worth it to create space!
- One of the easiest (and best) ways to save on space is by including metrics. Fortunately, as an account manager, you shouldn’t have much trouble finding good numbers.
- Include numbers and percentages relating to ROI, campaign results, quotas and sales targets you met, the total number of clients/colleagues you assisted, number of events attended annually, or how much revenue you generated.
View more marketing account executive CVs >
Why this CV works
- True, the recruiter is all ears, eager to learn all about your career journey. That, however, doesn’t give you the green light to spill an autobiography’s worth of details. Keep your narration concise and relevant—no need for an epic saga of your job history.
- Even with years of experience, aim to keep your radio account executive CV to just one page. The key to keeping things concise and effective? Focus on experiences that are relevant to the target role, avoid passive sentences, and make the most of action words to describe your achievements in punchy bullet points.
Why this CV works
- Your dream company is probably inundated with applications from candidates eager for the open regional account executive position. You can be sure they’ll be using some sophisticated applicant tracking system to handle the influx. That makes mastering how to navigate the system a clever tactic to ensure your masterpiece is seen by human eyes.
- Why not play detective with the job description, highlighting the key terms, and incorporating them into your regional account executive CV? This will not only help your CV get past ATS systems but also show the prospective employer that you’ve understood their requirements and are speaking their language. Finally, resist the temptation to embellish your document with graphics, tables, charts, or elaborate fonts.
Why this CV works
- If you have more than 10 years of experience, you can add a resume summary to act as a highlight reel on your key account executive resume.
- Include anything related to your most relevant achievements. It can be helpful to look at the account executive job description to see what employers might want to see in your summary.
- Furthermore, consider how you’ve assisted your previous employers. Did you generate millions in sales? Did you manage important accounts?
- Since key account executives are typically senior employees, you must demonstrate a wide range of responsibilities throughout your employment history.
- This can include working on larger accounts, leading projects, or creating new sales strategies. Perhaps you manage junior account managers or executives—anything that demonstrates leadership and increased responsibilities as you’ve progressed in your career.
View more key account executive CVs >
Related CV guides
How to Write an Account Executive CV
Before we delve into the details, let’s make one thing clear about your account executive CV; the single most important thing you should do is quantify your impact. Employers are looking for how future employees will benefit the company, so if you can prove that you’ve done so at your previous workplaces, hiring managers are bound to be impressed.
Aside from that, there are a few other tips you can use to maximise your chance of getting an interview:
- Quantify your achievements
- Emphasise relevant hard and soft skills for account executives
- Use industry-specific keywords
- Write a practical career overview
- Choose the right account executive CV format
We’ll explore each of these tips in more detail below, but before we do, here’s another top tip: proofread, proofread, proofread.
Grammar and spelling mistakes are the worst reason not to get an interview. And since hiring managers are reviewing hundreds of CVs, they’re looking for an excuse to say “no.”
Don’t give them an easy reason to say “no,” and instead check your CV diligently for any errors, no matter how small.
Account executive job description for CV
Tailoring your CV for each account executive role you apply for is a lot of work. That’s why this step will increase your chances of getting an interview; people rarely do it! By spending that extra time, you can increase your chances of securing an interview by over 25 percent.
When tailoring your CV for the job, use this basic approach:
- Read the job description. Do any specific projects or achievements come to mind as you read it? If so, add them to your CV in your work experience section.
- Look for keywords in the job descriptions (a specific CRM or sales methodology, for example). If you have those skills, add them to your CV skills section.
Let’s examine an example to see what this looks like in practice.
Example: Tailor your account executive CV for the role
Work history
If you have more years of experience as an account manager than as an account executive, this is how we might describe your most recent work experience:
USPay
August 2017 – Present, New York, NY
Account Executive
- Led the development of a demonstration strategy for a new product offering, targeting large financial institutions, which was used to generate £2.9 million in annual revenue
- Worked with SDRs to focus on target customer personas based on customer conversations, which reduced costs by 15% while improving the close rate by 22%
- Conducted regular reviews of existing account holders to ensure their needs were being met, resulting in an annual retention rate 3 percentage points above the plan
Account executive job description
This is a job description for an account executive position at ACME Corp:
What you will do:
- Develop and maintain a strong pipeline of well-qualified leads
- Take control of your sales cycles, from initial prospecting and opportunity identification right through to closing the sale and managing the post-sale relationship
- Be a high-touch sales representative who builds strong client connections and gains insight into how the ACME Corp solution can create maximum value for our customers.
- Develop expertise and become a key resource for information on ACME Corp and the customer experience management industry.
- Land and expand is a crucial strategy for our growth—you will be expected to develop and maintain key accounts, identify opportunities for the company to continue delivering value, and demonstrate the impact our product has on the client’s customer success strategy.
- Keep track of everything—new leads, deal progress, marketing commitments, and success rates—so you can regularly report back to your manager on how brilliant you are.
Update the work experience
It seems like this account executive role is a bit further along in the sales process. Let’s assume you’ve had some of these responsibilities, but it’s not a perfect fit. Let’s customise it!
Let’s start by fixing the first bullet point. Remove the focus on product demonstrations and replace it with experience in prospecting (changes underlined). Then, since they want someone who also manages the post-sale relationships, the bullet point about performing regular follow-ups is a great one to keep. Now this looks more like the job description!
Feedzai
August 2017 – Present, New York NY
Account Executive
- Led customer prospecting and opportunity identification for a new product offering, targeting large financial institutions, which generated £2.9 million in annual revenue.
- Worked closely with SDRs to focus on target customer personas based on customer conversations, which reduced costs by 15% while improving the close rate by 22%
- Conducted regular follow-ups with existing account holders to ensure their needs were being met, resulting in an annual retention rate 3 percentage points above the plan.
The changes don’t need to be drastic. Make small adjustments to each of your work experience sections until they more closely reflect the job description (but never exactly match, as that’s a warning sign).
CV skills
You’ve got another opportunity to customise your CV with your CV’s skills section.
Let’s take a step back and provide some context:
Before the hiring manager or recruiter looks at your CV, an automated system called an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) will score it. The ATS is simply checking to see whether your CV contains certain keywords.
For example, if a job description repeatedly states they are looking for someone with internal sales experience, you can be sure the ATS will be searching for the keyword “internal sales experience.”
Having said that, keep your skills section to your top five to ten skills. Listing more than that is a warning sign for employers, as is listing any fewer. Around six to eight skills is a good number to aim for.
Common CV skills for account executives
- Written and Verbal Communication
- Contract Negotiation
- Presentation
- Organisation
- Microsoft Office (PowerPoint, Word, Excel)
- CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot)
- Problem-solving
- Sales Fundamentals and Relationship Building
- Follow-ups
- Detail-oriented
- Time Management
- Multitasking
- Developing Client Relationships
- Sales Reporting
- Telephone Sales
- Internal Sales
- Self-motivated
What is a good CV summary for an account executive?
It quantifies your achievements, utilises relevant skills to achieve the expected impact, and showcases the most important qualifications of a candidate. Additionally, it must be concise and tailored to the specific role so that recruiters can easily see why you’re the best fit for the vacancy.
However, let’s be honest about your CV objective or CV summary. Most of the time, you don’t need one.
They occupy space that could be used for work experience, and they are usually generic and lacking in any real value. Since you want everything on your account executive CV to enhance your chances of securing an interview, you need to consider whether it’s worth including a summary or an objective.
Our recommendation? Unless you’re going to tailor it for each job you apply for, you’re better off not including a summary or an objective.
Having said that, here are some examples of effective CV objectives and summaries for account executives to give you some inspiration.
Account executive CV objective/summary examples
- Experienced account executive with over 6 years of experience in high-value B2B enterprise sales. Seeking to utilise my ability to build meaningful relationships with prospective clients in an organisation like ACME Corp, where I can contribute to the mission of democratising online payments globally.
- Through my extensive experience with internal sales, I’ve learned repeatable, scalable strategies to better prospect clients and overcome objections, resulting in an additional $10 million a year for my previous employers. I am looking to continue to further hone my internal sales skills at an early-stage, growing SaaS company like ACME Corp.
- Senior key account executive with over 10 years of experience across the entire sales cycle for small and enterprise B2B companies, generating millions in sales. Seeking an opportunity to utilise my data-driven account management style to manage key accounts at a top-performing health company like ACME Corp.
Assess your impact
The most valuable thing you can do to maximise your chances of getting an interview as an account executive is to use numbers on your CV.
This achieves a few objectives:
Why this CV works
- It draws attention, meaning the hiring manager will spend more time reviewing your CV.
- It convinces the hiring manager that since you’ve made a measurable impact in your previous roles, it’s likely you’ll have a similar impact in the position for which they’re recruiting.
- It demonstrates your keen understanding of which metrics an account manager should be improving.
As an account executive, there are a whole range of metrics on which you can focus. You don’t have to provide precise numbers, either—rough estimates are fine.
Here are some questions you can ask to determine how to include metrics in your work experience on your CV:
- How did I perform against sales targets? How much revenue did I generate for the company?
- What was my conversion rate like? Was it better than average? By how much?
- What was the retention rate for the accounts I managed? How much revenue did that produce?
- Did the accounts I managed generate additional revenue from upgrades? How much?
- How many leads did I generate, and how much revenue did they produce?
- How effective were my product demonstrations in increasing adoption or conversion rate?
Once more, this isn’t an exact science. You’re simply trying to demonstrate that you are data-driven and understand which metrics are the most important drivers of a business.
Here’s a specific example of a work experience description with and without numbers to clarify. Which do you think is more convincing?
WRONG – no measurable metrics
Acme Corp
August 2016 – May 2018, New York, NY
Account Executive
- Led internal sales efforts as the start-up grew year on year
- Introduced and analysed sales strategies to iteratively improve lead generation performance
- Worked closely with the executive team to revamp induction processes, which improved product adoption rate
RIGHT – measurable impact
Acme Corp
August 2016 – May 2018, New York, NY
Account Executive
- Led internal sales efforts as the startup grew from $5M in annual revenue to $27M
- Introduced and analysed sales strategies to improve lead generation performance by 35% year on year
- Worked closely with the executive team to revamp induction processes, which improved product adoption rate by 26%
We know applying for jobs is exhausting and stressful, but we believe in you! Follow your CV up by using a cover letter generator.
And remember, keep your chin up, keep applying, and follow these CV examples and tips so you can start interviewing for your next account executive role in no time!
Account Executive CV FAQs
On a CV, an account executive drives sales, manages client relationships, and supports sustainable business growth. To achieve this, you must demonstrate skills in sales and marketing, customer management, and communication. Employers want to see your achievements from your previous roles to determine your suitability.
Begin with a CV objective, demonstrating your enthusiasm for the profession and experiences from placements and projects. Highlight transferable skills gained from coursework and training, and how you can utilise them to excel in the new role. Additionally, use your education and any relevant qualifications to your advantage. Employers want to see your potential, and this is how you show them.
Use numbers to quantify your work descriptions to increase your chances of securing more interviews. By doing this, you achieve two things: you catch the attention of hiring managers and demonstrate your measurable achievements. Employers want to hire a candidate with a successful track record in a similar role.
One page is sufficient to demonstrate why you deserve the job. As you write your CV, concentrate solely on aspects that enhance your application, such as relevant skills, quantified work experience, education, and qualifications. Don’t bore recruiters with details that don’t illustrate why you are the most qualified candidate for the role.
An ideal career summary provides an overview of your impressive track record, skills, and impact in the new role. It also encapsulates what the hiring manager needs to know about your exceptional abilities that align with the job requirements.
