Benefits of highlighting numbers in your job resume

Benefits of highlighting numbers in your job resume

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add numbers to your job resume

add numbers to your job resume

 

The task of writing a job resume is difficult, and you have to put in all your efforts in ensuring you have an impressive resume. You might pick up resume templates that will showcase the format and give you something to start working from. However, it won’t tell you exactly how to fill it up. One of the essential things that get missed out when you write a job resume is including numbers.

Numbers play an important role in a job resume; they help in quantifying what you need to say. We have listed out how exactly highlighting numbers in your job resume will help you here –

 

 

Numbers help explain the scope of your job role

If you are an experienced candidate, numbers in your job resume indicate how much work you were responsible for. For example, if you are a salesperson, instead of writing ‘Responsible for state sales and maintaining accounts’ if you quantify it like this ‘Responsible for 35 (or X) accounts across Y states – A,B,C’ it makes for more impact.

This kind of writing lets the recruiter know that not only were you responsible for sales and managing accounts but also for how many of those you were responsible for! It defines the job role quickly without too much detailed explanation.

 

Numbers add substance to your achievements

A lot of times adding numbers to your job resume adds substance to the claims you make and achievements you display. For instance, if you wish to highlight your communication skills, you might write this in your resume – ‘Skilled in communication – Reading, writing and speaking’.

Now while that is good, everyone writes the same thing!

Instead, if you quantify your skills and give them numbers, they will be more effective.

For instance, the same thing can be shown better through AMCAT scores. You can take the AMCAT test and write – ‘achieved 95 percentile in communications and adept at writing & listening skills’. The 95 percentile provides authenticity to your claim of having good communication skills!

 

Numbers make your resume stand out

If you take a look at resume samples, on a tool like Resume Buddy, you will notice that the best resumes are those who use both numbers and words. This is because numbers break the monotony of words and long sentences, and make it easier for the reader and draw their attention plus give them a visual break.

For every five lines, you should have at least one line with a number in them; this is the basic minimum. If you can include numbers in every other line then nothing like it, it just goes on to show that you can quantify yourself better than other candidates.

 

Numbers showcase your productivity

Recruiters are looking for productive people; unfortunately, a lot of people repeat their job description in the responsibilities section. They do not show how they are productive instead show what they were supposed to do. You might think that only engineers or people dealing with hard numbers can show their productivity, but that’s not true.

For example, if you are an HR professional, instead of writing ‘Ability to screen a large number of resumes’ you can write a ballpark figure like ‘Ability to screen 25 resumes per hour of entry-level candidates’. This will indicate to your future employer about how productive you can be in your job.

 

 

Hope this has given you an insight into why highlighting numbers in a job resume is important. We have also compiled resume building tips on including numbers in your job resume –

– Showcase the money you earned or saved in terms of currency.

– Indicate your productivity in terms of percentage; for instance – % decrease in time due to new code or % increase in completing routine tasks.

– Quantify the total reach or impact of your work – numbers of users increased, number of social followers, number of cities and locations under your control

– Highlight your numerical ranking – 1st in University in a subject, AMCAT Score percentile, Top Three sales performers of the year

– Convey time frames for tasks – Completed product in 3 weeks, Written new code in 48 hours etc.

 

 

Once you learn how to include numbers in your job resume, you will start visualizing your work in a different light. To create an impeccable and professional resume, check out Resume Buddy today.

If you have any doubts on how to write these numbers, ask us in the comments below.

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