Resume guide for non-tech jobs: sales, marketing, HR, finance and support

Many resume guides are written for developers. If you are applying for sales, marketing, HR, finance, operations or support, the same basics apply, but the proof is different. This guide explains what employers in these fields look for and how to show it.

What employers look for

• Sales: targets and results, size of accounts, how you found leads, and tools you used.
• Marketing: channels you worked on, what you grew, budgets you handled and tools such as Google Analytics or Canva.
• HR: how many roles you hired for, the hiring steps you managed, onboarding and records.
• Finance and accounts: software (Tally, Excel, SAP), types of work (GST, reconciliation, reporting) and accuracy.
• Customer support: volume of queries, response and resolution quality, languages and tools.
• Operations: processes you improved, vendors or teams you coordinated, time or cost saved.

Numbers matter even more here

Business roles are judged by results, so give them. Revenue, targets, number of clients, percentage growth, time saved and customer scores all help. If you were an intern, use event size, followers, leads or documents handled. For example, "Called 30 prospects a day and booked 8 demos a week" is a clear result, even for a first job.

Show tools by name

Employers search for tools. Put CRM names, accounting software, ad platforms and spreadsheet skills in your skills section and in your bullets. If you know Excel well, say what you can do: pivot tables, lookups, charts, reports. "MS Office" alone is too vague to help.

Soft skills: show, do not claim

"Excellent communication skills" is a claim. "Presented weekly updates to a team of 12 and trained 5 new joiners" is evidence. Because these roles depend on people skills, look for places to show them: presentations, client calls, training, negotiations and handling difficult customers.

Examples by role

Sales executive

• Managed a portfolio of 40 B2B accounts and exceeded the quarterly target by 15%.
• Generated 120 qualified leads through cold calls and LinkedIn outreach.

Digital marketing executive

• Planned and posted 20 pieces of content a month and grew engagement by 35%.
• Managed a monthly Google Ads budget of Rs 50,000 and lowered cost per lead by about 18%.

HR executive

• Screened 300 resumes and scheduled 45 interviews for 8 open positions.
• Prepared onboarding kits and completed joining formalities for 20 new employees.

Accounts executive

• Recorded daily transactions in Tally and reconciled bank statements for 3 clients each month.
• Prepared GST returns and reduced filing errors by checking invoices before submission.

Customer support executive

• Handled about 60 chats and calls a day with a customer satisfaction score of 92%.
• Wrote 15 help articles that cut repeat queries on common problems.

A sample summary

"Commerce graduate with a six-month internship in accounts. Experienced with Tally, GST filing and Excel. Looking for an entry-level accounts executive role."

Freshers in non-tech fields

If you have no job history, use internships, college clubs, events, part-time work, volunteering and academic projects. A fresher in marketing can show a page they ran for a club; a fresher in HR can show a recruitment drive they helped organise; a fresher in sales can show a fundraising or ticket-selling task. The structure is the same as in our fresher resume guide.

Check which roles suit you

Not sure which roles suit your background? The resume check suggests roles in both tech and non-tech fields and shows which skills you would need to add. To adjust your resume for one particular role, use the tailor tool.