This week’s message focuses on some best practices for reporting numbers in your resume. My experience is that most candidates realize the importance of using numbers to describe their responsibilities and achievements. As a leader, it’s probably been beaten into your head: you gotta hit your numbers, you gotta hit your numbers. It’s generally understood that using numbers is the primary way to assess adherence to performance standards. No doubt in your current job, there are specific metrics at the forefront of your mind that are of particular importance to your boss. That might be your weapon qualification percentage, personnel readiness stats, maintenance posture, or just simply the large dollar value of equipment under your control. As important as numbers may be, it’s important to use common sense when quantifying things. For resume purposes, oftentimes it comes down to choosing between an approximate and an exact number. Here are a few examples that I’ve drawn from actual resumes that I’ll use to illustrate my point:
- Managed over 8 construction projects …
- Coordinated the receipt, issue, and turn-in of $283,624.15 worth of repair parts…
- Transported over 5,121 personnel to a training event …
In the first example, the person is citing a very specific, yet relatively small number: 8. Think about it, “over 8” could mean 9, 20, 45, or 345! For this example, the amount was relatively small and logically easy for the person to count precisely. Therefore, no need to approximate. To fix it, I recommend using the exact number and getting rid of the word, “over.” My fix: Managed 11 construction projects...
The second example is somewhat just the opposite of the first. In this case, the dollar amount is so large and precise, I would question how they arrived at such a specific number. Therefore, I would use a round number that is smaller than the actual number and use a modifier such as “over” or “approximately.” My fix: Coordinated the receipt, issue, and turn-in of approximately $280,000 worth of repair parts...
The third example is a combination of the first two. Here the individual is using a modifier (over) yet using it with a very large and precise amount that they had exceeded. My fix: Transported over 5,000 personnel to a training event….
So in summary, a good rule of thumb is to be exact for relatively small numbers, but approximate for larger numbers.