How Numbers Can Enhance Your Resume |
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Posted By: Heather Eagar In: Job Seeker - Resume
Did you know that numbers can make a huge difference in your ability to create a quality resume? It’s true. The more numbers you add to your resume, the more you are enhancing it and increasing your chances of getting called in for an interview.
Did you know that numbers can make a huge difference in your ability to create a quality resume? It’s true. The more numbers you add to your resume, the more you are enhancing it and increasing your chances of getting called in for an interview.
Of course, adding numbers doesn’t simply meaning writing “1, 2, 3” in random places around the resume. They have to be used strategically to make a difference. But if you adopt the right strategies, you can bet that you will have enhanced your resume tenfold.
Start with Amounts
When jotting down accomplishments, not merely responsibilities, to your resume, you want to get as in-depth as possible. This means listing the amounts associated with everything you have accomplished. For instance, if you were a sales representative at your previous employer, you can mention that you not just sold products for the company, but that you sold X amount of products for the company.
Also, it’s a good idea to talk about how many clients you were able to sell to. The more detailed you’re able to be when describing your accomplishments, the more vividly you can paint a picture of what you’ll be able to accomplish if the company hires you.
Move On to Money
So now that you’ve been able to successfully describe how many products you’ve sold, and how many clients you sold to, during your time at your previous company, let’s think in terms of the dollar bill. If you were a sales representative, your ultimate job was to sell products or services to as many clients as possible so that you could make money for the company. So how much money would you say you made?
Obviously, the more money you were able to make, the more successful you probably were at your job, so you want to break down as many numbers as you can. Don’t just total out all that you made in your career there. If you sold more than one product or service, don’t be shy about listing total amounts for those that you sold the most of. These dollar amounts will tie into your explanations for how many products and clients you sold, so that your story can become that much more vivid.
Don’t Forget Time
But you can’t thoroughly list an accomplishment without mentioning time. In other words, over how many years did you sell products? How fast a time frame were you able to sell X amount of products to X amount of clients that made X amount of dollars? Or how many times a month were you asked to come up with another important sales strategy? You’re catching on now, right? It’s all about making sure you don’t leave any important details out. If you don’t mention it all, you’re simply selling yourself short.
So now it’s time to pass you the baton. It shouldn’t be hard to come up with the numbers you need to fill in the blanks on your resume. Just take time to think about all the great things you’ve accomplished at your previous jobs so that you can show your future employer what a great employee they’re getting.
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Comments
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Posted by: Beverly Schneider
If you have been responsible for collecting receivables for your company or handling insurance claims for company employees, these figures can make an impression during an interview.
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Posted by: Brian
Knowledge, ability, and hard work don't amount to anything when there isn't any revenue coming into a company. Results, performance, and how much you contribute to savings or earnings for the employer are all that matter in a tight economy. We all need to sell ourselves every day whether we are employed or looking for employment.
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Posted by: Heather
Thank you, I am not an engineer but from a minimum four-fold family of them and need help like this to organize my worklife and projections for my ambitions more accurately. It inspires me to learn more of the sciences/math skills I did not continue with. Thanks again, I appreciate it greatly, it's a great service!
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Posted by: Jim Nelson
I have often wondered about putting either the cost of a project I worked on or the amount of cost savings I achieved on a resume as it always seems to be somewhat proprietary to the companies I worked for. Hence I use ranges or broad figures. Not so much that Im worried about offendingg my ex-companies but that my prospective employer would worry about me 'talking out of school' ....just a thought...interested in recruiter perspectives.
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Posted by: Rhonda O.
I agree with Pamela... Every resume writer suggests quantifying accomplishments with things like sales and monetary figures. I'm a writer and editor... there's no way to quantify results with numbers. And I doubt anyone wants to know the number of articles I've written in the last 30 years.
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Posted by: Todd Kuhn
Very useful information, I have my resume set somewhat like that, I have to make some changes.Thank you.
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Posted by: Pamela Yurocko
Every comment above has to do with "Sales". If you are not a sales person, numbers are more difficult to come by. Sales seems to be the main topic that "experts" address when it comes to obtaining a job. Even now, we all have to become Sales people and "sell" ourselves. What ever happened to old fashioned knowledge, ability and hard work?
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