3 things every resume should have

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3 Things Every Resume Should have 4/23/14, 3:59 PM 1 of 1 3 Things Every Resume Should Have The Importance of a Resume Your resume is one of the most important documents you have, and yet, people often rush when they are writing it. Unless you have connections inside of the company, you will be relying on your resume to secure an interview. If it’s not the best it can be, it will likely end up in the trash. How do you make your resume the best? By being specific. And when I talk about specifics on a resume, I’m talking about… Numbers, Percentages, and Dollars If you want your resume to shine, to stand out from the crowd and make a real difference, be sure to include these in your accomplishments. I can tell you from 30 years of experience that it’s a breath of fresh air when you have been screening resumes for hours and run across one that includes specifics. It makes a significant difference in how the resume is viewed and perceived. Let’s take a look at some examples. You don’t say: Increased sales, or even, increased sales by 30%, though that’s better. Cut manufacturing costs and improved yields. Number 1 sales rep in region. Brought product in under budget and ahead of schedule. It’s much better to list it like this: Increased sales by 30%, from $10m to $13m in one year. Cut manufacturing costs by 20%, producing a yearly savings of more than $2m, while increasing yields from 91% to 95%. Number 1 sales rep in region (out of 14 reps). Brought product in 7% under budget and 2 months ahead of schedule, saving company $220k. Quantify When you quantify your accomplishments, you put things in perspective, allowing the gatekeeper to relate to what you did. If the company you’re applying to has a sales rep position open and the region it covers is responsible for $4 million in sales, she can see the effect you might have based on what you did with a $10m region. If they are having problems with yields and haven’t been able to tweak it past 90%, now they see you’ve done that. It might be easy for someone to go from 60% to 80%, but as you improve it becomes difficult to tweak it further. This puts it in perspective. When you say you were #1 sales rep, unless you quantify it, the gatekeeper might assume you were #1 out of 2. Don’t make them guess or assume, show them where you ranked. Same goes for budget and launch schedules, and anything else. Bottom Line Look at every accomplishment and see if it can be quantified. If a gatekeeper is reading two resumes and one is full of quantifiable results and the other isn’t, I think you know which one she’ll set aside to call for an interview and which one will go in a “to be reviewed” pile, or in the trash. Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. And he also writes non-fiction books including the No Mistakes Careers series.

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HR reps review hundreds of resumes. And the ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) review thousands. They have common ground in that they look for resumes with strong accomplishments that match the job descriptions. If a resume shows quantifiable results and specifics, it stands a much better chance of getting reviewed by a human, which means a much better chance of getting called for an interview. Don't let laziness reduce your chances. Make sure to include numbers, percentages, and dollars on your resume to show what you've done.

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Page 1: 3 Things Every Resume Should Have

3 Things Every Resume Should have 4/23/14, 3:59 PM

1 of 1

3 Things Every Resume Should have 4/23/14, 3:59 PM

1 of 1

3 Things Every Resume Should HaveThe Importance of a Resume

Your resume is one of the most important documents you have, and yet, people often rush when they are writing it. Unless you have connections inside of the company,

you will be relying on your resume to secure an interview. If it’s not the best it can be, it will likely end up in the trash.

How do you make your resume the best?

By being specific. And when I talk about specifics on a resume, I’m talking about…

Numbers, Percentages, and Dollars

If you want your resume to shine, to stand out from the crowd and make a real difference, be sure to include these in your accomplishments. I can tell you from 30 years

of experience that it’s a breath of fresh air when you have been screening resumes for hours and run across one that includes specifics. It makes a significant difference in

how the resume is viewed and perceived.

Let’s take a look at some examples.

You don’t say:

• Increased sales, or even, increased sales by 30%, though that’s better.

• Cut manufacturing costs and improved yields.

• Number 1 sales rep in region.

• Brought product in under budget and ahead of schedule.

It’s much better to list it like this:

• Increased sales by 30%, from $10m to $13m in one year.

• Cut manufacturing costs by 20%, producing a yearly savings of more than $2m, while increasing yields from 91% to 95%.

• Number 1 sales rep in region (out of 14 reps).

• Brought product in 7% under budget and 2 months ahead of schedule, saving company $220k.

Quantify

When you quantify your accomplishments, you put things in perspective, allowing the gatekeeper to relate to what you did. If the company you’re applying to has a

sales rep position open and the region it covers is responsible for $4 million in sales, she can see the effect you might have based on what you did with a $10m region.

If they are having problems with yields and haven’t been able to tweak it past 90%, now they see you’ve done that. It might be easy for someone to go from 60% to 80%,

but as you improve it becomes difficult to tweak it further. This puts it in perspective.

When you say you were #1 sales rep, unless you quantify it, the gatekeeper might assume you were #1 out of 2. Don’t make them guess or assume, show them where

you ranked. Same goes for budget and launch schedules, and anything else.

Bottom Line

Look at every accomplishment and see if it can be quantified. If a gatekeeper is reading two resumes and one is full of quantifiable results and the other isn’t, I think you

know which one she’ll set aside to call for an interview and which one will go in a “to be reviewed” pile, or in the trash.

Giacomo Giammatteo is the author of gritty crime dramas about murder, mystery, and family. And he also writes non-fiction books including the No Mistakes Careers

series.