Account Executive Resume & Guide | 18 Templates | 2022 (2024)

Last Updated on November 4, 2022 by Amy Scott

If you are seeking a new job opportunity as an Account Executive, reviewing a well-constructed Account Executive resume sample is always a good idea to assist you in crafting your own unique resume.

Tremendous competition exists due to the demand for Account Executive jobs; therefore, your resume has to stand out from the crowd by providing relevant factual information about accomplishments and experience.

In the write-up below, we will unpack the structure of creating an interview-winning document.

Account Executive Resume Examples

(Free sample downloads are at the bottom of this page)

Account Executive Resume Writing Guide

Resume Sections:

1. Contact information
2. Profile Summary
3. Employment History
4. Accomplishments
5. Education
6. Skill Section
7. Certification & licensing
8. Extras: Languages/Awards/Publications/Volunteering/hobbies
9. > Professional information

What to Highlight in an Account Executive Resume

There are a few essential factors that employers and recruiters look for in an Account Executive Resume to ensure you would be a good fit for the job and the team.

Account Executives are often confused with Sales Executives, and these two roles do overlap sometimes but have one distinct difference: Account Executives attract new clients to the business, while sales executives sell products and services to clients.

First and foremost, you need to show your ability to identify prospective clients. Research activities are crucial to an account executive job, but also the ability to target the correct fit in terms of client prospects. If the advertising agency that you work for concentrates on commercial clients located on the east coast, contacting clients in the midwest would be a waste of time. This is where market intelligence and business analytics experience are most valuable.

Secondly, Account Executives are experts at building lasting relationships with clients even if they have not signed up for the service or bought the companies products. Some of these relationships may continue for months (even years) before the prospect takes action and becomes a fully fledged client. Make sure to elaborate on your networking skills and the tools you use to stay in touch, promote your organization, and engage with potential business prospects.

Next is the development of proposals and presentations to pitch your company’s service offering to clients. Account executives work closely with graphic designers, marketers, copywriters, product developers, and advertising executives during the pitching process to present a ‘’proof of concept’’ or pilot product customized to the client’s requirements to secure their business. Proving your ability to present, persuade, and negotiate is imperative in this section.

Once the client is onboard the real work of an account executive begins. You are literally on call 24/7 to coordinate successful execution of marketing campaigns from concept design to testing to full implementation. You have to highlight your competencies regarding project management in this section and showcase your abilities to adhere to deadlines, plan time frames and also stick to budgetary constraints to deliver the perfect product solution or advertising campaign.

*Cool Tip for a stellar resume

Finally, you can create an excellent first impression by including a snapshot of your client contracts secured with each job you have held as an Account Executive. View this as your resume pitch to show hiring managers what you are capable of.

Herewith an example of what to include:

Make sure to include the following details

• Account Executives often get assigned client territories either by product, client demographics, or physical location.
• Your GPA score if you have completed a bachelor or associates degree (if higher than 3.5). The competition is fierce thus the better your academic record, the better your chances of landing an interview.
• List the client spent or turnover per quarter and perhaps divide the numbers between new clients and recurring clients.
• Zoho CRM, Salesforce, Pipedrive CRM, Salesfusion, Insightly, InsightSquared are examples of client management platforms and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms that you should be familiar with.
• Communication and collaboration tools are also essential applications for an account executive as you need to have instant access to your clients, your team, and other departments in the organization to ensure efficient and effective workflow processes. Examples include cloud-based systems like Slack, Asana, Google Hangouts, or Skype.
• Being familiar with the newest tools for proposals and formulating pitches gives you the edge. Examples include Qwilr, Proposify, Salesforce CPQ, seProposals, and PandaDoc.
• Account Executives travel significantly, notably when you are in a senior role. Be sure to indicate the locations or countries you have visited before
• As a final point, remember that account executives often work long hours, during weekends and public holidays. You need to state your willingness to work irregular hours and be on standby to do crises management if needed.

1. Contact information

• First & Last Name
• Email
• Physical Address
• LinkedIn / Portfolio

2. Career Summary & Examples

The demand for Account Executive roles (job seekers) far outweighs the supply (available openings). You have 6 seconds to capture the attention of a hiring manager or recruiter. Make it count with a well-crafted career summary that is punchy and to the point.

Start your career summary with your years of experience in the industry your most important job activities. Align your job description with the keywords used in the vacancy advertisem*nt. For instance, if the job you are applying to highlights presentation and networking skills, ensure that those keywords are present in your resume.

Next, add a sentence that amplifies non-negotiable qualities or skills needed in an Account Executive role. Skills such as research, market analytics, networking, and engagement would be of interest to a hiring manager. Make sure to use action-packed example statements as proof your skills and capabilities to re-enforce your fit for the role at hand.

In the last sentence of your summary, you may add your highest or most recent qualifications, certifications and professional memberships if applicable to show that you also understand the theoretical concepts underpinning the field that you work in.

Three Example summaries:

Example 1

‘Experienced and impressionable Account Executive with more than six years’ experience in a fast-paced commercial advertising market. A proven history of securing new business and fostering relationships with prospects quickly to transition leads into sales in very short time frames. Excellent at assessing client needs and requirements to customize marketing campaigns perfectly aligned to company culture and vision. Currently completing a Master’s Programme in Marketing Management and holds a RISE Up Sales certification.‘

Example 2

‘Dedicated Account Executive with proven relationship building skills across national and international client territories. Confident public speaker and adept in large scale product presentations to audiences exceeding 100 people. Excellent problem solver with the capability of deescalating high-stress situations. Holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration summa cum laude via Georgetown University.‘

Example 3

‘Customer-oriented Account Executive with 4 years of experience maximizing new client acquisition figures increasing department turnover by 22%. Adept in building high profile client relationships and retaining top-performing accounts. Holds a CSP (Certified Sales Professional) qualification and currently completing a Bachelor’s in Marketing and Advertising..‘

3. Job Descriptions, Responsibilities and duty Examples

An employer would expect to see certain foundational job duties and skillsets within an Account Executive resume. Below, we have provided a few examples of Account Executive job descriptions for various industries.

An Account Executive in Advertising may:

• Evaluate the sales, public relations, marketing and advertising needs of each client and create customized pitches and proposals
• Secure new accounts on a monthly base resulting in growing advertising revenue for the company
• Maintain key accounts and increase client retention rates with networking, entertainment and VIP events exclusively held for long term clients of the company
• Conduct brainstorming sessions with clients to create marketing briefs and drive brand management strategies appropriately
• Work with editors to ensure the content aligns to client’s project brief
• Account executives manage and evaluate the public relations, sales, marketing, and advertising needs of a business's personal and corporate accounts

An Account Executive in the Social Media Environment may:

• Design and create content on various social media platforms such as Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest on behalf of client companies
• Identify client goals regarding target markets and response outcomes for social media campaigns
• Assist marketing department in crafting marketing content in the form of blogs, posts, editorial briefs, and special advertisem*nts
• Stay abreast of online advertising trends and the relevant tools to measure the success of each campaign
• Expand client pool with continuous networking and reach out activities
• Liaise with brand managers, product owners, and public relations departments of clients to ensure a smooth rollout of each campaign
• Acts as liaison between the advertising agency and the client company

An Account Executive in a Commercial Environment may:

• Conduct extensive research exercises to get familiar with the client’s products, company vision, marketing, and advertising needs
• Cultivate relationships with client leads via networking activities
• Reach out and engage with potential clients continuously
• Cross-sell alternative service offerings to existing clients
• Present, pitch and propose workable agreements to new clients
• Market the company’s products to potential new clients
• Manage existing client accounts to ensure adherence to service level agreements, answer questions and offer alternative products and services in accordance to changes of client business needs and requirements
• Conduct client interviews for testimonial and referral purposes

4. Highlight Your Accomplishments

Do not be tempted to merely copy and paste your list of duties in the experience section of your resume. You want to create visibility in your resume by “sprinkling” your own unique accomplishments into your job descriptions to make you stand out from the rest of the applications.

Your goal is to think about what sets you apart, what you are most proud of, or what you accomplished in your previous roles, and communicate these through action-packed statements that are eye-catching and compelling to read.

Examples:

Flat, Simple Duty:

• Focus on expansion of key account revenue turnover

Accomplishment Statement:

• Reactivated a 100+ property management clients delivering renewable revenue exceeding 200k per month.
• Created customized promotions for existing client groups, which accrued more than 1 million turnovers within 18 months.

Quantifying Your Resume

Using numbers and metrics to quantify your resume is imperative when you want to make a favorable impression with a potential employer if you can answer the questions, “How much?” or “How many?, How long?, Where?, How Often?” you are effectively providing ‘’proof of work’’ statements.
In an Account Executive resume, the following may be of interest to the hiring manager.

• What is the average market size expansion in revenue?
• What is the current customer complaint to satisfaction ratio?
• What is the average new business turnover per quarter?

Examples:

– Decreased customer complaints 30% in the first 18 months

– Increased market size by 30% after focusing on non-profit organizations as a new client territory to be cultivated. Annual sales from this client segment now account for 15% of total revenue.

– Exceeded 100% of new accounts acquisition each month for the last two years.

– Participated in the overhaul of a new CRM system increasing efficiency and productivity by 17%.

5. Education Section & Examples

The education section forms an essential part of your resume because it validates your theoretical knowledge and aptitude. In short, indicate What, Where and When regarding your qualifications, certifications or industry licenses obtained.

You may list your current and completed post-school education endeavors as follows:

Start with the commencement date and completion date for diplomas, associate degrees, and bachelor degrees. For courses, you can just list the date of completion. Next comes the full name of the qualification, then the full name of the institution and then the City or abbreviated State name. List your high school diploma details similarly, but only include this when you have less than five years of working experience.

List education for Account Executive Resume with less than five years’ as follows:

2019 – Certified Inside Sales Professional (CISP), American Association of Inside Sales Professionals (AA-ISP), Dallas, TX

2018 – Current Master’s Degree in Marketing Management, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

2012 – 2014 Bachelor Degree in Sales Management, University of Illinois, IL

If you have less than five years’ experience, you may use the example below:

2016-2019 Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration University of Georgetown, Washington DC
GPA: 3.9
Majors: Sales Management Principles, Strategic Marketing Management
Minors: Communications, Social Media Management, Economics
Accolades: Achieved Summa Cum Laude

2013-2014 Certified Key Accounts Manager (CKAM), Udemy, Online

2012 – High School Diploma, Key West High School, Miami, FL
Awards: Member of the Regional Honor Society, 2010 – 2012
Leadership: Editor of Campus Newsletter, 2012

6. Resume Skills Section

Although the account management field requires specific technical skills, employers also look for other skills, called soft skills. These are the main types of skills that indicate to your fit as an Account Executive who possesses adequate knowledge and sufficient capabilities to expand client territories and increase client retention. Be sure to include these into your summary and accomplishment statements.

Technical Skills

• Educational Attainment:
  A university degree is generally required to become an Account Executive, and the top suggested degrees are Sales Management, Business Management, Communications, and Marketing. If you are planning to progress to account management level or account director, a Master’s in Business Administration is highly advisable.
• Technical Aptitude:
  Account Executives need to be adept at creating customized client acquisition plans, cultivating new markets, and retaining existing client sales turnover for the business. They also need to be financially astute to manage budgets and financial project deliverables. Account Executives are constantly challenged by the risk of clients taking their business to the competitors either based on price or timeline of project deliverables. Therefore, they need to have nerves of steel coupled with strong negotiating and persuasive skills.
• Other Technical Skills:
  Project Management, Creative Pitching, Proposal Writing, Research, Budgets, Strategic Marketing, Analytics, Social Media, Cloud-Based Collaboration Platforms, Quality Control, Report Writing, Feedback Mechanisms, CRM Systems.

Soft Skill Examples

7. Qualifications & Certifications associated with Account Executives

Action Verbs for your Account Executive Resume

Types of Account Executives:

Professional information for Account Executives

Sectors: Various
Career Type: Customer Retention, Client Acquisition, Networking, New Business Development, Marketing
Person type: Marketer Networker, Influencer, Communicator, Persuader, Negotiator
Education levels: Bachelor’s to Masters’ Degree, Post School Certifications
Salary indication: From $38k to $101k per annum (*Glassdoor.com)
Labor market: Estimated 9% growth between 2016 – 2026 (*Study.com)
Organizations: SME, Corporate, Commercial, Fortune 500, Multi-National, NPO’s, Federal, Government

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