Lies, damn lies, and statistics
Using numbers in your job search
When I was working for an educational services company, I suggested that I and two of my colleagues attend a seminar on making landing pages.
A “landing page” is just a specific type of web page used to promote something - a product, an event. I thought this would be a good tool to have in our toolbox, since we were a web-based company.
After the seminar, we put up our first landing page advertising our monthly webinar, and promoted the landing page to our audience.
The next month’s webinar had three times the attendance of the previous month.
I went excitedly to my boss, who was always saying he wanted numbers to back up our positions. I pointed out to him the three times increase in webinar attendance, with the only difference being the new landing page.
“Well,” he replied, “that could have happened for many reasons.”
Ouch.
In most situations when it comes to job hunting, numbers do matter. Why do they matter?
Numbers clearly demonstrate your value in a shorthand way that works when your resume is being scanned by an applicant tracking system or a harried HR professional.
Numbers show that you value results, and not just how far or fast you climbed the ladder or what job titles you accumulated.
Numbers enhance your credibility, taking the place of vague descriptions like “led a team” or “improved productivity.”
Numbers set you apart from other candidates who didn’t do this extra work to quantify their results.
If you work in a field that lends itself to statistics – sales, marketing, etc. – coming up with those numbers is much easier. Your previous employer might already be keeping records on your performance metrics.
If statistics aren’t as much a part of your field (I’m a writer, for example), here are some ideas about incorporating numbers and stats into your employment story.
1. Track your own metrics
If your job didn’t have clear metrics, consider creating your own. Reflect on your daily, weekly, or monthly work. How many tasks did you complete? How many people did you interact with? For example, if you managed a team, how many team members did you support? If you organized events, how many attendees did you host? These self-tracked metrics can provide a numerical foundation to your achievements.
2. Estimate impact with related numbers
If you can’t measure direct impact, think about related activities that can serve as proxies. For instance, if you worked in customer service, you might not know the exact revenue you generated, but you could estimate your impact by the number of customers you assisted. For example, "Supported an average of 20 customers per day, with an average 80 percent satisfaction rating."
3. Leverage industry benchmarks
Research industry standards and averages to match with your experience. If you're in a field where metrics are common, you can compare your performance to industry averages. For example, if you were a project manager, find out the average completion time for similar projects and see how your work measures up. "Completed projects 15% faster than the industry average, consistently delivering results ahead of schedule."
4. Gather testimonials
When hard numbers are scarce, qualitative feedback can often be quantified. For instance, if you frequently received praise for your leadership or problem-solving, how often did that happen? Did a particular client or manager regularly commend your work? Turn that feedback into a statistic: "Received recognition from 90% of direct reports for leadership excellence."
5. Consider long-term impact
Some achievements may not have immediate metrics but can be measured over time. Reflect on how your work contributed to long-term goals. For example, if you implemented a new process, what were the long-term benefits? Did it save time or resources? "Implemented a new process that reduced department overtime by 20% over three years." This shows that even if the impact wasn't immediately quantifiable, it had a lasting effect.
The Muse (a site with tons of great content I recommend you check out) has some useful examples of how numbers can improve standard resume lines. Like this:
Before:
Responsible for chairing the Student Event Promotional Committee.
After:
Chaired promotional committee of 12 and presented marketing plans to an audience of 40 to 60 students at weekly university senate meetings open to all 2,000 community members.
All of these ideas should just be jumping-off points to get you thinking about numbers and stats as they relate to your experience. My hope is just to get you started.
I would love to hear what statistics you have used in your job search materials. Let me know in the comments, or just reply to this email.
See you next week.
Great tips! I've sometimes struggled with this, as my achievements haven't always been quantifiable. But when they are, I quantify them! Here are a few items from my resume, from a number of jobs over many years:
- In first year, doubled the organization’s media coverage; subsequently, increased mainstream media coverage with placements in LA Times, Washington Post, and Vox.
- As the content developer for the organization’s website, emails, op-eds, collateral, and social media, made our complex subject matter accessible to a wide variety of audiences.
- Initiated and spearheaded a major website redesign that improved usability and highlighted key content.
- Revitalized a state policy campaign by simplifying messaging and engaging more external parties.
- Created engaging, informative content for website, blog, email campaigns, social media, and press releases. Achieved 20% open rate for biweekly email newsletter.
- Wrote a speech for our CEO that was considered the highlight of Cornell’s 2015 Johnson Energy Connection event.
- Created a Solar 101 guide and a comprehensive blog with actionable tips and advice on subjects from clean energy to food waste, making complex topics easy to understand.
- In six months, grew Twitter followers from a few hundred to thousands and doubled the site’s monthly page views.
- Led cross-functional teams to successfully deliver complex, high-quality projects on time and within budget.
- Persuaded Adobe Legal Team to allow streamlining of rigorous process for copyright pages, simplifying the workflow and saving over 1000 person-hours a year; led group of dispersed teams to streamline localization process.
- Hired and managed a team of 12 staff and contract editors, managing yearly contractor budget of $200,000+.
- Became go-to person for company editorial standards.
- As Senior Production Editor at HarperCollins for five years, managed production of 24 titles a year.
Incidentally, I recently saw a resume where someone actually had lines starting with "duties included ..." Very old-style resume from someone who hadn't looked for a job for a while, yet she got hired by one of my clients and is great! Not sure how she managed that, but phew.
Many (many!) years ago I had the good fortune to be tutored on-the-job by someone our management team had hired to be the grown-up for our green solar energy start-up. We were twenty-somethings and he was in his 40s so of course we called him Pops. Anyway one of the things he taught me was this: "If it's worth doing, it's worth measuring." I never forgot that and have applied it in my career -- to my advantage -- wherever I went.