One of things many people have a challenge with when creating their resumes, is being able to show some type of value relating to their work history beyond basic functions performed .  It’s easy for some, like sales and marketing professionals.  People in those positions are focused daily on the numbers that relate directly to a company’s success:  size of deals won, number of new clients added or retained, financial goals hit, or other metrics that are tied in to the financial success of the companies they work for.

For people in other roles, it becomes a bit more challenging to identify the value they provide an organization and how their function.  Someone in a creative design position may not know exactly how they helped create more revenue for a company, but they did help (hopefully), and they need to understand how.  Of course, the job of someone in a design role is not just to draw pretty pictures; it’s to understand the visual requirements, the results that need to be achieved, the audience, and the message that needs to be conveyed.  Most creatives know this.  They just need to be able to articulate it in a document.

It’s important to say more than just what was done: “created web content for company’s home page and global site template.”  It’s important to add the reasons behind what was done and why it was created in a specific way.  It’s also important to mention end results if possible:  “The new template allowed for easier navigation and fewer clicks required to access key product purchase information.”  If possible, find out the before and after results so that information can be added in context:  “Following the new site launch, product page views increased by xx% and shopping cart transactions increased by xx%.”  By including this information, someone can show what they accomplished, why it was done, and what the benefit to the company was.

Some roles may be tied more to an administrative or operational layer.   In those roles, efficiency is the name of the game.  Can you talk about how you improved a process?  Did it lower costs? Did is help a team perform better?  Did it free up time?  Odds are, if you are good at what you do, you can point to these types of successes.

A recent example we came across was from a Technical Instructor.  While not a revenue function, the individual had following bullet points on his resume and they immediately grabbed our attention:

• Job at company 1:
  • Business Impact: The new and updated technical guides and docs helped to reduce the escalated calls by 35% which helped the division to lower the cost of problem research.
• Job at company 2: 
  • Business Impact: Unified course & lab contents across the globe to meet our customers and partners’ needs with cost savings of 15% per quarter for the business units

It showed that not only did he know the functions of his job, it also showed he understood the financial and operational impacts his role had at the companies he worked for.

Employers need someone who they can hire that needs little training, and they also want people that can make significant financial and operational impacts.   Make sure you prove your worth by showing what your efforts mean to an organization.