Every successful executive knows how important an ROI or return on investment is. In business, returns need to be all but guaranteed to make an investment worth while.
It’s the same thing for employers when they’re trying to fill an opening. They need to know that you’re going to be worth their investment in you. If they don’t know this for sure, you won’t get the job. How can you prove that you’re worth more to a company than they’ll invest in hiring you? Here are a few ideas to consider …
Look at Your Revenue
If there were quantifiable parts to your previous job, you want to make sure to put them into numbers on your executive resume that will help illustrate your success. For executives, businesses often look to revenue, so show what you were responsible for with your previous employers, whether this means accounts you brought in, sales prospects you’d sold to, or other elements of revenue.
For instance, you might note that you not only were able to slash hiring expenses by cutting advertising costs (advertised on free websites), but you were able to create a stellar staff that increased revenue by X amount of dollars over a year’s time. Being able to illustrate your successes in numbers helps to show a prospective employer just what type of return they can expect on their investment.
How Productive Was Your Staff?
In business, you know time is money, which is why companies are always looking for ways to squeeze the most productivity possible out of an eight-hour day. If you can look at productivity in practical terms, this is a good idea.
For example, you can look at the amount of time it took to complete a major project that resulted in a revenue increase of 3 percent for the year. As an example, consider a project that employed 20 workers for 12 weeks with 40 hour per week shifts, and a cost of per hour. This will cost you ,000. Let’s say that you also invested in training resources of 0 per employee, and software updates that cost K but cut the project down to six weeks. Your final cost for the project is ,000, which means you saved the company ,000, still increased the revenue by 3 percent, and was able to increase process efficiency so that the workers could be used to enhance other projects.
Other Numbers to Think About
If your segment of the company didn’t work in terms of revenue, you can still note numbers that represent progress. If you managed a customer service department, you can point to improvements in customer satisfaction rates. Many companies consider the time frame of each customer service call or the number of calls taken on an average business day to find results, so think logically and come prepared.
Remember, just like on your previous jobs, prospective employers want to know their potential ROI when looking at candidates. As an executive, you know how to consider and decide on an investment, so use that knowledge to improve your chances of being hired.
