INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Wholesale & Manufacturing Sales positions are at a 5% growth rate, which is slower than average. With that said, there are currently 1,625,700 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 77,600 to 1,703,300 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Wholesale & Manufacturing Sales jobs was $65,420 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $31,950, and the highest 10% more than $129,200.
Our conclusion? The Wholesale & Manufacturing Sales job market is wide open for candidates.
Top visual merchandising manager sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to write a Visual Merchandising Manager resume experience section
Visual merchandising manager resume's job experience checklist:
- Use 4-6 bullet points per job title;
- Don’t go further than a decade behind when describing your job history, unless you’re applying for an executive position;
- Combine job responsibilities as well as achievements with numbers in results when you describe your past work;
- Start each sentence with a power verb and avoid overused buzzwords;
- Use either C-A-R or S-T-A-R methodology, when describing your experience.
The work experience samples below come from real Visual Merchandising Manager resumes that got people hired at top companies. You can use them as an inspiration to build your own resume:
- Brand Image Manager for the 19 Louis Vuitton boutiques present in Italy, with the main goal of guaranting the application and the constant respect of the VM guidelines received from Paris HQ, ensuring attractive and sophisticated product displays and windows
- Direct report to Italy Head of Merchandising
- Managing of 5 Area VIsual Merchandisers located in strategic LV boutique in Italy to monitor and implement guidelines on a daily basis, organizing instore VM training to support the sales team in their VM activities and take adgavnted from the proximity to the stores to act and react quickly
- Responsible to revise and adapt WW brand guidelines to the specific local market needs in order to support and boosts the sales thru the correct and effective product presentation at store level
- Training & Coaching the Area VMs in order to adapt the store product layout to the company strategic needs and novelties
- Constant team working with both Male and Female Merchandiser to select the correct product for the stores according to clients tipology and spending power, store location and collection strenghts
- Presence on field to support the Area VMs work and sharing feedbacks and best practices from store to store and with Paris
- Concept creation and development of culturally relevant window and VM schemes for over 1,500 stores across the world.
- Delivered detailed and clear guideline documents for stores internationally.
- Store visits and interaction with extensive regional VMs to ensure displays are up to date and to policy.
- Concept and scheme presentation to large teams and senior stakeholders within the business.
- Delivered the most creative and impactful M&S Christmas windows and in store to date- from idea generation through to design, development and execution.
- Designed and implemented boutique floor plans resulting in a 20% increase in sales within 6 months.
- Led boutique renovation projects, resulting in a 30% increase in foot traffic and a 15% increase in sales.
- Collaborated with wholesale team to develop strong branded concepts across key retail partners, resulting in a 25% increase in sales within 3 months.
- Created and managed annual visual merchandising budget of $2M.
- Trained and developed field team resulting in a 50% increase in consistency and compliance with brand standards.
- Managed and executed successful pop-up store events resulting in a 40% increase in new customer acquisition.
- Utilized Adobe Suite, Sketch Up and Microsoft Office to effectively communicate ideas through 2D drawings and 3D renderings.
- Attended industry events to increase awareness of current trends and inspire greater creativity relative to the premium and luxury beauty industry.
- Developed and implemented new visual merchandising guidelines that increased sales by 15% within 3 months.
- Managed the visual merchandising team for 100+ stores worldwide.
- Collaborated with design teams to develop window display concepts for the brand's flagship stores.
- Implemented new product launch strategies resulting in a 25% increase in sell-through rate.
- Managed and executed successful store opening events for 10+ new locations worldwide.
- Created and managed an annual visual merchandising budget of €2M.
- Conducted regular store visits and audits to ensure compliance with brand standards.
- Utilized Adobe Suite, Sketch Up and Microsoft Office to effectively communicate ideas through hand sketches, 2D drawings and 3D renderings.
- Developed and implemented visual merchandising strategies to drive sales.
- Designed and executed window displays, resulting in a 15% increase in foot traffic.
- Trained and coached store teams on visual merchandising standards and techniques.
- Conducted store visits to assess and maintain visual merchandising displays and window dressing.
- Collaborated with marketing and buying teams to create range presentations and visual merchandising materials.
- Managed and controlled the visual merchandising budget, reducing costs by 10%.
- Utilized data analysis to track and report on visual merchandising performance.
- Designed and installed in-store displays to showcase products and promotions, resulting in a 20% increase in sales.
- Collaborated with buying and marketing teams to create effective promotional campaigns and displays.
- Trained and coached store staff on visual merchandising standards and techniques.
- Conducted regular store visits to assess and maintain visual merchandising displays and window dressing.
- Utilized sales data and customer feedback to adjust and improve visual merchandising strategies.
- Managed visual merchandising budget, reducing costs by 5%.
PRO TIP
Check the Visual Merchandising Manager job description for inspiration. Look for similarities between your employer’s values and your experience.
Action verbs for your visual merchandising manager resume
Recommended reads.":
Visual Merchandising Manager Resume Skills’ Tips & Tricks to Impress Recruiters
Resume skills section checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top skills for your visual merchandising manager resume
Salesforce
MS Office
CRM
Forecasting
Cold Calling
Business Development
Customer Service
Project Management
Relationship Building
Time Management
Storytelling
Research / Information Gathering.
Critical Thinking
Problem Solving.
Tech Savvy
Networking
PRO TIP
Don’t feel obliged to spend a separate section for your soft skills - you can weave them throughout your job experience or career summary. But, don’t just write empty words - back them with examples.
Recommended reads:
Visual merchandising manager resume header: tips, red flags, and best practices
Checklist for your visual merchandising manager resume header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have policies about identifying information like photos on your Visual Merchandising Manager resume. Be sure to check all the relevant rules before submitting yours. If you’re in doubt, you can always try contacting the company’s HR department to ask for their policy.
Visual merchandising manager resume summary best practices
Checklist: what to include in your visual merchandising manager resume summary:
- Years of experience;
- Highlight top 3 skills and proficiencies;
- One big professional accomplishment you’re most proud of, that you can tie with the aforementioned skills;
- Use short, direct sentences - but no more than three - to keep the HRs interested.
Resume summary formula:
PRO TIP
Your summary section should act as a brief but informative introduction to your experience section. In this section you should go into more depth about what you have done, and how you did it.
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Listing your education, certifications and courses
Resume Education Section Checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top certifications for your visual merchandising manager resume
Visual Merchandising
A comprehensive visual merchandising course for aspiring interior designers and retailers
Visual Merchandising and Display
A comprehensive and up to date visual merchandising course combining retail design, marketing and display techniques.
Visual Merchandising Course For Retailers and Students
Learn the key principles of great Visual Merchandising & Window Dressing
Visual Merchandising
Perfect Your Merchandising Strategy & Increase Your Sales With This In-Depth Course
Basics of Visual Merchandising & Store Design
Visual Merchandising and Store Design are an important aspect which are crucial to the success of a retail store .
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PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Visual Merchandising Manager. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
How to Write a Visual Merchandising Manager Resume
There are three basic resume formats you can choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional resume format;
- Hybrid (or Combination) resume format;
The most optimal format for your particular case will depend on your years of experience, as well as whether you’re switching industries or not.
Reverse chronological resumes are best suited for experienced individuals who are sticking to their industry. The experience section takes a central place, and its bullets contain your responsibilities and achievements, coupled with numbers and results.
Functional resumes are used by less experienced jobseekers or career changers. Note that it’s not a format that recruiters prefer, as most are used to the classic chronological alignment. Instead of a list of job titles, functional resumes focus on your skills, and through what experiences you gained them.
Hybrid resumes are great for both experienced and entry-level candidates, as well as career changers. They combine the best of both worlds - most often in a double column format, where one side of the content is focused on your experience, whereas the other - on your skills, strengths, and proudest moments.
Here are more resume tips regarding your layout and style:
- Clear and legible 12p resume font size;
- Use 10’’ resume margins - that’s default for a great resume design;
- Use a one-page template resume length if you’ve got less than 10 years of experience; otherwise, opt for a two-page resume;
- Save your resume as PDF before sending it to the recruiter.
To take it a step further, check out how your resume can stand out without leaning too much on the creative side.
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PRO TIP
Test your draft Visual Merchandising Manager resume by sending it out to peers and mentors in your circles. Ask them to review it as if they are hiring you for a project and implement the feedback afterwards.
Other sections to include in your resume
Depending on the type of company (corporation or start-up; innovative or traditional), job seniority level and your location, you may want to include more sections to your Visual Merchandising Manager resume:
Visual Merchandising Manager Resume: How to Make Yours More Creative & Stand Out
When you send your resume to a potential employer, chances are it's the fiftieth one they've seen that day. That's why you need to make your Visual Merchandising Manager resume stand out for the right reasons. That means showing your personality, not just your professional experience. Employers are far more likely to remember a candidate who seems like a genuine person and not a robot. Do this by including your passions (which is also a great place to demonstrate skills on a resume), share your favorite books, or even what your usual day looks like.
What makes a great visual merchandising manager resume: key takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
