The reality of today’s job market is that you are lucky to get a 6-10 second skim read during the first round of resume reading. This means that you have to showcase your value at lightning speed.
One of those most effective techniques for doing this is to show TANGIBLE/QUANTIFIABLE/MEASURABLE results and achievements rather than a laundry list of responsibilities.
In other words, your resume needs to read like your brochure – not your blueprint.
Vacation Research v. Resume Reading
I liken today’s resume reading to selecting a vacation resort. When choosing how to spend a week of precious R&R do you look for the number of towels and soap bars along with a list of all the menu items included in room service? Hardly.
You look at the big picture. Does the destination have the amenities you enjoy? Do lodgings meet your standards? Is the resort in appealing surroundings? If the brochure ticks off the boxes on your wish list, you are likely to make the resort a serious contender.
Putting the Big Picture on Paper
Translating the big picture to a resume means focusing on your achievements. If you’re in sales, work for a company that tracks your stats and had a banner year, outlining the big picture is fairly easy. Show your stats and rankings and voila! An achievement-focused resume.
If your year hasn’t been great, or if you work in operations, marketing, administration, HR or even finance quantifying success is attainable – and the results are often hidden in plain sight.
The five questions below can help:
#1 What Makes me Proud?
Ask yourself when/if you walk out the door what you are proudest of and lead off with that answer.
Did you stop your company/department from losing money, get the same amount done with fewer people or build a strong network across an organization? Maybe you developed your team so they no longer need you. These are all noteworthy achievements, and everyone’s situation is unique.
#2 Did I Save Money?
Saving money is just as important to many readers as bringing money to the table. If you negotiated discounts, identified financial discrepancies or reworked a process so that less money is spent – it’s just a matter of quantifying either in $$ or percentages.
#3 Did I Save Time?
Time savings is a huge value-add to many readers. Did you rework a process that used to take days and now takes hours? Did you come up with an organizational method or automize a report that shaves hours off of a task? Spell these out to quantify the savings.
#4 Are People Happier Because of Me?
Take a stab at quantifying happiness by seeing how many people stayed in their roles versus quitting or chose to follow you versus staying put.
Sometimes the achievement lies in the fact that things were horrible and are now less so. If you can somehow measure morale or customer satisfaction, you’ve got a quantifiable achievement worth putting down on your resume.
#5 Did I Contribute to Improving my Company’s Circumstances
It can be hard to determine the impact of your contribution to the company on a large scale. Take a look at your company’s revenue or associate growth during your tenure. See if your company survived where the competition didn’t or got out of a bad situation and improved.
By noting that you were part of a team that contributed to the achievement you can show the reader your role in the big picture.
The Big Picture Frame of Mind
These questions are the types I ask during a resume branding strategy consult. Asking them of yourself is a great way to get yourself into the big picture mindset necessary to craft a resume that reads like a career brochure.
My clients are often surprised and pleased at what their answers uncover – no doubt you will be too!