Resume Numbers Make You More Impressive to Employers

Want to catch the eye of a recruiter or employer? Use numbers on your resume. Resume numbers grab attention and generate interviews.

Why do resume numbers matter?

Numbers are evidence of job performance. They are the metrics that measure your job performance—what you did and how well you did it. Hiring managers notice those numbers. Even if your numbers aren’t the biggest and best, they create a perception of value for you. They set a positive bias in the mind of that hiring manager, who is more likely to see you as smart, capable, and someone worth talking to. Numbers create a halo effect that not only generates more interviews, but also nets better job offers.

https://careerconfidential.com/the-halo-effect-of-a-quantified-resume/

How to incorporate resume numbers

The best way to incorporate resume numbers is to quantify your accomplishments. This means that you should use numbers, dollars, and percentages as appropriate to describe your accomplishments.

Go through your resume and look at each bullet point that describes what you did in that job. For each one, ask yourself questions that will uncover those numbers for you: “How much?” “How many?” “How often?” “How long?” Incorporate those answers into your resume bullet points.

Anyone can do this, because every job is tied to some kind of performance metric that justifies paying someone (you) to do it. You just have to think about it to find yours.

Examples of resume numbers

How can you quantify your own resume? Look at these for examples:

“Managed Research & Development Team” becomes “Managed 5-person Research & Development Team for 3 years”
“Maintained Customer Service Records” becomes “Maintained 400,000 Customer Service Records”
“Made Improvements in ABC Department” becomes “Improved ABC by 20%”
“Boosted Revenue” becomes “Boosted Revenue by $350,000 in 2017”
“Sold XYZ Widgets” becomes “Sold $2M in Widgets in 3 years”

Again, look at the accomplishments or tasks you have on your resume currently and ask yourself “How much?” “How many?” “How long” to uncover where you may be able to incorporate numbers and quantify those accomplishments. Don’t worry if your resume numbers don’t seem impressive enough to you. Just having them on your resume will be a great thing.