Reframe Your Resume to Win More Interviews.
Level 1 - Unlocking Interviews at F500 & Unicorns (where you can bend your learning curve, build a network of sharks, and get paid $$$).
Introduction
Read on to find out what makes the difference between landing your dream job and being thrown in the trash pile (proven templates, detailed examples, and actionable steps included).
Average people look at their resumes like some professional diary. Chads do the opposite.
Resumes and cover letters are *psyops* to plant subtle seeds and flesh out a specific image that gets recruiters going (and want to pick YOU on their team).
This article boils down the nuances learned helping 150+ people land a 6-figure Sales Job and reviewing over HUNDREDS of resumes over the last few years.
My promise to you is simple, by the end of this article, you will know how to put together a Resume that gets recruiters and hiring managers at F500 companies & unicorns to open their gates and give you an opportunity to demonstrate why *YOU* ARE THE PRIZE.
Part I - Forget Everything You Know About Writing A Resume
Resumes Serve Only One Goal (And Nothing Else)
Grabbing the attention of a very specific target: Sales Hiring Managers.
Since a resume is an ad, conversion can be optimized. Hiring managers all want the same thing.
Marketing Is Great, Deceiving Is Not
Let’s wrap up with the dirty secret of resumes: *everyone lies*. This is sales after all and if you can’t tell the difference between marketing and deceiving, the simulation/universe/god will BREAK YOU. The rule of thumb is this: white lies are ok, making up an experience from a figment of imagination is not (it'll show during the interview).
The mob will come after me for saying this, but hopefully the next section will help them read through the lines – white lies include:
✅ Inflating the importance of a minor skill.
✅ Glossing over short employment gaps.
✅ Enhancing one's role in a team project.
✅ Slightly exaggerating accomplishments.
✅ Downplaying personal weaknesses in a way that doesn't misrepresent.
Under no circumstances should you lie about:
🚫 Educational qualifications
🚫 Work experience
🚫 Criminal history
🚫 Job seniority
🚫 Legal eligibility to work
That last part was painful to write but someone needs to shed some light on the ugly and how to navigate the gray areas.
Stop Wasting Time On Nonsense
Hiring managers and recruiters have the attention span of a 5-year-old. They spend on average 7 seconds [link] to decide whether you’re worth meeting or not (can’t blame them given the sheer volume of candidates they go through).
The Joneses are struggling because they believe the CV is about them. It’s not.
They focus on things like 1) colors and fonts 2) stacking (not so great) online certifications, or 3) regurgitating their entire life story in an attempt to show the vastness of their experience (no one cares about you, and even less so about anything you did 10+ years ago).
This IS NOT how you increase the conversion rate. The next section reveals where you should spend your time if you’re semi-serious about breaking into the top sales organization where entry levels clear 6-figures in their first year.
Minimum Resume Conversion Benchmarks To Aim For:
Here are some of the minimum thresholds you need to keep in mind:
Entry Level Sales (< 1-year experience): 10%
Mid Level (< 2-5 years experience): 15%
Senior Level (5+ years): 20%
Anything below that means your CV game is WEAK. If that’s your case, don’t worry. This article will reveal everything you need to know to fix this quickly and easily.
*Note: Resume (CV) Conversion Rate = (Total Number of Job Applications / Number of Successful Job Applications) ×100. So if you send 20 applications and received invitations to interview with 3 companies, your conversion rate would be 15% (3 / 20 x 100).
Part II - The Seven Frames To Capture Attention
*If there is one section in this post you want to read twice - this is it*
The Biblical Transformation of a Resume: Body, Mind, Spirit
Elite resumes that convert absurdly well have essentially three aspects I like to call: Body, Mind, and Spirit. The three together create that snap quick coherent image the manager forms of you.
The Body: Keep It Stupid Simple
1-pager (they lose attention after the first page)
Have a strong visual hierarchy
Black and white
The 2 - 3 most recent roles (last 5-7 years of experience max).
Mind: Deploy All The Persuasion Techniques
Reciprocity: Make your CV easy to navigate and recruiters will return you the favor.
Authority/Status: Pedigree of previous employers, level of seniority…
Commitment: Long tenure, University Degree, or Personal Business…
Social Proof: Achievements, Quantifying impact of your activities (in $$$)...
Liking: Read the same sales books and hobbies played at a competitive level to subtly demonstrate top-performer vibes
Scarcity: Subtle cues to demonstrate you’re a rare breed: a top performer (or have the potential to become one).
Unity: Use sales industry jargon so you’re “one of them”.
*Pro tip: Read INFLUENCE by Robert Cialdini or NGMI.
Spirit: High-Level Frames To Capture Attention
The frames I am about to share are extremely potent for a couple of reasons: 1) they directly tackle the sales hiring managers' worst nightmares and 2) subtly diffuse their worries.
How much you can stack these frames together is directly correlated to the number of interviews your CV will help get.
NOTHING ELSE will contribute to increasing your odds more than that. This is the nuclear stuff.
Frame #1: NEUTRALIZING WORRY with RELIABILITY
🤡 Hiring Manager’s Concern #1: What if I invest time and resources training the candidate only to hear sales isn’t the right thing for him a couple of months from now?”
🧠 Tactic: Flesh out pure sales experience or sales-related experiences to demonstrate you can resist the test of time.
🐲Resume Word Track Example (Sales Rep): Key Achievement: Promoted new business development - actively extended the client portfolio by bringing in 100+ new sales-qualified opportunities
⚔️ ️ Persuasion Techniques:
Social Proof: Use job titles related to sales, or achievements like quotas, rookie of the year, or president’s club.
Commitment and Consistency: Time spent in a role involving lots of rejection.
Unity: Integrate sales jargon to subtly demonstrate competence (things like # of sales qualified leads, quota, fiscal year, multithreading, top-line revenue, retention, churn, logo, full cycle, etc).
**BONUS: A cover letter where you literally write the “Why sales?” and reply below is beneficial for 1) new grads, 2) individuals looking to switch careers (accountant → sales), or 3) individuals with a significant time gap between roles. Here is an old example [Link].
Frame 2: Neutralizing Worry with COACHABILITY
🤡 Hiring Manager’s Concern #2: What if this candidate plays nice but he turns out to be uncoachable and just impossible to work with?
🧠 Tactic: Communicate the desire to *be molded* into the next top performer using the organization’s resources (people, tools, training, etc).
🐲 Resume Word Track Example (Versatile): Relationship development and growth achieved through corporate executive seminars and trainings
⚔️ Persuasion Techniques:
Social Proof: Name drop corporate training programs or Mentee/Mentor relationship experiences
Liking: Include mainstream sales or self-development books to demonstrate appetite to learn, and create common threads with recruiters. The more mainstream, the BEST (ie Tony Robbins, Dale Carnegie, Never Split The Difference, etc)
Frame 3: Neutralizing Worry with CREDIBILITY.
🤡 Hiring Manager’s Concern #3: Am I comfortable having this candidate sit in the same room as my boss or a big client?
🧠 Tactic: Raise status via competence and executive presence.
🐲 Resume Word Track Example (from a Business Analyst): Established and nurtured long-lasting business relationships with 100+ C-suite and other key decision-makers
⚔️ Persuasion Techniques:
Authority/Status: High-Status position title, or high profile organization (BIG 4, Unicorns, F500, Bulge Brackets, etc)
Social Proof: Average deal size, or a number of logo onboarded, or net new revenue generated
Frame 4: Neutralizing Worry with ADAPTABILITY
🤡 Hiring Manager’s Concern #4: Is he going to crumble under high-pressure situations?
🧠 Tactic: Discipline and Ability Thrive in Ambiguous/High pressure
🐲Resume Word Track Example (from a Military): Held various leadership positions from Team Leader, Squad Leader to Weapons Squad Leaders to Section Leader.
⚔️ Persuasion Techniques:
Commitment: Promotion blitz is a subtle way to demonstrate a consistent ability to operate at the next level.
Social Proof: Extended tenure (+3 years) is also a healthy sign of reliability.
Frame 5: Neutralizing Worry with Affinity.
🤡 Hiring Manager’s Concern #5: What if he’s too awkward to build the kind of relationships that make Decision Makers feel comfortable opening up?
🧠 Tactic: Building Rapport and nurturing relationships with business partners
🐲 Resume Word Track Example (from a Waiter): Developed a clear understanding of the clientele personas and identified winning strategies to maximize retention & customer gratuity.
⚔️ Persuasion Techniques:
Authority/Status: The job title in itself sets the right frame in the Hiring Manager’s mind (positive association).
Frame 6: Neutralizing Worry with Ability / Competence.
🤡Hiring Manager’s Concern #6: What if I hire him only to find him on PIP a few months from now? (*Performance Improvement Plan = last chance given to sales reps to fix their performance issue before they’re fired)
🧠 Tactic: Demonstrate proficiency in core sales skills from Prospecting, Business Requirement Gathering, Qualifying, Pitching to Contracting, etc
🐲Resume Word Track Example (from a Teacher): Understand the needs, pain points and communication styles unique to every student and adapt my approach for effective results.
⚔️ Persuasion Techniques:
Authority/Status: The job title in itself sets the right frame in the Hiring Manager’s mind(positive association).
Unity: Using company jargon correctly tends to raise your perceived value and competence level.
Frame 7: Neutralizing Worry with Proactivity.
🤡 Hiring Manager’s Concern #7: It’s going to take forever to teach this guy the ropes. (hiring managers despite high maintenance reports or babysitting).
🧠 Tactic: Proactivity to demonstrate initiative and efficiency with things like entrepreneurship, or volunteering.
🐲Resume Word Track Example (from a Student) - Key Achievement: Fundraised $10k through local sponsors to pay for golf equipment and over 20 hours in golf practice for 6 members - Negotiated reduced pricing for our club members with the major local club.
⚔️ Persuasion Techniques:
Scarcity: The experience to create and monetize value on your own (implied you solved 10,000 problems)
Part III - Actionable Steps To Follow
Step 0: Download this CV Template [Link]
In Theory: One-pager or NGMI. 2-3 pages only show intellectual deficiency. This is a bit radical, but if you can’t articulate your thoughts and boil down the essentials - you’re sending the wrong signal and stacking the odds against you.
In Practice: From the $85k SDR to +$300k Enterprise AE, I’ve used the *same template* with every client to draw attention, and land interviews with the top F100 organizations and unicorns. I’m giving it for FREE [Link].
Step 1: Contact Information and *Citizenship*
In Theory: Too often Hiring Managers discard candidates because they can't determine if the candidate possesses the legal requirements to be even considered for the role (things like work permit etc)... removing any doubts in the very first line will only benefit you.
In Practice: Add citizenship next to your name to discard worries early on and a phone number with a local phone number.
**Note: There is too much supply of domestic talent for entry-level sales to go through legal hassles and sponsorship. Looking to land a role in US/CAN/EUROPE without the legal requirement is not impossible but an uphill battle. Your best bet is to approach fully remote organizations like Deel.
Step 2: Career Interest
In Theory: Hiring managers are struggling severely with the retention of entry-level sales. The worst thing you can do to a manager is join his team and then leave 2-3 months later. This will look bad on him, so anything you can do to neutralize
People don’t know what they don’t know, and many are first drawn by the financial gains but don’t have the pain tolerance needed to navigate the ups and downs of the profession.
In Practice: Anyone below 5 years of experience, state firmly your desire to learn and use industry jargon to subtly inject credibility and show you’re not here by chance. The following word track does it well “Learn top Enterprise Sales & BD practices for SaaS technologies”.
Step 3: Summary of Qualifications and Career Objectives
In Theory: Studies of eye-tracking recruiters screening through CV showed they spend increased time at the middle center of CV. This is typically the section where candidates summarize their skills and attitudes.
In Practice: Weaponize the section to shape the right image in the recruiters' psyche and build the right first impressions. The following word track works extremely well:
Step 4: Education
In Theory: A college degree will only increase your chances - even more so with social proof. Education is not mandatory to get your foot through the door and clear 6-figures in sales though.
In Practice: If you have more than 10 years of professional experience, this section should be moved after the work experience. Otherwise, put it before and maintain the same format as below.
Things like GPA and Leadership/Academic Scholarship or University Varsity team are lethal ways to subtly raise your value and demonstrate competence.
NB: Assuming you recently graduated (< 2 years), high-status jobs like management consulting or M&A will ask for transcripts 99% of the time….tech sales firms less so. Also, everyone stops asking for transcripts past 5-10 years. The silver line is never lie about having a diploma you don’t have. Do with that as you want.
Step 5: Work Experience or Career-Related Experience
In Theory: 1) Keep the same format as in the picture 2) Make sure the dates interface well with the other experience 3) Stack
In Practice:
Job Title: Introduced “Lead” to increase perceived value in the hierarchy and raise status.
Tenure: Unless it’s an internship or you’re in your early 20s, remove job experiences with less than 6-8 months tenure.
Work Experience:
Synthesis: Contain the career to the last two or three most recent experiences (cover ground of the last 5-10 last years max).
Description: One sentence (<30 words) that either a) describes the company mission in simple words or 2) Describes one main responsibility from your role that interfaces with sales (customer-facing role, lead generation, etc).
Key Achievement (IMPORTANT!): The very first bullet point should flesh out the contribution to moving top-line revenue. We are in the world of HUNTING, and you are applying to a revenue-generating role so be relevant (metrics like net new revenue, quota attainment, # of SQL generated, # logo onboarded, etc)
Subsequent Bullet Points = Reframe your experience, role, and responsibilities using the 7 Cardinal Frames as shown in the example:
Step 6: Language & Computer Skills
In Theory: Drop the right sales enablement stack on your resume will is an easy way to put you ahead of the pack (you will take less time to start producing).
In Practice: You want to include the following tools:
Data analysis and synthesis tools: Excel and PowerPoint
Navigate Company hierarchy and find Decision Maker: Linkedin Sales Navigator
Scrap DM info: LeadIQ, ZoomInfo, Lusha or Apollo
Mass Outreach: Outreach, Gong or Salesloft to call prospect, and sequence email drips.
CRM: Salesforce, Hubspot or SAP.
*Note: No one needs expects you to be a pro, however you should have a functional knowledge of what they do - nothing a 10mn YouTube video can't solve.
Conclusion: Three Options To Move Forward
Option 1 (Free): Download the template given above and get cranking at optimizing your resume. More FREE alpha are available on my Twitter feed, and I will continue pumping more material on the Substack .
Option 2 ($599): Get expert guidance by going through the Course: Zero To $100k: Landing Any Tech Sales Role. Get an entirely detailed step-by-step process from finding the companies to landing the job. Includes: in-depth nuanced knowledge, 50+ ready-to-go proven templates, 20+ before and after resume examples (yeah I know!), and unexpected tips and tricks. There is everything you need to plug and play. No guarantees but clients typically land the part in 8-12 weeks. Sign up for the course here: Zero To $100k in 4 Weeks.
Option 3 (not cheap): Get 1-1 Personalized Mentorship. This is THE NUCLEAR stuff. I’ll do everything for you, and hold your hand through the whole process. This is for those who want the highest value in the shortest amount of time. Reply to this email or DM me on Twitter if that’s how you want to play the January recruitment window.
Your friend,
/BowTiedCocoon
Amazing breakdown.
It's incredible how you managed to synthesise this all into a 10-15 minute read