Quantifying
Your Achievements
As
a
job seeker, it is absolutely critical that you find ways to sell
yourself effectively to future employers. You need to be able to
present your qualifications in the best possible light. In fact, after
reviewing your application, a manager should be so impressed that he or
she believes you might end up a finalist for the advertised position.
You should not be shy about publicizing the major achievements of your
career. After all, a prospective employer will not really know what
you're capable of accomplishing unless you let him or her know what
you've done in the past. In fact, by focusing on your achievements, you
can boost your self-confidence, allowing you to shine during the
interview process.
One effective thing you can do to make your cover letter stand out from
the rest is by quantifying your achievements. Much of life is a numbers
game, and numbers can represent important milestones in your career.
You might never have thought before about assigning a numerical value
to your accomplishments, but it can actually be quite an effective
job-hunting technique.
If you want to quantify your achievements, your best bet is to do some
simple addition. For instance, count up how many awards you've won for
your work or how many customers you serve. You can add up the number of
clients you've secured for your company, or how many miles you've
travelled for your business. Using a little creativity, you might come
up with a variety of numbers that indicate your accomplishments.
That said, you should use numbers sparingly in your cover letter. In
fact, it's probably most effective if you include just one or two
impressive statistics. Otherwise, your cover letter might appear to be
too much like a scorecard. Certainly, quantifying your achievements is
effective-but you don't want to overdo it.
It is not enough to add up how many houses you've sold or how much
money you've saved your company. You must also give a clear indication
of what your past accomplishments mean for your professional future. In
other words, you must convince your prospective employer that you would
be able to achieve even greater things in the future. This way, your
application becomes less of a re-hash of old news and more of a
showcase for your future goals.
It may take time for you to become accustomed to quantifying your
achievements. Be patient with yourself. Realize that assigning numbers
to accomplishments does not come easily for many of us. However, in
time and with practice, you might become a font of statistical
information about your achievements.
Quantifying your achievements can be an important mental exercise. It
shows you exactly what you've been doing in recent years, and where
there may be room for improvement. It provides you with a helpful
barometer of your professional success. Once you've performed this
exercise, you might find yourself doing it again and again until it
truly becomes a habit.
|
|
