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To have the greatest impact on interviewers, include results in your stories whenever possible. It is always best if you can describe accomplishments in terms of dollars or percentages. One of my clients was able to tell employers that in the two years since she had taken over her territory, she had increased the sales of shoes by 54% and profits on her sales by 68%. The company had been marketing in that territory for 20 years. You can see how impressive this would be to an employer. Another client stated, “I developed a simplified computer program for a client which reduced the computer runtime by 40% and saved over $17,000 per year.”

Dollar figures and percentages are so valuable that you should even estimate them when necessary. The computer programmer in the example above had to estimate the dollar savings. She knew the runtime was reduced by 35–45%, so she chose 40% as her figure. She knew how frequently the program was run, and she knew the cost of the computer time. Thus, the $17,000 figure was calculated using simple arithmetic.

While not all results can be quantified, many can. When I’m talking with people to gather information for their resumes, I’m frequently told, “There’s really no way to estimate it, I just improved it.” I will then ask questions from different angles and we invariably arrive at a figure we can use. You can do the same with your results.

Below are additional statements which effectively convey quantifiable results.

I developed a new production technique which increased productivity by 7%.

Through more effective recruiting techniques, I reduced terminations company-wide by 30% and turnover by 23%.

I edited a newsletter for an architectural association, with readership increasing 28% in one year.

I implemented a 12% cut in staffing through attrition which resulted in virtually no reduction in output.

I organized a citizen task force which successfully wrote a statewide initiative, adopted with a 69% favorable vote.

As chairperson for fund raising, I developed a strategy which increased funds raised by 26% while reducing promotional costs.

I set a record of 46 days without a system failure.