Resumes are a Marketing tool
Far too many job seekers assume a resume should list job responsibilities or titles; those tasks associated with your role in a company. This has changed! What is needed are effective resume metrics, which demonstrate and highlight the outcomes your actions achieved. Those achievements should be quantified whenever possible. The average amount of time spent reading a resume is 14 seconds! A recruiter is scanning for key words and accomplishments so adding high-impact, measurable achievements is essential. According to Livecareer.com , “in today’s challenging job market, candidates must do all they can in a crowded field.” Adding resume metrics will help get you noticed!
Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s)
One of the most important tools is Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s), which are the metrics that drive the overall performance of an organization. KPI’s are critical to a company’s success and are an essential element in today’s resumes. In about 10 minutes, you can add data and metrics to quantify your achievements, upgrade your resume, and make yourself a more credible candidate. (startupinstitute.com). The human brain processes images significantly faster than words. 93% of all human communication is visual. This translates directly into the power of numbers in a field of text. The brain will jump to those numbers and register them exponentially quicker, much like an image.
Easy Examples of Resume Metrics
Here are 5 simple, relevant and attention-grabbing metrics: Met
- GROWTH: What did you increase for the company? KPI’s are essential here. Example: New technologies/processes implemented or staff retention rates improved.
- REDUCTION: What savings did you achieve for the company? In many cases, what you help the company reduce or eliminate can be just as important as what you add to it. Certain roles focus entirely on helping companies reduce in order to operate more effectively. Examples include budget, staff turnover, and eliminating redundancies.
- TIME: Since time is money, meeting goals on time or ahead of schedule is a powerful metric.
- IMPACT: How did you make a tangible change? This adds value to your company by demonstrating the number of people, either internal or external, that you have impacted or the payoff your efforts produced. Examples include the number of teams or members you have led, coached or mentored; the number of staff you have managed.
- FREQUENCY: How often did you achieve the bullet point highlights on your resume? Recruiters and hiring managers are interested in how well versed you are in certain areas. Often the only difference between a novice and an expert is how much time you’ve spent practicing. Example: Cite key responsibilities and quantify completion of those using a time reference. (i.e. 75% of the day, 4 times/year.
At NHS Solutions, our clients are increasingly requesting that candidate resumes include metrics. Our recruiting team reviews resumes every day and can speak to the power of adding metrics. Our Interim Healthcare Leaders are change catalysts and are hired for their ability to impact measurable metrics.