Every corporate job opening will receive, on average, 250 applications.

For organizations with widespread name recognition, such as Google, this figure is even higher. Though some of these candidates will inevitably be unqualified for the position, whenever you apply to a job, you’ll compete with some highly skilled individuals. During the initial screening, you’re armed with only the language that appears on your resume—so it’s essential to make every word count.

Most people include their work history and responsibilities on their resume. However, these statements don’t explain the impact the individual had on the organization or department overall. This traditional structure doesn’t say anything about how someone excelled in their role.

Resume writing isn’t just about listing your job responsibilities; instead, it should demonstrate your value to an employer. To communicate those points effectively, provide measurable achievement statements that quantify your standout accomplishments.

How to Prove Your Qualifications Using 5 Resume Writing Tips

1. Brainstorm a list of your accomplishments.

If you’re a senior-level employee, you’re going to have lots of milestones in your career. But one document, of course, can’t cover all your duties and achievements. To start thinking about which parts of your career would be appealing to a hiring manager, list the following:

• Comparisons to Your Peers: Were you more successful than others in similar roles? How about other individuals in the broader field? This type of comparison is a smart jumping-off point for establishing yourself as a standout candidate.
• Details About Your Role: These can include the size of your budget, the number of employees you managed, and the quantifiable impact your initiatives had, to name a few.
• Your Firsts: Think about how your company differs from others. What did it do before other organizations? What did you do before others, either at your workplace or in your field?

2. Decide which achievements are quantifiable.

When you’re outlining your achievements on a resume, you want to think about specific figures. Here are a few suggestions:

• People hired or mentored
• Groups attracted or engaged
• Deals brokered
• Quarterly revenue earned
• Losses remedied
• KPIs met or exceeded
• Sales increased
• Money or time saved

Whenever you want to assert your value to an employer, try to attach a dollar amount. Decision-makers are mostly concerned with the bottom-line impact.

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3. Provide context to your measurements.

After you’ve identified the measure that you want to use, it’s time to gather the data. Sometimes, these figures can be specific, while other times you can estimate a range over a longer period.

Try focusing on range, scale, and frequency.

For example, you could say something like, “Exceeded quarterly revenue projects over a period of 21 quarters by $15,000 to $20,000.”

This statement includes a range and scale that let you indicate success and fluctuation over time.

Frequency gives a sense of how often you performed a certain task.

For example, you could say, “Evaluated 20 to 30 client case files on a weekly basis,” to give the employer contextual information about your productivity.

4. Use a formula for resume writing.

Recruiters from Google suggest following this formula when you attach metrics to your work history:

Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y], by doing [Z].

In this case, “X” stands for what you achieved, “Y” is the measurable way you achieved it, and “Z” is how you made this change.

Here’s an example of how to make a statement more persuasive:

Original: “Was tasked with developing an algorithm to find new target audiences.”

Improvement: “Identified 15 new target audiences by creating a new algorithm that determines more specific user demographic information.”

5. Replace passive verbs with active ones.

To start replacing your un-measurable statements, change your passive verbs to active ones. Passive verbs are ones where you receive the action instead of perform it. These are phrases usually use a form of the verb “to be.”

For example, here’s a statement with a passive verb: “Was the marketing director.”

Instead, use an active verb and follow the formula:

“Managed a team of 10 employees by holding weekly department meetings, regular retreats, one-on-one check-ins, and professional development opportunities.”

Here are some other active verbs you might want to include in your resume:

Chaired	Increased	Expanded	Engaged	Founded
Spearheaded	Reduced	Eliminated	Overhauled	Optimized

 

By using active language in your resume, your tone will be more authoritative and the writing will be easier to understand.

You might also find that it’s easier to connect your actions to a specific and measurable outcome.

Get Resume Help From Ivy Exec

You’re already so familiar with your work, it can be difficult to know when a hiring manager will want more context to fully appreciate your impact.

The coaches at Ivy Exec can give you the perspective you need to create a resume that resonates with employers. Our career services include one-on-one advising and resume writing.

To schedule a free consultation, click here; if you’d like to purchase a collaborative session with a career coach, visit our services page.