Posted on November 7, 2022 in Career 

How to Create a Standout Salesforce Resume + FREE TEMPLATES

There is no doubt that the Salesforce economy is booming. From 2019 to 2024, IDC predicts that 4.2 million new jobs will be created in the Salesforce ecosystem. That said, it can be hard to stand out when applying for that perfect role. Your Salesforce resume is the key to landing a job and is your first impression for potential employers or recruiters. 

You’ll want to spend some time crafting a standout resume that will clearly show you have the experience, qualifications, and skills recruiters and hiring managers are looking for. 

Additionally, it’s important to note that due to the sheer volume of applicants, companies often use an applicant tracking system (ATS) to scan and filter resumes. How you format your resume and keywords can affect how successfully ATS can scan, read, and import your information.

We’ll go through how to craft a fabulous Salesforce resume, and even provide you with four templates that you can take and make your own!

>> Jump to the resume templates >>

We also did a webinar on this topic with real-world resume examples and advice on cover letters, as well as setting up your LinkedIn profile.

How Do I Add to Salesforce to My Resume?

Whether you’ve been in the ecosystem for years or you’re new to it, showcasing your experience on your resume is key to standing out and securing a job.

Even if you don’t have that much real-world experience, there are ways to get noticed. Any and all relevant Salesforce experience including training courses, Trailhead, volunteer experience, and personal portfolios should be moved to the top of your resume for increased visibility.

In particular, we recommend creating a “Professional Development” section that highlights any Salesforce-specific activities. This shows a dedication to your ongoing development, which is a key trait for any Salesforce Professional.

Keep in mind what recruiters and hiring managers are looking for, and be aware that they may not have an in-depth understanding of Salesforce, so they’ll be looking for easy signs that you could be the professional they need. This includes making your Salesforce experience the focus of your resume and adding visual aids – for example, if you have certifications, add their logos to the top of your resume!

Crafting a Standout Salesforce Resume

You’ll want to include all of the following sections in your Salesforce resume:

Header

What to include:

• Name
• Title

Your header should include your name and current job title. It’s important to include these details in the body of your resume and not in an actual header, as this can prevent ATS from importing these details. Your name should stand out, so be sure to increase its font size and make it bold. 

Contact Details

What to include:

• Phone
• Email 
• Location 
• Social links

You want to make it as easy as possible for a potential employer or recruiter to contact you, so make sure your details are up to date and accurate! 

Phone: Include the best number to contact you on such as your mobile phone number. 

Email: Use your personal email address but be sure to use a professional one such as Gmail. Avoid using email addresses that could be interpreted as unprofessional; [email protected] might not give off the right impression! Your email address is an unintended brand message and can cause people to make snap judgements about you and your suitability for a role or company. 

Location: This can be your full address or simply city and state.

Social links: Include any professional social links such as LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, your website, or blog. This is a great opportunity to show off your accomplishments if you have a successful blog or YouTube channel. 

Certifications

What to include:

• Salesforce certifications
• Other relevant certifications e.g. Tableau

Everyone loves a certified professional! This is a key area of interest to employers and recruiters so include all of your Salesforce certifications. You should also include any other relevant certifications, such as Tableau, as this demonstrates a breadth of knowledge and continued professional development. 

Awards

What to include:

• Work-related awards such as “Developer of the month” or “Employee of the year”
• Relevant contest awards such as “Winner of the 2018 Dreamforce Hackathon”
• Personal achievements such as “Featured in 10 Best Salesforce Blogs 2020”

The job market can be highly competitive so anything that makes you stand out is a good thing to include in your resume. Awards demonstrate that you are an exceptional candidate, with a track record of recognized achievements.  Emphasize the impressiveness of the award, for example, was it a regional or national award, and how many other people were in the running for the same award or prize?

Skills

What to include:

• Programming languages
• Operating systems/third party tools
• Software proficiency
• Technical writing
• Project management
• Business analysis
• Data analysis

Go through the job description and match your skills where possible; this will make it much easier for a potential employer to see how closely you fit their job criteria. If you need to save space, only include relevant skills to the role you are applying for. 

Hobbies and Interests

What to include:

• User group leadership
• Community event organizer
• Event speaker – User Groups, Community Events, Salesforce Events
• Writer/Blogger/Vlogger
• Mentoring/coaching
• Volunteering/charity work
• Hobbies such as team sports or participating in hackathons

As well as making you seem like a real person, and not just another resume, your hobbies and interests section is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate your achievements and suitability for the role. 

Your hobbies and interests should reinforce the idea that you would be an ideal candidate. Hobbies can demonstrate transferable skills, for example, mentoring would show the ability to support a team, especially junior colleagues, which would be very useful in a Salesforce Team Manager role. 

Relevant hobbies indicate a commitment to continued personal and professional development, which is key for anyone in a Salesforce role. As the Salesforce product suite continues to grow, and with three releases a year, companies want to employ people who are proactive and engaged. 

This section can also be useful if you do not yet have a lot of Salesforce work experience but actively participate in the Salesforce community. 

Professional Summary/Personal Statement

What to include:

• Years of experience
• Industry
• Number of certifications
• Stand out skills e.g. speaking another language
• Relevant hard skills
• Relevant soft skills
• Key accomplishments and numbers to back them up

It could be argued that this is the most important part of your resume and your first opportunity to impress. Your professional summary or personal statement should be a few short sentences, certainly no more than a single paragraph, detailing your relevant career experiences and skills.

This section needs to be short, snappy, and to the point. Include only relevant information, accomplishments and back it up with numbers. 

Professional Development

Many would argue that work experience is the most important factor to employers, but in the Salesforce ecosystem, you can go even further and create a specific section for any relevant Salesforce-specific professional development. This could be:

• Programs that you’re taking part in (Trailhead Military, PepUpTech, Supermums, etc.)
• Trailhead Rank, Superbadges or Supersets
• Salesforce training
• Scholarships towards qualifications, training, or programs
• Links to relevant portfolio materials

This section should appear towards the top of your resume so that a hiring manager or recruiter sees your Salesforce experience quickly. This section could sit directly under your Professional Summary and before Work Experience, especially if your Salesforce work experience is limited.

Work Experience

What to include:

• Job title
• Company
• Dates of employment
• Responsibilities and accomplishments
• Numbers that quantify accomplishments

You don’t need to include huge paragraphs about each role, instead, include a brief paragraph about the role followed by your key achievements. Be sure to quantify accomplishments with numbers! Avoid listing tasks as this takes up unnecessary space.

Enter your work experience in reverse chronological order, meaning your most recent roles and experience are at the top of your resume.

As you progress through your career there is no need to include detailed information about every job you’ve had, especially if it was in an unrelated role. Your early career history can be truncated into a short sentence such as “Additional administrative positions at Company ABC and Company XYZ”. 

Education

What to include:

• Name of your school
• Qualification attained e.g. Bachelors, Masters, Postgraduate
• Your grade or GPA (or expected grade if you are currently studying)
• Any awards or honors relevant to the qualification

If you are a school leaver or recent graduate with little professional work experience, you can include your education section above your work experience section. The same applies if you are currently in education and looking for your first job. Otherwise, put education beneath your work experience.

Enter your education information in reverse chronological order, meaning your most recent qualifications are at the top of your resume. You do not need to enter the year of graduation. 

If you have further education such as a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, you do not need to add your high school education. 

Salesforce Resume Templates

We’ve put together a collection of Salesforce resume templates that you can use to get started! Choose the template that best suits the industry you work in; we’ve included a more formal, standard template, as well as stylized versions.

When you open the Salesforce resume template, you’ll have the option to create a copy that you can customize with your own experience. PLEASE CLICK ‘FILE’ THEN ‘MAKE A COPY’.

PLEASE CLICK ‘FILE’ THEN ‘MAKE A COPY’.

• Resume 1 – Plain with no certification logos
• Resume 2 – Plain with certification logos
• Resume 3 – Stylized with no certification logos
• Resume 4 – Stylized with certification logos

Still Stuck?

We get it. Writing your resume is hard! What’s relevant/what isn’t? Was that achievement really that impressive? What did I even do at that job – I can’t remember!

If you’re unsure what roles, responsibilities, or skills to include in your Salesforce resume, then check out our salary guides; you might spot valuable competencies and experience you didn’t realize were relevant or desirable! 

Final Tips

• Use a standard, easy-to-read font. Nobody wants to be squinting at a resume written in Mistral font.
• Don’t go wild using too much capitalization (you’re not shouting), italics, underlines, or bold.
• Choose your resume template based on the company you are applying for. Some may prefer a more standard, conservative template and won’t appreciate displays of creativity such as colors, columns, fancy icons, or fonts. 
• Ideally send your resume as a word document, not a PDF, as this will make it easier for any ATS to parse it correctly. 
• Adjust your resume based on the role you are applying for, adding or amending keywords that match the job description. 
• Ask someone to proofread your resume for spelling and grammatical errors.
• Ideally your resume should be a single page, but certainly no longer than two pages.
• It is not necessary to include a headshot, gender, age, race, marital status, salary, or other personal information.
• Talk up your accomplishments but don’t lie! Saying you’re highly skilled in a certain area, only to be questioned about it during an interview and having no idea, is embarrassing. If you’re working with a recruiter, chances are it will get back to them that you’ve embellished your resume and they may be unwilling to work with you again. 
• Check out our “Ultimate Guide to Getting a Salesforce Job” for more information on how to get started in the Salesforce ecosystem

Further Resources

• Trailhead: Resume Writing Strategies
• 10 Ways to Future-Proof Your Salesforce Career