Resume Best practices to convey how your career has increased profitability
I met with a friend recently who has started to think about a career transition. He has been with the same company for about 18 years and started with them straight out of college. 
The task of resume writing, interviewing and marketing himself for a new job was daunting because he had never done any of these activities. I think many great employees find themselves in a similar situation and stay in a mediocre career because they perceive the process of changes will be greater than the pain staying in a position that is not the best fit. I have a lot of compassion and understanding towards this stance so I began to talk through some very simple tasks with my buddy to help him break this process down so it seemed more manageable. It was very helpful to him and he has made great progress. I believe these generalities can help every career seeker in any stage of their career.
A resume is a place to start to communicate your marketability. I am not the guy who thinks you need to spend oodles of money or time worrying about the colors on your resume, the format or how many pages it is, but the general gist of a resume is that it is the key and first step to open doors to an interview and potential job offer. There are so many different thoughts on what makes a good resume but I believe the most important element of a resume is its conveyance of the individual’s track record and ability to increased profit. This seems obvious, but what is not so obvious to those that do their job and do it well is the microcosm of their activity that leads to profitability. Here are a few areas the job seeker must convey on the resume and throughout an interview to maximize their marketability:
- Profit through sales driving – Most companies are top line driven these days. So, as a leader how have you driven sales? Don’t just think of the obvious like “I increased this contract negotiation to get a 10% increase”, but realize the nature of the little things you do around customer service and relationships that ultimately drive top line. Think about times customers bought more than they originally anticipated due to your diligence. Think about times you trained and developed your subordinates on great service and how that has led to top line. Net/Net – comb your business activity with great precision for any activity that can equate to top line increase and be sure you can communicate its worth. Most job seekers can talk to the large accomplishments around increasing sales, but I find myself most impresses with the explanation of top line increase that are out of the box, but have great influence on revenue.
- Profit through creating culture – If you are a manager of a team or considered a leader in any capacity, the culture you create can have the largest impact on motivation of the individuals around you and performance. While culture remains abstract, I believe it is the most important, silent, business partner that affects profitability. The work world is starting to understand this more and more so the ability to communicate specifics around culture creation and its impact on profitability can go a long way in distinguishing the good from the great leaders.
- Profit through cost control – Through the recession this area took the largest emphasis as companies looked to go leaner. This will always remain an important area when marketing yourself. The opportunity lies in the detail. The obvious trimming of costs and increased profitability associated with it should be able to be seen by even the average leader; however, the smallest of saving and the quantification of that saving over time can really impress those you will be marketing yourself towards.
- Profit through time management – When speaking of waste, time is the biggest profit sucker. If you are able to communicate the efficiency of how you spend your time, how you teach others to manage their time and how this leads to profits you will certainly be ahead of the game. Detail oriented is a quality that everyone hiring is seeking in a candidate. I believe the best discipline of detail is in the way an individual uses time to add value to a company. We have heard so much about work smart, not hard and time management that our eyes gloss over on this subject, but it remains one of the most important variables in communicating your worth to an organization!
If I can boil all this down, I would say to be extremely marketable you must not focus on the forest of your accomplishments, you must be able to see the trees in that forest. Every decision we make in our business leadership has an impact. Consciousness around this truth will give you a new mindset to understand how you add value in your career. If you can come to the resume, interview or performance evaluation with preparation in these areas I guarantee you will open doors to career growth and prosperity. Please chime in if you have additional insight to help others develop a marketable resume that shows profit focus.
