Is your CV a list of tasks you performed, or is it a showcase of your accomplishments? There’s a huge difference. A hiring manager doesn’t just want to know what you did; they want to know how well you did it. The easiest way to show this is by quantifying your achievements with numbers.
Compare these two statements:
- Before: “Managed the company’s social media accounts.”
- After: “Grew social media engagement by 40% across three platforms in six months by implementing a new content strategy.”
The second statement is infinitely more powerful. It demonstrates impact, provides scale, and shows a direct, positive result.
Here’s how you can start quantifying your own experience:
- Look for Percentages: Did you increase sales, reduce costs, or improve efficiency? By what percentage ($ %$)?
- Use Hard Numbers: How many people did you manage? How many new clients did you bring in? How many articles did you publish?
- Mention Money: Talk about the budget you managed or the revenue you generated. Use the currency symbol (e.g., R500,000).
- Incorporate Time: Did you complete a project ahead of schedule? Did you reduce the time it took to complete a task?
Go through every bullet point on your CV and ask yourself, “How can I prove this with a number?” Transforming your duties into measurable achievements is the single best way to make your CV stand out from the competition.