What turns a good resume into a great resume? What’s the secret ingredient that makes a resume generate interviews over and over again? The best resume tip you may never have heard of is quantification.
What is quantification?
Quantifying your resume means using numbers, dollars, or percentages rather than just words to describe what you did in any given job. Adding quantification is the most powerful thing you can do to your resume.
Quantification Examples
See the difference quantification makes in grabbing attention:
Instead of saying that you were “Responsible for gaining new clients,” you would see where you could add numbers to that: “Gained 10 new clients,” or “Gained 10 new clients worth $1M,” or “Gained 10 new clients in the last 6 months.”
Rather than saying that you were “Brought in projects on time and under budget,” you would indicate how many projects or what kind of budgets: “Brought in 6 projects on time and under budget last year,” or “Brought in 6 projects worth $5M.”
As a substitute to saying that you “Decreased turnover” in your division, you’d show by how much: “Decreased turnover by 40%.”
This is the best resume tip you’ll ever see. Numbers are powerful communicators that grab the attention of hiring managers.
What If…
Here’s the worry that I always hear from job seekers: “What if my numbers aren’t that great?” I say that they’re probably better than you think, and the fact that you’ve included them shows that you understand the importance of metrics, evidence, and results. That’s a strong resume statement.
Use Quantification on Your Resume Today
Your resume quantification will answer the question: How can this person benefit my company?
For any job task or achievement on your resume, see if you can ask yourself ‘How many?’ ‘How much?’ ‘How often?’ and see what a difference this makes. Your resume will be stronger and more powerful—and you will get interviews.
