In today’s remote ready work world, qualified candidates are available around the globe to digitally tap into immediate, current and future  opportunities. It’s a competitive job market, and job seekers must ensure their resume evolves with employer expectations if they want their skills and experience to be considered.  

Because only 75 per cent of resumes get past the robots that first scan  them for contextual relevance – before delivering the selected ones into the inbox of a hiring manager or recruiter.  

They’re called Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), and they’re reason why even the most qualified of job seekers aren’t hearing back on their applications – if your resume isn’t SEO’d with keywords from the job description, it won’t be read by the robot!  

However, once a resume has been tailored to the job description to appease the ATS, it still must appeal to the hiring manager or recruiter reading it – and they have separate yet similar expectations.  

Actions vs. Results resume 

The bottom line: Employers aren’t looking for what actions you were responsible for in your previous roles, they want to see the results.  

A results-orientated resume focuses on the quantitative  accomplishments you achieved in a previous role or project. When a candidate structures their resume to be results-orientated, they are providing credible statements that future employers can measure against their business objectives.

Examples of Actions vs. Results statements in resumes 

Regardless of the position you’re applying for, every resume submitted must contain value-driven statements.

Below are examples of correct and incorrect resume statements for an Android Developer: 

Action statements
An action statement on a resume will describe the duties you were responsible for.  

Action-oriented examples: 
1. Responsible for the development of XYZ company’s flagship Android app for download on Google Play.

2. Implemented push notifications for XYZ company’s mobile e-commerce app. 

3. Designed loyalty, gamification and geolocation features for XYZ company’s app.

What’s missing? 
None of the statements above demonstrate any added value to XYZ Company. 

Results statements
An action statement will describe the accomplishments you achieved.

1. Developed and launched XYZ Company’s flagship app that maintains a 5–star rating on Google play with 20K+ downloads.

2. Developed push notifications for XYZ’s app, increasing usage of mobile e-commerce app by 35%.

3. Developed loyalty, gamification and geolocation features for XYZ Company’s app, improving customer retention by 15%.  

What’s there?
Numbers! All of these statements above demonstrate the added value to XYZ Company with quantifiable achievements.  

Value quantifiers 

Quantitative statements can be made using numbers in:
• Percentages
• Budgets
• Time
• Portfolio, team or project size 
• Locations 

Where to include results-oriented statements in your resume 

There are multiple areas within the body of the resume where candidates should include quantifiable figures:
• Headline (objective statements are obsolete)
• Work experience
• Awards and achievements 

When finding the right fit, employers, recruiters and hiring managers are looking for what you accomplished in your previous work experience, not what you were hired to do.  Wondering where to explore more local and international career opportunities? Try Jooble — an international job search website used daily by millions of people.

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