You’re worth it, honey.

But sometimes you have to show them that you’re worth it.

And when the “them” is recruiters and potential employers, it’s important that they understand why you’re the best choice for their bottomline.

Crafting the perfect resume for your dream job can be a nightmare. We often worry that employers won’t read between the lines and see our real value. But the truth is, they shouldn’t have to. It’s up to you to spell it out for them in bright, bold letters (figuratively, of course, not literally).

You have to show them what kind of value you bring to the table. Be explicit, not implicit. Say, don’t suggest. And most importantly: speak to their needs.

Every business needs one thing, no matter what their other goals may be — and that’s cash. And when they hire a new employee, they are investing their time and money into onboarding them. And like any investor, they would prefer it if there was low risk and high reward. 

That’s why we have a recruitment process. With resume reading, interviews, tests, background checks, or whatever else helps employers feel like they’re hedging their bets about bringing on someone new.

So what do they want to see when they look over your resume? If you guessed something along the lines of: “proof of Return on Investment”, then you’re absolutely correct!

Return on Investment, or “ROI”, is how much more (or less) you get back from what you invest into something (or someone). So from an employer’s perspective, if you can demonstrate that you help companies prosper more than it costs to employ you, then you have great ROI. And if you have great ROI, they’re more likely to invest in you by giving you a job.

So now the more complicated question arises: how do you emphasize your ROI on your resume?

Well by the end of this article, you’ll go from thinking it’s complicated to just common sense!

Compare Yourself With Others

We already trust that if someone is a professional athlete, they’re probably a pretty valuable player. But we still look to titles like MVP to distinguish the best of the best.

So if you have something that makes you stand out from the crowd, shout it out loud!

This can be awards or accolades that show you excel compared to colleagues, but it can also be a comparison to non-existent people. If you took on multiple roles, or absorbed another position, you can describe the alternative of having two employees. For example:

“Eliminated need for new sales coordinator by performing dual role in operations and sales, saving an estimated annual cost of $60K”

Otherwise, comparing your success rates to a predecessor or people in similar positions is a great way to show value. Just try to work out the financial difference as well, so that you can talk in terms of dollar value, not just perceived value.

Describe How You Increased Revenue

If your potential employer cares about profits, then the best thing to show them is how you’ve increased profits before!

Now most people don’t actually know what their individual effect on a business’ bottomline is. And that’s ok, but here’s how you find out:

Look at the big picture.

If you were part of a large team, you might not be able to quantify your individual contributions. But you can look at the overall project and its benefit to the company. For example:

“I was a key component of a $10M marketing overhaul project that led to 15% increase in customer satisfaction and 4% revenue growth.”

It might not have only been you steering the ship, but you were still part of the journey!

Show How You Contained Costs

They say that a penny saved is a penny earned. And if you want to show your value, you don’t just have to focus on the money you MADE. You can talk about the money you SAVED!

This is even more important in businesses that have been forced to look at cost cutting approaches because of the pandemic.

And remember that time is money, so ways that you saved time can be expressed as financial gains as well. This can include organizing schedules to provide better coverage for clients with less staff, or implementing time-saving procedures and programs, or anything else that speeds up your business! For example:

“Trained team on new software system that saved approximately 76 manhours a week, or $50K a year.”

At the end of the day, we know that people are worth more than what they are on paper. But most employers won’t want to take the time to get to know the real you unless you make an impression that makes them want to invest in you.

And putting your ROI on your resume is one of best ways to get their investment!