When it’s time to hire a new antique dealer, or when a customer seeks someone to help them find just what they are looking for, they seek out a person with a great eye for quality and a stellar reputation. The greatest antique dealer resumes will demonstrate expertise, customer service skills and a nose for a true treasure.
You’re ready to begin your job hunt and want to display your skills in the best light possible. How do you do that? Let us help. Resume.io offers a full range of resources for any job seeker, including resume guides and resume examples for 300+ professions.
This resume guide, along with the corresponding resume example will cover the following topics:
- What are the job responsibilities of an antiques dealer?
- Tips for writing an antique dealer resume
- The best format for an antique dealer resume
- Advice on each section of your resume (summary, work history, education, skills)
- Professional resume layout and design hints.
What does an antique dealer do?
Antique dealers buy and sell antiques. They are usually self-employed but may work for an auction house, decorator, or other private company as well. Antique dealers may be commissioned to find specific pieces or they may buy pieces on spec and hope to sell them from their curated collection.
They research their finds to discover what they are, how old they are, and where they came from. Antique dealers might specialize in a certain type of antique or a certain time-period. Their main goal is to find antiques that are alluring to clients, helping them to develop a clientele and see profit.
Antique dealers rely on their reputations and must be very careful how they value and represent the items they sell. Some antique experts specialize in appraising articles to determine their value.
How much do antique dealers earn?
Because many dealers are self-employed and their sales depend on economic conditions that allow for discretionary purchases, income may vary greatly from year to year and store to store. According to Payscale, the average base salary for an antique dealer is $86,000 and for an antique appraiser, $25.43 an hour, since these may not be full-time jobs.
Writing an Antique dealer resume can be tricky. If you need more inspiration, head over to our related retail resume samples. There we have:
How to write an antique dealer resume
To get your message across, you need to understand how to structure your antique dealer resume in a way that makes it easy for recruiters. That means understanding the sections required. Your antique deal CV should contain the following elements:
- The resume header
- The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
- The employment history section
- The resume skills section
- The education section
If you are applying to an auction house or to work in an antique shop, research exactly what is auctioned or sold there so that you can best tailor your resume to the knowledge you will need for the specific environment. Hiring managers want to be confident that you really want to work for them and not that you are blanketing the job market with resumes, that’s what makes personalization so important. This will also help you avoid filtering by the Applicant Tracking System if you are applying online.
Get ahead of the ATS
If you apply online, ATS software will be scanning and sorting your application before a person ever sees it. The ATS algorithms judge whether your resume contains the right information to get a second look. You can increase your chances by analyzing the job description and taking careful note of what skills and attributes are listed. Try to use the exact words or phrases (if they are applicable) from the listing in your resume to cue the ATS that you have what your prospective employer is looking for.
Choosing the best resume format for an antique dealer
We recommend using the reverse chronological order resume format for your antique dealer resume unless you have taken a winding path toward your current position or if you are looking for your first job in antiques. Listing your most recent position first and working your way back is favored by recruiters and the ATS.
If you’re new to the job market or have had a more winding career path, you can check out the resume formats we suggest as chronological alternatives or hybrids.
Resume summary example: your personal hallmark
The summary section of your antique dealer resume is also called a profile or personal statement because it does much more than summarize your career to date. This is your chance to tout your biggest find, your greatest sale or your niche expertise with passion and pride.
Introduce your professional personality and tell the hiring manager in no uncertain terms why they should hire you. Your work style counts here, so use strong, positive language to describe your communication style or collaborative nature.
You can find a resume sample for your summary section below.
Passionate antique dealer bringing forth over ten years of hands-on experience collecting and dealing an assortment of antiques. Adept in establishing professional and positive relationships with clients, while providing them with industry knowledge and optimal customer service. Effectively able to negotiate sales and purchases, and properly advise clients regarding their antiques. Eager to join the right Auction House where my knowledge of antiques and passion for the industry can serve as a guiding light.
Employment history CV sample: Cataloguing your career
Just as you place your best pieces carefully to catch the eyes of your customers, you should place the best parts of your work experience in this section of your antique dealer resume. Each succinct bullet point should highlight a career success that shows your value-add to your prospective employer.
Ask yourself the following questions to help guide you:
- What specialty do I want to focus on?
- What are my greatest achievements?
- What talents is my prospective employer looking for?
- Do I have data and details that will strengthen my candidacy?
Think in terms of wins and accomplishments instead of job responsibilities. See the example below for how to write a great bullet item.
Discovered 1801 mint-condition Davenport at an estate sale for a long-term customer for a 20% profit.
Bought 1800s furniture from various places and sold them in my store.
Below you will find an adaptable employment history resume example.
- Continually added to an impressive inventory of American and European antiques.
- Advised clients regarding the identity and value of pieces.
- Assisted clients in building collections based on their taste and desires.
- Maintained thorough records of inventory and sold pieces.
- Strived to provide optimal customer service to clients at all times.
CV skills section: furnish the highlights
The key to a great CV skills section is a combination of targeting the requirements of your prospective employer and showing you have a broad range of talents. Your hard skills are the business and art skills you have honed through your education and over the course of your career. Your soft skills are the general attributes it takes to be a reliable employee and valued coworker. Choose a mix of both of these types of skills within this CV section.
Why is this section important when you have detailed many of these skills in your work history section? Because it gives recruiters a quick way to scan for the attributes they seek for the open position. It also reveals to them what you believe are the best qualities you will bring to the job. Also remember that when you are personalizing your antique dealer resume, this is a simple way to get those ATS-targeted keywords and phrases in.
According to the Princeton Review, a career in antique dealing may be highly satisfying to those who enjoy history, business, psychology, and aesthetic concerns, but it also requires professionals to be both excellent at running a business and a deep knowledge of arts and crafts. They must also keep up on trends in antiques and maintain long-term relationships with clients.
As you compile your skills section, take all of these attributes into consideration.
Below you will find an adaptable skills resume sample.
- Knowledge of Antiques
- Strong Marketing Skills
- Networking Skills
- Research Skills
- Authenticating Skills
- Photography Skills
Antique dealer resume education example
Antique dealers may have a bachelor’s degree in art history, history, business or any other related topic. There is no educational requirement for entry into this career. No matter what your education is, list it here. If you have earned any industry honors, you may also list those.
Consider creating an Affiliations and Accolades section if you are a member of industry organizations and have awards you would like to highlight. If you hold a degree higher than a bachelor’s degree you may leave out your high school experience.
Below you will find an education resume sample as a formatting guide.
- 2001-2005 Purchase College, Associate of Art History Purchase, NY
- 1997-2001 Westhills High School, High School Diploma Westhills, NJ
Resume layout and design: vintage style
Give serious consideration to the layout and design of your antique dealer resume because it gives you an opportunity to show off your artistic eye. As a buyer and seller, you know how important first impressions are, so make yours count here.
You understand design elements, so we will simply remind you that the main goal of your application is to get your message across clearly and easily. That means keeping the design straightforward and professional, while making it one recruiters will remember. If you choose to show off your particular artistic expertise with a flourish, make sure it does not interfere with the readability or your resume.
Key takeaways for antique dealer resume
- Your career requires both a great artistic eye and a keen business sense, so try to balance them in your document.
- Highlight the expertise that fits the job you want and personalize for each position.
- Use your creative talent to develop a memorable, but readable design.
- Check out our adaptable antique dealer resume sample for more ideas on creating a great page layout.
- Resume.io’s expertly-designed resume templates can give you a great foundation on which to build your resume.
