One piece of advice you always hear resume experts give is to include "measurable
results" in your resume. Numbers and percentages are like magnets that attract a
hiring manager's attention because they act as proof of what you're capable of achieving.
Compare the following two statements:
• Skilled contract renewal negotiator.
• Successfully negotiated 100% of contract renewals totaling 2M in revenue.
Which candidate would you choose? It's easy to claim that you're a skilled negotiator,
but there's no impact unless you provide context using tangible results.
Some people fear that including the numbers may reveal too much or may put them
at a disadvantage for a higher-level position. My response to that is that not providing
enough detail or quantifiable results will automatically put you out of the running.
If you don't back up your statements in your resume, a hiring manager is going to
assume that you haven't really done anything worth noting.
Hiring managers are interested in all types of quantifiable results, such as: what
percentage of your past projects came in under budget, how often you beat deadlines,
by how much you grew the customer base, how much revenue increased on your watch.
If you do not make your achievements stand out, hiring managers will reject your
resume and move onto the next one. Unfortunately, they won't just give you the benefit
of the doubt. Fortunately, you can guarantee that hiring managers will choose a
resume that has quantifiable data, over one that has just plain descriptions, for
an interview.
Let's face it, there are enough people who WILL put quantifiable data in their resume
and THEY are the ones that are getting the interviews. If you think you don't have
any tangible results to include, you are mistaken. Quantifiable results can be expressed
in numerous forms, such as performance-driven, time-defined, satisfaction-based,
service-level achieved or goal-oriented. There's no room for excuses because results
can be measured at every job.
If you're worried that your accomplishments don't measure up, it's better to put
your data out there and get rejected because you're not the best fit, rather than
getting rejected outright. Honestly, you'll win, hands down, compared to anyone
who hasn't provided this level of detail.
Remember: work the numbers to your best advantage. This doesn't mean lie, it means
that 100% of contract renewals might only mean 2 contract renewals, but 100% sounds
much better. Reaching your goal of $2M in revenue may have been over your total
8 years at the company, but you don't necessarily need to detract the impact by
including the time frame.
Quantifying your accomplishments does take more effort, but it's worth it. Here
are some examples of measurable results to help get your started:
- Reduced labor costs by more than 15% through assessment and improvement of staff
training and development programs.
- Recovered $2K in reimbursements for patients after assessing insurance coverage
for specific procedures.
- Improved client data retention 17% by entering data from paper files into a comprehensive
database for easier reference.
- Resolved 100% of customer issues within the first 6 months of employment to maximize
customer satisfaction.
- Saved $X in inventory orders by implementing effective cost controls for vendor
orders.
If you need help writing measurable results, our professional resume writers can
do it for you in just 2-3 business days. Email us at
resumewriting@livecareer.com with your phone number and best time for contact
for more details.