Quantifying your achievements will show prospective employers your value

The purpose of your CV is not about telling employers your career history to date. Instead, its purpose is to show prospective employers your most recent achievements, why they make you a qualified candidate for the vacancy, and why they should offer you an interview.

But achievements can be hard to believe when you're reading them on a document, especially if they don't show the impact you made as a result of your actions. That's where facts and figures come in. Including numbers, statistics, and other hard facts in your CV makes your achievements more tangible and showcases your value. 

Read on to find out how to use facts and figures on your CV, complete with examples, to help to push your CV ahead of the competition and into first place for an interview.

Essential facts and figures to add to your CV

There are six types of facts and figures that you can include in your CV to quantify your achievements. They include:

Finances

Finances are the most crucial aspect of any business, as without a steady stream of revenue a business cannot survive. As a result, financial management and efficiency are sought-after abilities. Including financial figures throughout your CV will show that you understand the bottom line and have an aptitude for contributing to it.

On your CV, you can include facts associated with budgets, such as the budgets you managed and what that budget consisted of. You can be specific with the number, such as “a monthly budget of £30,000,” or more vague, such as “a six-figure budget.”

You can also demonstrate savings you made. For example, if you negotiated lower prices with suppliers, or built an in-house tool which reduced third-party costs by a certain amount per year.

And of course, there are sales. Quarterly figures or end-of-year numbers are a great addition to your CV, as they show prospective employers that you're in tune with finance fundamentals in business.

Locations and markets

Showing that you've made an impact across a number of locations on your CV can be very impressive to employers that have offices, branches, or a presence around the country or worldwide. 

On your CV, you may zoom in on how many locations a role required you to cover, how many countries you worked with directly, or how many regions you serviced, to give a sense of the scale you can work at. 

Direct reports and people management

If a role requires managerial experience, which is typical if the job involves leading or supervising a team, numbers are a great way to quantify your experience. 

Consider how many people you line managed or supervised, how many people you've recruited, how many people you've trained, and whether this was in a group setting or one-to-one sessions. 

Adding numbers to your people management achievements is a strong way to quantify your abilities for prospective employers.

Time 

Time is money for businesses. Including tangible examples of how you've saved time, or a flex to show how great your time management skills are, will always go down well on your CV.

For example, you could include examples of projects you were involved in and deadlines that you met. You could also reference a process you implemented that improved efficiency and therefore saved the business a certain amount of hours each month. 

Numbers used to quantify time also specify your success and show prospective employers how valuable your talents are.

Size

Statistics related to size can be used throughout your CV to quantify the value of your work and achievements. Numbers used in this way offer context and can emphasise how crucial your actions were. 

For example, if you led a project, how many staff were involved and what was the budget? If you are in customer service, what is the size of your customer-base and how many interactions do you handle on a daily basis? 

Adding a number to demonstrate size will make your skill set all the more impressive.

Percentages

Percentages are a great way to make your achievements more tangible, especially if you can't disclose sensitive data, such as revenue figures. Plus, percentages are another metric that can help a prospective employer get to grips with your successes.

For example, if you went above and beyond your annual target, quantify your achievements by assigning it a percentage, such as “achieved 135% of my annual sales targets in year one.” You could also use percentages to explain how much time or money you saved the business. 

Since percentages are a universal metric, they're a safe figure to use on your CV to showcase the impact you've made in current or previous roles and the talent you have on offer.

Use verbs and action words 

Leveraging powerful and creative verbs is a surefire way to enhance your abilities on your CV. When they're used in conjunction with facts and figures, your CV is guaranteed to pack a punch.

Verbs like “managed,” “led,” and “communicated” are all too common and bland. While they do the job of describing your actions, there are better word choices that will make your achievements sparkle.

While there are plenty of action words to use in your CV, here are a few easy swaps you could make:

  • Instead of “managed” try “directed”

  • Instead of “led” try “coordinated”

  • Instead of “communicated” try “counselled”

  • Instead of “responsible for” try “oversaw”

  • Instead of “regulated” try “verified”

  • Instead of “improved” try “redesigned”

  • Instead of “supported” try “informed”

Examples of facts and figures on a CV

The most common place to use facts and figures that quantify your achievements on your CV is your employment history, but they can also be referenced in your personal statement. Here are a few examples of how to use facts and figures on your CV from different industries:

  • Analysed keyword performance data to optimise page rankings, resulting in a 14% uplift in organic traffic

  • Successfully completed 8 projects from start to finish over 5 years, generating a total of £500,000 for the company

  • Transformed the business' social media presence by revamping all channels, improving engagements by 67%

  • Exceeded call response targets by 10% every month

  • Redesigned the client onboarding workflow, saving the company over £5,000 per year on tools and subscriptions

  • Coordinated a digital campaign strategy for tier 1 products across 25 countries

  • Handled 50 customer queries, aftercare appointments, and all aspects of customer care every day via phone calls, abiding by GDPR principles

  • Successfully developed the business over 3.5 years and increased valuation by 380%

  • Line managed 5 members of staff, including their inductions and appraisals

Using facts and figures on your CV is the best way to quantify your achievements and show prospective employers what you are truly capable of. Want to make sure your choice of numbers is showcasing your talents in the best possible way? Submit your CV for a free review to receive objective feedback.

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