Your CV - qualify your achievements

"Whether you’re an engineer or sales executive, you have to demonstrate to the hiring authority that the value you will generate is three times more than what you’re costing. When you do that, the odds of landing an interview very quickly are in your favour."

Not my words but those of award-winning CV writer +Sandra Ingemansen. Much has been written about how we need to quantify our achievements ('I saved my company x' or 'I exceeded my sales targets by y%') but what if you can't provide any quantifiable achievements? 

That's one of the questions that Sandra gets asked most often, especially from  technology and engineering professionals. "Sometimes achievements are hard to quantify but then there are always qualitative results," says Sandra, "which is another way of substantiating your personal brand."

A CV that oozes quality 

So, what do we mean by qualitative accomplishments? Here Sandra provides some examples:

1) Maybe you took the helm and developed a failing department with zero morale and high attrition into an award-winning team that went on to reach the highest retention rates in the company and scored the highest on customer satisfaction surveys.

2) Maybe you solved some difficult problems or resolved conflicts. If you solved a problem that three others in your position failed to do in the past five years before you came on board, then there’s your story.  

3) Maybe you overcame conflicts among siloed departments. Maybe you managed your way through obscure and bureaucratic government agencies and got things done quicker by tapping into your network of connections. 

4) Maybe you developed, trained and mentored your company’s next batch of leaders that went on to boost business value in some way.

Sandra adds, "The key to remember is that every single person in an organisation should be able to quantify or qualify exactly how they add value to the business. And make sure your achievements are relative to the needs of the company or hiring executive you are targeting. That means, do your industry and company research!"

You can find out more about Sandra at www.resume-strategies.com or follow her on Twitter @Resume911.