How Anyone Can Add Measurable Accomplishments to a Resume

By Kate Rodriguez

Every resume expert advises it – adding quantifiable accomplishments to your resume. Using numbers is a powerful way to demonstrate what you’ve achieved.  Examples like, “Drove regional sales from less than $5 million to $9.2 million within two years, exceeding quotas by an average of 15% each year” or “Resolved an average of 500 customer inquiries per week and consistently ranked in the top 10% for response time and volume” catch a hiring manager’s eye, give you more credibility as a candidate and help you stand out from the crowd.

Great...if you work in sales, marketing or customer relationship management. Or if you occupy a senior role with hiring authority, budget oversight or P&L accountability. In other words, if you work in a numbers-driven position, it’s easy to measure how well you’ve performed and add those metrics to your resume. But what about everyone else? Many people -- such as administrative assistants, teachers, writers/editors, engineers, IT specialists, and nurses -- have a difficult time quantifying their work in numbers.

It’s possible in almost any position, however, to tease out enough figures to make your resume shine brighter. Take a look at these phrases and see if you can adapt a few to suit your experience:

• Organize logistics for 3 weekly staff meetings, including conference call-in lines for 2 remote employees.
• Write 4 articles of 1,000 – 1,500 words each weekly for an online audience of 20,000 subscribers.
• Led design team of 5 to complete 1.5-acre landscape renovation for multimillion-dollar home. Installed a vibrant and multi-purpose space while remaining within budget of $10.00 per square foot.
• Contributed research for 3 published articles on weight loss through yoga and meditation.
• Improved network uptime to 99.9% (from a previous level of 96.8%), upgraded systems, and improved system security. 
• Provided bedside care and clinical documentation for an average of 20 patients per day in a critical care facility.
• Recommended and coordinated outsourcing of direct mailings, resulting in a cost savings of 22%.
• Design and deliver biology and physics curriculum, including conducting experiments, for 150 students in 9th and 10th grades.
• Worked on line that achieved 100% of production goals while improving safety record every year.
• Provide ongoing maintenance and support for approximately 60 Linux and Unix systems.
• As lead engineer for the Courthouse project, collaborated with 2 architects, over 10 contractor supervisors and 3 city/state agencies to resolve engineering and design issues.
• Train and supervise 2 interns every 6 months, task projects and oversee the results.
• Maintained excellent relationship with clients and delivered on time, which resulted in 2 follow-on projects.
• Partnered with Web design team to create database-backed website that sped up customer order fulfillment by 5-times and increased sales by 35% in just 3 months.
• Organized all aspects of a 2-day conference featuring 2 keynotes and 30 panel speakers for an audience of 700 attorneys.
• Researched and wrote approximately 5 economics reports and briefing papers per week for interoffice team of 25.
• Train an average of 10 new employees each quarter in office procedures resulting in increased efficiency and communication.
• Performed weekly data reduction and analysis and prepared reports for management team of 6.
• Teach elementary school students with an average class size of 30, including up to 3 students with learning challenges, in an inclusive classroom.
• Provided speech therapy services for a geriatric care facility with 200 residents, averaging 10 sessions per day.
• Efficiently manage office for dental practice employing 8 dentists, 14 dental assistants and 2 receptionists.
• Isolated software flaw in new version of company’s most-popular product prior to release, saving over $150K in product update costs.
• Decreased office expenses by 15% by creating a stock control system and changing suppliers.

Photo credit: Flickr/Dustin Liebenow

 

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