Resume Writing: A Number's Game
By Brooks Amster
Writing and submitting a resume is a chance for an applicant to convey that he or she is right for a given position. Some of us will be submitting resumes to smaller firms with a more intimate approach to reviewing resumes. Perhaps the employer or reviewer will have the chance to reach out to you and clarify a certain point on a resume, or perhaps the owner of this small company will have the chance to review your resume with you. Great! Then you can explain, at length, every aspect of your resume and leave no stone unturned!
Well, most of us will be dropping our resumes to larger companies who will engage a reviewer to sift through a seemingly endless stack of resumes, throwing away some, skipping others, and picking out a small stack from which they can comb meticulously for nuggets of information. It is important to be cognizant of this numbers game when writing your resume.
To give you a better idea, here are some statistics about resume reviews:
30-60: The amount of time (in seconds) a reviewer browses your resume
200: The number of resumes a reviewer at a large company might read in a day
1: In general, this is the number of pages you have to convey that you’re qualified for the position
With these statistics in mind, help you reviewer out by being concise and clear. There's another simple way to increase the impact of your resume Quantify your experiences wherever possible! It’s the simplest and most overlooked way to efficiently convey the impact you’ve had at your previous positions. I always remind my clients to perform what I like to call the "Number Sweep". After you feel you have all your relevant experiences on paper, sweep over your resume content and see where you can assign a number value to whatever experience you're describing. Numbers will provide your reviewer with quick and easy access to important information on the scope of your work and the added detail will separate your resume from vaguer, weaker resumes. Compare the two bullets in a resume. The person worked the same job at the same company, performing precisely the same tasks (this was taken from an actual resume I worked on): · Applicant 1: “Managed company’s Facebook and Twitter accounts.” · Applicant 2: “Managed company’s social media tools, acquiring 250 Facebook fans and 125 Twitter followers in a 3-month span” Assuming the applicant is applying for a communications or marketing role at a desired firm, a reviewer will likely see the words “Managed”, “Facebook”, “Twitter” and “Social Media”. Numbers quickly add details about impact and scope. Applicant 2, defines his or her specific role by conveying quantifiable impact in the form of social media followers.
Applicants should always review their resumes before submission. Before finalizing a resume, add a 2-3 minute “Number Sweep” to the routine. It will increase resume impact, make it easier for your reviewer to identify points of interest, and add to your resume's professional feel.
Brooks Amster formerly worked as a consultant with the federal consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton and helped facilitate the firm's on-campus recruiting program. He now runs Real World Tutoring,, providing career assistance and resume/cover letter writing to young professionals ranging from graduating college students to grad school applicant.
