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So in mid January of this year I was one of 60 people let go from my former employer due to a reduction in force. I didn't/don't mind it, I've been working since I was 15(31 now). After a few months of relaxing being a complete bum and doing absolutely nothing I received an email from a vendor I used to work with in my old job. He has a client that is looking to fill some jobs in my field. While this opportunity wouldn't work for me due to a wedding and a two week vacation I planned, it got me thinking perhaps I should update my resume I haven't touched in 4 years.
So after about an hour of getting everything updated, lined up correctly etc. I fired it off to him for anything else that might come up in the future. He responded back saying I might want to add numbers to quantify my accomplishments. He attached this link from Monster http://ledgerlink.monster.com/benefits/articles/183-use-numbers-on-your-resume-to-highlight-your-accomplishments.
Now I don't personally use Monster, I am a Dice person as my background is IT. I have to assume in a community this big there has to be some people involve in HR. And my question would be is this something you all recommend? Or anyone for that matter, does your resume contain numbers/percentages? Maybe in my mind I just can't wrap my head around that it seems like a good idea to do.
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I've taken a few workshops recently to get my own resume in order (also on my way into IT, holla) and I've never once been told to do this. The only numbers on my resume or any other I've seen are dates on previous places of employment, and even this I feel should be left out. Numbers make things too specific and it becomes far too easy to pass subconscious judgement on the guy with a resume showing that he didn't work for X weeks/months/years. In my humble opinion, don't put too many numbers on a resume.
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little tip but i dont know if it matters but: you could also use Latex as your resume :3 since your IT, its a big plus (imo)
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Using numbers to quantify your achievements when possible is a good piece of advice. First of all, using numbers allows the recruiter to have an actual sense of what you were able to accomplish -- managing 5 direct reports is quite different from 50, or saving 1% costs vs 5%.
The second benefit of using numbers is that they draw the reader's eyes more easily than text, so you get the recruiter to focus on any highlights you might have. I've been told that for this purpose, it is acceptable to ignore conventional English usage and use numerals rather than words in your resume for all numbers.
Of course, if you can't easily quantify your achievements, don't try to force numbers in, either.
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On May 08 2012 23:11 ABagOfFritos wrote:
I've taken a few workshops recently to get my own resume in order (also on my way into IT, holla) and I've never once been told to do this. The only numbers on my resume or any other I've seen are dates on previous places of employment, and even this I feel should be left out. Numbers make things too specific and it becomes far too easy to pass subconscious judgement on the guy with a resume showing that he didn't work for X weeks/months/years. In my humble opinion, don't put too many numbers on a resume.
My company gave us an option of going to one, I passed at the time looking back I wish I would have went just to hear it first hand from the resume writers there. I more along the lines agree with you we seem to be thinking the same on this. Goodluck in your search.
On May 08 2012 23:30 icystorage wrote:
little tip but i dont know if it matters but: you could also use Latex as your resume :3 since your IT, its a big plus (imo)
That is true, the one thing is though atleast in my opinion is most IT managers Ive worked for would have to google what a latex resume is. which is pretty sad thinking about it. I may throw one together though great comment!
On May 08 2012 23:44 Melchior wrote:
Using numbers to quantify your achievements when possible is a good piece of advice. First of all, using numbers allows the recruiter to have an actual sense of what you were able to accomplish -- managing 5 direct reports is quite different from 50, or saving 1% costs vs 5%.
The second benefit of using numbers is that they draw the reader's eyes more easily than text, so you get the recruiter to focus on any highlights you might have. I've been told that for this purpose, it is acceptable to ignore conventional English usage and use numerals rather than words in your resume for all numbers.
Of course, if you can't easily quantify your achievements, don't try to force numbers in, either.
For my background specifically, I was always the new "addition" to the team. 1st job was help desk at a tax firm with 220 people and only 2 other IT staff my manager and another guy who was a sys admin. 2nd job was for a network admin, again the low man on the totem pole, and my last job was sys admin for a bio tech startup that had 300 people and only 3 of us. I have never been in a supervisory role, my last job I did basically every equipment order. But any numbers I have would be inaccurate in regards to savings as I would always multi-quote request. And I no longer have access to those purchase orders. The other kicker was on big purchases SAN's Switches(25k+) they would always use the same overpriced vendor which drove me nuts. He was beating their heads in 5-10k a pop.But since he would toss my manager an ipad or some other sort of swag he got the big orders. In my 3 years I probably could have saved them 250,000 if they would have listened. Kinda see why they had to do a RIF  .
Its kinda comical, all of the changes that were beneficial which I would repeat every meeting like a broken record finally got changed in March. A big one was they had no limit on email. Our Exchange mail store was 750gb. It was ridiculous. We went 8 months at one point with no tape backup, because my boss would not ok the tape drive loader replacement. It was a great job, laid back environment but I dont know how I could take numbers from there =/
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Numbers provide context to any accomplishments or noteworthy things that you've done.
It's becoming more useful in IT and it's been a staple in some financial circles that I've seen (my entire family are CAs or CGAs). For instance, you could say that you managed servers for a company. Or you could say that you managed 40 servers that saw X TB of throughput, and averted some type of large scale disaster, or whatever other metric relates to your position.
It's the same way an accountant might say: noticed company was paying for features on their wireless plan that were not utilized; worked with provider to establish more efficient plan; saved company $x per year.
In no way should that mean you need to slap numbers all over the place, but it's quite useful if done properly. It's a good way to differentiate yourself from others.
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A tangent, but why are you getting married and going on a vacation when you're unemployed? Those seem like two hugely costly endeavors in a low cash flow situation...
Edit: And to answer your original question, from my experience (I'm not in HR), the answer is it depends. For a smaller/mid size company where they're more likely to read your resume, then putting numbers probably helps. For large companies, it doesn't even matter. Just put in a ton of key words for the auto filter to detect.
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On May 09 2012 02:48 gchan wrote:
A tangent, but why are you getting married and going on a vacation when you're unemployed? Those seem like two hugely costly endeavors in a low cash flow situation...
Edit: And to answer your original question, from my experience (I'm not in HR), the answer is it depends. For a smaller/mid size company where they're more likely to read your resume, then putting numbers probably helps. For large companies, it doesn't even matter. Just put in a ton of key words for the auto filter to detect.
Ah I should have specified I have a wedding to go to not for my own. As for my vacation to California, its actually were I was born. I live in Pittsburgh Pa, but my dad's side of the family still live out there so I go out and stay with them for a few days and then we all go down to King's Canyon(Yosemite) for memorial day weekend its a tradition. As for my cash flow situation I got a severance package and am eligible for unemployment since my termination was not any fault of my own.
Larger companies use filters? Thats actually very interesting to know thanks!
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EPT
