Prove Your Value: Three Ways to Quantify Achievements on Your Resume

In a competitive job market, employers want to see more on your resume than a bulleted list of responsibilities from your previous positions. Hiring managers expect to see numbers that correspond with your actions to determine the value you could add as a prospective employee. These numbers are used in a process called quantifying achievements – a method that provides a measurement for your success.

For programmers, scientists, and manufacturers, coming up with these numbers requires little more than accessing a database. However, employees in less numerical fields may have trouble allocating numbers to their achievements. Did your teams drastically reduce the time to complete projects because of your efforts? Did you propose a process change that led to cost savings for your team? Answering questions similar to these on your resume is a great way to stand out with prospective employers.

Here are three effective methods you can utilize to quantify your achievements – even if you don’t have concrete data on your past accomplishments.

Focus on the Bottom Line

If you can find numbers showing you earned or saved money for a previous employer, you’ll snatch the attention of all potential employers. All businesses are looking to improve their bottom line. Even if you quantify little else, this method is a game-changer.

Examples of bottom-line improvement include saving time on operations, improving efficiency, and lowering supply costs.

Use a Range of Numbers

You can quantify your achievements without being exact. Developing a range of values is both reasonable and expected by hiring managers.

For example, you might write that you served between 20 and 30 customers per day. Because you can’t nail down the exact number of customers you greet each day, a ballpark estimate will suffice.

Avoid using ranges of numbers when you discuss the bottom line or events that occurred once. Otherwise, you might end up writing:

• Decreased supply expenditures by 15-20%
• Referred between 3 and 5 successful employees
• Decreased client turnover by 4-6%

All of these items require an exact number to make your point. Otherwise, hiring managers will wonder whether you understand your accomplishments.

Discuss Frequency

Think carefully about the many, many things you do every single day. Bring this frequency to your resume with a mixture of exact numbers and ranges. Emphasize the sheer amount of work you complete.

For example, you might write:

• Completed more than 50 calls per day
• Drafted between 10 and 15 reports per week
• Gave 3 presentations per month

This is your opportunity to show potential employers how much you’re capable of.

The Rule of Thumb

If you’re still struggling to quantify your resume, try writing down a list of your career accomplishments. Then, ask yourself the following questions: How many? How much? How long? How often?

You may need to reach out to someone to find the answers – but the answers are worth having.

At nTech Workforce, we understand the importance of pairing candidates with the right employer. Contact our experienced team to learn how we can assist in your ongoing job search.