HOW TO ‘QUALIFY AND QUANTIFY’ YOUR WAY TO JOB SEARCH SUCCESS

Depending upon the position, companies can receive scores of applications and resumes for a single opening.
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Even if that’s not the case, it’s important to stand out from the crowd, no matter how large that crowd might be. One way to do so is to “qualify and quantify” your accomplishments during the hiring process.

First, let’s identify which parts of the hiring process we’re talking about, specifically. Those parts would be the resume (your foot in the door) and the phone and/or face-to-face interview (your stepping stone to an offer of employment).

Second, let’s explain what qualifying and quantifying mean.

To qualify your resume or interview answers, you must describe the qualities and experience you possess for the particular job. In other words, you must prove to company officials that you’re capable and a fit for the position.

Use descriptive statements that will effectively convey your experience and qualifications. You must be very specific to clearly define what your skills and experience are in relation to the job.

Also include action words such as the following: accomplish, achieve, supervise, execute, expedite, expand, implement, organize, reduce, resolve, upgrade, and delegate.
Example: Consistently exceeded yearly sales goals and designed and led product training classes for all sales personnel in several different divisions.

This example is specific, descriptive, and uses appropriate wording, but lacks figures and numbers that will give it more impact and credibility. This just so happens to be where quantifying comes in.

To quantify your resume or interview answers, you must use figures and numbers that specifically apply to your experience and accomplishments. This quantitative language could include duration, dollars,and percentages, etc., that will clearly measure your level of skill and success.

Let’s take the example we used above and quantify it.

Example: Consistently exceeded quarterly sales goals by 25% over the last five (5) years and designed and led product knowledge classes for 52 sales personnel in four different divisions.

To recap, when qualifying and quantifying your resume and interview questions, do the following four things:

• Be specific
• Include realistic figures to make it measurable
• Use the appropriate words
• Make all of it relevant to the job for which you’re applying

Follow this blueprint closely, and you stand a much better chance of “qualifying and quantifying” your way to job search success.