How to Use Metrics to Boost Your Resume

 ‘Show Me the Money!’ First, You’ve Got Show Them The Numbers 

“Show me the money!” So, you are a Sun Devil just like Rod Tidwell --Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character in the 1996 film “Jerry Maguire” -- and you’re ready to land your first big media job out of Cronkite. Perhaps you’re looking for the next step in your career with higher pay, but no matter what level you’re at now, you won’t see that money unless you show employers and recruiters the results.

Sure, money talks, but so do measurable outcomes on your resume. Here’s how you can make them count. 

Circulation or Distribution

Being in the mass communications industry, we’ve got built-in audiences tied directly to our respective media companies, publishing houses, communications firms, or nonprofit organizations. Think of these numbers as supplemental data to use right on your resume.

• How many viewers does your network reach per each broadcast in your market
• How many unique visitors come to the website you write for?
• What’s the circulation of the magazine you write for or the email distribution of the campaign you just launched?

Before: Manage social media platforms.

After: Manage Twitter and Facebook with approximately 2,500 followers.

Time and Frequency

A supplement to audience numbers (which shows how many people you are responsible for communicating with) is frequency and time. These elements show employers that you can produce quality content within tight and regular deadlines.

• How many interviews per week do you conduct?
• Did your social media followers increase after your month-long campaign?
• How many stories or blogs do you write per week?

Before: Wrote articles for show.

After: Developed and crafted five-to-six articles per week based on interviews from Doug and Wolf Show.

Engagement / Conversion

In public relations, we used to track media impressions as a metric for ROI. We’d use a formula with circulation numbers to calculate how many people saw or read our placed media piece. Today, that number is much easier – and in my opinion, much more accurate/tangible-- to track thanks to our consumption of online and mobile media. There are two parts to this new equation that indicate successful campaigns and practices: engagement and conversion.

Engagement is key to gauge how many people are interacting with and interested in your content. Conversion is even more crucial to indicate how well that content is doing based on measurable actions taken by your audience. As a multimedia journalist and media professional you are expected to master forms of all media, including digital channels. Chances are that you have a hand in creating engaging stories and content that you should most definitely brag about. Here’s how to translate it on your resume:

• How much has your LinkedIn group grown in three months? (Engagement)
• What’s the average like/retweet rate per month? (Engagement)
• Did the organization you covered get a donation boost post the story? (Both)
• How many weekly/monthly downloads does your podcast receive? (Conversion)
• How many visitors bought your latest e-book? (Conversion)

Before: Managed social media.

After: Implemented social media brand strategy, increased resident engagement by 60 percent over three months. 

Improved Processes

This is often times more qualitative than quantitative. However, it’s also equally important to show employers that you are innovative, efficient and will bring solutions to their organization. You’ll often hear the Cronkite Career Services team tell you that employers want efficient workers, not just smart workers. Show employers that you do work smarter not harder. Here’s how to represent that in a resume:

• How did you improve a process and what were the results?
•  Did you bring an innovative idea to the mix? How was it implemented and how did it bring teams together?
• After researching tools, were you able to implement them to save the team time and the company money?

Before: Created editorial calendar for team.

After: Created editorial calendar system resulting in enhanced news gathering, reporting processes and increased cross-departmental collaboration.

At the end of the day, it is up to you to show employers your value and if they’re wise, they’ll ante up.

Applying and interviewing for a spring internship or participating in our interview days? Polish up your resume at these upcoming sessions lead by your Cronkite Career Services team. Bring a copy and we’ll review it together.

• Friday, Sept. 22 at 3 p.m. in room 314
•  Monday, Sept. 25 at noon in room 356