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What Do Hiring Managers Think of Resumes with Quantified Accomplishments? | Job Search Radio

If my resume describes actions that “increased revenue by $1 million,” or “Increased productivity by 50%,” are hiring managers generally impressed, or do they assume the numbers are all made up? Do they want to see numbers like that?


I was asked the question that I thought was terrific and I don't want to go through it with you.

What do managers think of resumes with quantified accomplishments. In my resume describes actions that increase revenue by $1 million or increase productivity by 50%, or hiring managers generally impressed or do they assume the numbers are all made up? Do they want to see numbers like that?"

I'm not going to go into the, "Do they want to see numbers like that," part of the question; I want to talk about what do managers think of the resume itself.

To know that, you have to understand that business is the language of numbers. Money. Money is a number. Thus, if you can help an organization make or save money, this is valuable. I want to hear that again.

Make or save money.

It is not just that you help the firm make $1 million, to use this example. It could be that you reduce costs by 23%. Hearing that number has an impact, right?

Are they impressed with. They just think that you made it up?

That is what the interview is going to determine. Understand that you can throw a number around, but unless you can back it up, you are going to get chopped up like you are put into a Cuisinart. I'll simply say that, yes, they like to see numbers because, otherwise, you are just reciting tasks without discussing impact of your actions.

"I was responsible for such and such." Great. What did that do? How did it impact the firm that you work for?

Even if you work in a job that you consider "low level," there is a way that you can use numbers to your advantage. For example (I'm going to use a call center example, not because I think it's low level, but it's one that you can clearly understand), in a call center, there is a mean, for which people handle calls, right? Let's say the mean is that you handle 5 calls an hour and you handle 8, what you are able to talk about is that, over time, you handle 60% more calls than the average call center worker does a good firm. That gets peoples' attention. "60% more calls!"

You are responsible for a group of 27 that is responsible for (I'll use technology as an example), design, development and implementation of a system that helps generate $47 million for your firm. They notice that! It replaced a 12-year-old legacy system that clearly become obsolete and, in developing that system, we took advantage of… You get where I'm going with us? You layout what the story is and the result that you got. Otherwise, you're presenting yourself as a drone.

I am responsible for this. I do that. On and on and on… I am a task monkey. If you want to be seen as a task monkey, just talk about the task and not the result that the task delivered.

Yes, managers are impressed by it, but only if you can deliver the goods afterwards.

My answer the question is simple. Yes, included it. Don't avoid it. Unless of course you are making it up.

Do you really think employers are trying to help you?



Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a leadership and career coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. changes that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

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