Quantify, quantify, quantify!.

The purpose of your resume is to build your own brand, “Brand Me” which will have the effect of differentiating yourself from the competition and conveying your value to any company.  The best way to offer proof of your value is to quantify the results  you’ve achieved at your present or previous companies.

“Provide four or five bulleted points under each employer in the experience section of your resume to show what you have achieved for each employer as far as measurable results,” says Terri Robinson, president of Recruit2Hire.com

If you can provide a graphic, so much the better. A chart or bar graph enables the reader, in this case the recruiter, to capture, at a glance, the results you’ve achieved which demonstrate your value to a company.

Roy Miller of Job Search Guidepost gives an example and tells how he views the process:

“Managed a team of five that selected and implemented a new customer service tracking system that reduced lost sales for the company by $1.5M in the first year.“

You’re hired! No, probably not just because of that, but that second statement does two critical things:

1. It tells enough of the story that an interviewer can ask you for more details about this significant accomplishment.
2. It stands out from all the other resumes containing statements like the first one, because it talks about what your employer really cares about – MONEY.

Employers aren’t mean old scrooges. Well, most aren’t. But without profit (or without breaking even for a non-profit), there’s no business, which means no jobs.

If you quantify your experience, you absolutely vault over your competition.

You see, non-quantified experience says you showed up, did some stuff, and drew a paycheck. Not exciting, and unlikely to get the job if somebody else quantifies his experience.”

Why?

Quantified experience says you didn’t just take, you GAVE, and in a significant way. …Quantify your experience whenever you can. It’s not as hard as you might think. Just remember that three things count as quantifiers:

• Dollars you added to the bottom line
• Time you saved the company
• Any other numbers that add to the “he uses numbers” impression

…If you initiated and spearheaded a project that increased corporate profits (or departmental profits, or office profits, or location profits – you get the idea), that’s great. Highlight it using real money numbers.

Ask yourself the worth of what you did, from your employer’s perspective. Did a particular action save money? That’s quantified! Did it bring in more revenue? That’s quantified! Did it produce an operational improvement, such as shorter turnaround on customer service requests? That’s not quite quantified (in terms of dollars), but it’s close! Don’t know a dollar amount, but know an improvement percentage? Use it!

Quantify whenever you can, and get as close to dollars on the bottom line as you can. That’ll get you rave reviews from your current boss (or a raise!), and will make it easier to get your next job.

( For professional customization and help with quantifying your experience in your resume, see AW Career Portfolios, Customized For You)

For more articles by  Roy Miller or his newsletter go to  Job Search Guidepost

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Great resumes, the only kind you ever want to have if you want an effective job search, answer one critical question for any potential employer who looks at it:

WHAT’S IN IT FOR THEM?

If your resume doesn’t answer that question in a few seconds, it’s garbage. It’s worse than worthless for you, because it can lock you out of that prospect.

Nice paper, or an Ivy League education, or fancy titles won’t impress as much as answering that single question quickly, and in a compelling way.

Ask yourself how people read a resume.

Have you ever been to a retail store, and had an overbearing salesperson try to sell you something? He wants to tell you about how great it is, how it’s a “bargain”, and how it’s…blue! Did you care? Not so much. You had a need, and you wanted it met, the sooner, the better.

Prospective employers are the customers in the retail store. You’re the salesman. The employer won’t buy something that doesn’t meet a current, or known future need.

A prospective employer certainly wants to know the high points of what you’ve done, but only so he can determine if you’ll contribute to his organization in the way he wants you to. Achievements are good, but achievements matching needs are what you’re after.

So, when you start to write or revamp a resume, ask what the target employer needs. Then describe how you meet that need.

Make the most compelling case for being the person uniquely capable of meeting that need, and you’ll get the job.

( For some professional customization, see AW Career Portfolios, Customized For You)

Roy Miller, creator of Job Search Guide Post: sign up for Roy’s free weekly newsletter.

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