The key to selling your wins in your CV

A couple of weeks ago, I asked recruiters across Asia about some of the most common mistakes on CVs and resumes.

Overwhelmingly, one answer popped up over and over again: Not selling your achievements at past or current positions well enough.

Let's face it — recruiters and hiring managers are busy and have a short attention span.

What they're looking for is a candidate who can deliver results, and your CV is one good chance to show what you've been able to achieve in the past, and pique their interest enough to call you back for an interview.

For several recruiters who wrote to me, they said that quantifying your results really helps. Metrics add scale and context, resume expert David Whitaker (Australia) says.

Some examples are average deal size, customer ratings, click-through rates. You can quantify those results by pointing to percentage improvements over a certain period of time, absolute dollar amounts, rankings, number of customers served, etc.

Workers whose work affects the bottom line possibly have a much easier task than those who don't — after all, dollars and cents sell.

For those struggling to quantify your results, Stacey Gordon, the CEO of Rework Work, says in a LinkedIn course you should pay attention to less conventional outcomes of your work. For example, did you help to save money, or create a tool that saved time for your teammates? (keep scrolling to see the course!)

If you're having a bit of trouble, Jeremy Ho (Singapore) also suggests picking out certain outcomes of your work on a daily basis. For example, you might close X number of help desk tickets a day at your job. Then, you can multiply that by an appropriate time period e.g. over the course of a month or a year.

How to prevent recruiters from skipping over your achievements? It's about results, and not just the day-to-day, experts say.

Avoid regurgitating past job descriptions or trying to squeeze every single thing you did into your resume. Career coach Angie Tan (Singapore) says that writing out lengthy recounts of your day-to-day responsibilities and work could come off as long-winded, making it hard for the hiring manager to really get a sense of what you bring to the table.

Keep what you include in the CV relevant to the job at hand. As consultant Lawrence Anthony (Pakistan) puts it, the CV "should not be a buffet." Focus on the experiences and the results that are relevant and transferrable to the job you're applying to — too much of everything else could end up reminding recruiters that you are "not the perfect fit" as Jon K (Singapore), a managing director of a career coaching company, says.

Skill up

Should you add every award you've received to your resume? How can you fill in gaps in employment on your CV? If you're hoping to brush up your CV, take a look at this free LinkedIn Learning course.

Other resources

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What other common CV mistakes do you see, and how would you suggest members fix them? What other questions do you have about the job search? Join the conversation.