Resume writing tips: Use numbers to quantify your resume

Don't you get enough call from recruiters? Are you one of them who are facing "Resume not shortlisted issue?" If yes, then I think you should read this post. On dailly basis, recruiters look at hundrends of resumes. On each resume, they spend 10 to 30 seconds. So, your resume should be something different thaat can make you stand out of the crowd and get shortlisted.

Don't worry! Its not hard as it sounds. Before proceeding further, I request you to give 90 seconds to this video.

Why should you add numbers?

Lets see two satements: "wrote viral blog posts" and "wrote 100 viral blog posts". Which one looks good and gives higher impact to you? I guess the latter one.

Metrics data, or any other such stats help recruiters and hiring managers see the impact that you made. The right data can make your experience and responsibilities seem moresubstantial, and send a signal to recruiter that you are a serious candidate.

How to find your number?

No matter what industry you’re in or what level you’ve reached in your career, there’s always something on your resume that can be enhanced with a number. You need to search that "something" inside you and point it out in the resume.

If you work in sales or finance, you have access to obvious metrics like sales volume, market share and profitability, but don’t forget about people-oriented numbers like customers served, people managed and performance rank (#1 sales person). If you don't know exact number, you can use a range, like "wrote 10-15 blogs per week" or “managed a budget exceeding $500,000.”

What number to use?

The easiest way to find ways to quantify your achievements is to look at how you directly impacted the company’s money, time and people.

For money, look at how you cut costs or increased profits—and quantify everything you can. For instance you might include a line that says, “Oversaw an annual budget of $50,000 and cut costs by 15%.”

To show how you saved time or improved efficiency, you could say something like, “Revamped warehouse process and reduced production time by 20 minutes.”

Demonstrate how your work impacted the people at your company with something like “Managed a team of seven sales people.” Even a small detail like that will help paint a picture of the kind of work you can do, and the level of responsibility you’re able to hold.

How to represent your numbers?

Numbers make you seem like a pretty serious candidate. However, making a story of how you made those numbers will show that you’re the kind of person a company wants to hire. It’s one thing to say you increased profits, but in what time frame, and with what challenges? Show numbers in context so recruiters can see the impact you made.

You could say that you increased sales from $2 million to $5 million in a one-year period. Or, for another example, you could say during a hiring freeze and budget restrictions, you managed to increase productivity by 15%, saving an additional $20,000.

Adding some numbers to your current resume won't take long. Once you’ve done that, make sure you’re tracking achievements at your current job so you’ll be ready when it’s time to re-do your resume again.

Good luck!