Although it may sound trite, the best predictor of one’s future success is his or her past success. 

Why else do think professional sports teams draft players with impressive statistics? Or the top colleges consider grade point averages for admission? Or why smart employers look for and staff their companies with people with a track record of measurable results?

By not doing so they risk allowing intangibles such as style, appearance and the gift of gab – sizzle over substance – to overly influence those important selection decisions. 

In my years as a corporate recruiter, I often encountered salespeople who were able to talk a good game by highlighting their work activities in general, vague terms: “I call on key customers in major markets.” 

What impressed me more and what I was looking to hear were those statements that quantified one’s accomplishments: “I increased sales revenue by 45 percent annually over a three-year period.” 

Whether it’s on your resume or in an interview, look for opportunities to inject numbers that are relevant, substantive and impressive.  And while it should be relatively easy to identify individual accomplishments for those in sales or marketing, those in supporting professions may have to defer to broader organizational metrics to make their points. 

A human resources manager, for example, may wish to cite the impact an employee retention program he initiated had on lowering overall turnover from 34 percent to 18 percent. A finance manager, on the other hand, might highlight how his outsourcing initiative led to annual cost savings of $250,000.

 If your work experience includes employers with large market share, revenues, headcount, transactions, etc., referencing them can infer impressive complexity and scope.  This is particularly true if the employer is not well-known.

While skills, experience and education are also important, your demonstrated ability to get measurable results will add significant credibility to your qualifications.

And that quantification can go a long way.

Your hard work has paid off and you’ve been extended a job offer, but the compensation is less than you were expecting. Is there a chance to negotiate a better deal?

Despite the angst it might cause you at this stage, the answer to that question is yes.   Here are a few important guidelines to keep in mind should your job search progress to this point:

1)      You increase your chances of getting what you want by being positive, appreciative of the employer’s consideration and reiterating your interest in the employer and the challenges the job offers. If you act arrogant or unreasonable, the offer could be revoked and you would be back at Square 1

2)      When asking for more pay, explain your request in terms that are both sensible and reasonable. For instance, “Overall, this is a very nice offer but there’s only one area where I hope there could be some flexibility. At my last job, I was earning $80,000 a year and I was hoping that the offer would be closer to that amount. Is there any chance that part of the offer could be enhanced so I won’t have to play catch-up?”

3)      For non-monetary items such as vacation vesting, don’t be afraid to tug at the heart strings by injecting a personal element to your request: “Since we’ve already planned our family vacation, I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to break my children’s hearts by having to cancel it. Is there any chance my vacation allowance could be immediately vested so I won’t have to be the bad guy?

While the safest approach is to simply accept the job offer unconditionally, many employers are prepared – and expect – to negotiate the initial offer. Your success will largely depend on how you ask for the things that matter most to you.

Whether it’s because of financial necessity or personal fulfillment, many job applicants today are pursuing positions that they would never have considered earlier in their careers.

And that has created an interesting dilemma for recruiters and hiring managers who often reject those applicants as being overqualified.

As a former recruiter for some of the world’s largest companies, I understand their quandary. I, too, rarely hired overqualified candidates, particularly if it meant offering them less money than they previously earned.

The exceptions were those applicants who succeeded in convincing me they wanted a job for reasons other than the paycheck. In contrast to openly sharing purely financial motives – “I really need this job to save my house from foreclosure” – successful candidates told me why the job appealed to them on a more intrinsic level.

For instance, I once interviewed an elderly gentleman for a mid-level management job on my staff. Because he had once held bigger positions than the one I had available, I was concerned he would jump ship once a more lucrative or challenging opportunity came along.

When I asked him to explain his interest, he replied:

“Well, I’ve tried retirement and, quite frankly, I’m just not very good at it. While I’ve learned a lot in my career that can be of immediate value to you, from a personal standpoint I really miss the sense of purpose I get from helping others.

Not only did I hire him but he stayed with the company long after I had moved on.

The point is, if you are willing to take a lesser job than your career history suggests, be certain to share your applicable skills, experiences, interests and motives so that the recruiter or hiring manager understands money isn’t the primary reason for wanting the job.

Several years ago, I was in charge of staffing for a new credit card customer service center that was planning to hire 2,100 employees. 

During the interview process with one prospective candidate, I brought an abrupt halt to his employment candidacy because he declined to answer one of my standard questions: “What are your compensation expectations?” 

Why so fast on the rejection trigger? 

Because I simply wasn’t willing to risk wasting my time or the time of others’ in the organization without knowing if we even had a chance of making a job offer he would accept. 

If the candidate feared being  rejected because his compensation requirements were too high, he could have avoided the issue by saying he was looking for compensation that was “fair and represented a win/win” for the both company and himself. 

While that wouldn’t have gotten him off the hook, I would have considered it a nice first try and pressed him again for a specific dollar amount.  At that point, he then should have provided me with a range spanning from his bare minimum to what he really hoped to earn and adding “It really depends on the responsibilities and scope of the position.” 

In most cases, that would have given me a general idea of whether we were even in the same ballpark.

So, while I was prepared to give that person some latitude as to how to answer the compensation question, a flat-out refusal clearly wasn’t one of those options.

When the question of compensation comes up in the interview, respond accordingly. The right response could be a win-win for both of you.

“The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in battle.” 

I love using quotes to help make a point and I frequently share this one, which is attributed to the U.S. Navy SEALs, when preparing my clients for interviews.  It’s also one I wish someone had shared with me before my first on-campus interview as a graduate student at Michigan State University. 

Dressed in my brand new business suit and feeling upbeat, I confidently greeted the corporate recruiter and took my seat.  After a few moments exchanging pleasantries, I was soon over my head and being battered about like a sailor on the doomed ship S.S. Central America! 

What happened?  Very simply, I overlooked a critical and universal ingredient for success in virtually all endeavors – adequate preparation.  While I had thoroughly researched the company, I had not anticipated and prepared how to respond to some basic interviewing questions.  As a result, I was simply unable to offer thoughtful, concise and impactful responses.  I guess I thought a combination of spontaneity and charm would be enough to ace the interview.  I was badly mistaken.

After I blew the interview, I drafted a long list of possible questions and spent countless hours developing and practicing my answers.  Throughout my career, I have used this same approach and studied for every interview with the same focus and diligence as if it were a final exam. 

Thank goodness I was only a college kid interviewing for a job and not a Navy SEAL in battle.

While there is simply no one right way to write a resume, some components are so basic they should always be included regardless of profession, industry or years of experience.  For instance, no reasonable person would intentionally omit from a resume things like previous job titles or their personal contact information. While perhaps not as obvious, just as critical to an effective resume is a brief overview of your career objectives and qualifications in a section just below your name and contact information.  Under the heading Professional Objective & Profile, this section serves as the “billboard within the billboard” as it summarizes key information in the already abbreviated format of the resume itself.  

After closely reviewing a job posting in the hospitality industry, for example, a marketing executive included the following information in this section: 

Executive-level Marketing position in an organization that will leverage my extensive direct-to-guest program experience and demonstrated ability to develop strategic brand alliances.  I am particularly interested in creating & implementing system-wide initiatives that directly support sales and operational objectives in the hotel and resort industries.

With literally thousands of resumes to sort through, your goal is to get recruiters to review as much of your resume as possible.  To entice them to do this, capture their attention quickly by clearly and succinctly stating what you want, what you can do and what you’ve done.  The Professional Objective & Profile section – which can be easily tailored to the position – is the perfect place to do this.

Despite the claims and critiques of what seems to be an endless supply of so-called resume-writing experts, there simply is no universal “right way” to write a resume.  Unsurprisingly, it is not uncommon to get confused given the contradictory advice you can expect from multiple sources.  So while I have some very clear thoughts on how to write an effective and professional resume, ultimately you will need to decide what works for you, your situation and, ultimately, your comfort level.  Even then, expect to continuously modify, update and edit your resume as you incorporate new or different styles, content and concepts.  With that in mind, I’m offering the following suggestions I highly recommend for anyone writing and distributing a resume.

Professional Objective & Profile:  One of the things I always want to see in a resume is the Professional Objective & Profile section just below the name and contact information.  I call this the “billboard within the billboard” as it summarizes key information about the applicant in the already abbreviated format of the resume itself.  While people may argue this approach potentially limits their opportunities within an organization, I can only tell them what I typically did as a corporate human resources executive when reviewing resumes without this section – I tossed them in the reject pile. When literally thousands of resumes have been dropped on my desk, I wanted to sort through them as quickly and efficiently as possible.  And if someone didn’t provide a brief overview of their qualifications, I simply was not going to spend the time to determine if the jobs I had open fit their particular interests and skills.  My feelings were, “If they don’t know what they want to do, I’m not going to figure it out for them.” This may seem harsh, but it is reality.  Your goal is to get the recruiters to review as much of your resume as possible. To entice them to do this, make it as easy as possible by including a Professional Objective & Profile section.  Otherwise, just like I used to do, they may not give your resume more than a cursory glance.

Quantify accomplishments: Prospective employers consider a number of factors when determining which candidates match the requirements for an open position.  While skills, experience and education are all important, the demonstrated ability to get measurable results will add significant credibility to your qualifications.  For instance, while many salespeople may be able to talk a good game by highlighting their activities (e.g., “Called on key customers in major markets.”), I am always more impressed with statements quantifying specified accomplishments (e.g., “Increased sales revenue by 45% annually over a three-year period.”).  So while activities are nice, results are a whole lot better.

Summarize the unimportant: For individuals who have changed careers and their previous experience is not relevant to their current career aspirations (or if they are concerned about age discrimination), one tactic is to summarize the earlier jobs and experiences under the heading Previous Experience at the bottom of the Experience & Qualifications section.  For example, “Prior to 1982, I gained valuable computer experience and was promoted to various roles of responsibility including system analyst, programmer and billing coordinator.” If age is not a concern, you can add the span of years such as, “From 1994 to 1998, I gained valuable experience . . .” In this manner, you are submitting a factual resume without revealing too much about the jobs you had when President Obama was still in grade school!

Keep it short:  The resume is not intended to represent a comprehensive history of all of your accomplishments, talents and awards.  Depending on your years of experience, background, professional or occupational standards and career pursuits, the resume may be as short as one page (e.g., young college graduates) and as long as three (e.g., seasoned executives).  Anything more than three pages and a recruiter may find it too cumbersome and detailed and end up setting it aside in favor of more reader-friendly resumes.

Fax it:  Not long ago, employer fax machines were constantly buzzing, beeping and cranking out incoming resumes.  With e-mail, they are much quieter – but not abandoned.  Because recruiters and hiring managers generally receive few faxes, faxing your resume may help it stand out from the e-mail crowd and increase the likelihood it will be read.  Be sure to include a cover letter when faxing your resume.

My first job after college was as an employee relations representative for Marriott Corporation at the company’s headquarters, just outside of Washington, D.C.  I had only been in my role for a few months when en route to my fourth floor cubicle the elevator doors opened and in stepped Bill Marriott, the company’s chairman.  With just the two of us in the elevator, Mr. Marriott graciously introduced himself and asked my name and which department I worked.  After my initial response, he then casually asked, “So how are things in employee relations these days?”

The encounter was memorable not only because it was the first time I met Bill Marriott but also because it was first time I was called upon to literally deliver an elevator speech.  While I recall sharing something fairly relevant about some recent union organizing activity at our newly opened LaGuardia airport hotel, I knew I could have just as easily said something really nonsensical and embarrassing.  After we exited a few a moments later, I took a sigh of relief and committed to myself that I would be much better prepared for any future such encounters with influential people in the company.

Now imagine you are applying for a corporate marketing job with Marriott and you happen to be riding in the same elevator with a department manager who is escorting you to your interview.  If he or she asks, “So what do you do?” how would you respond before the doors opened?  Both of these scenarios illustrate the importance of the concept known as the “elevator speech.”

Of course, elevator speeches are not confined to dialogue that only takes place in elevators.  They are intended for job fairs, networking events and even social activities.  For the purposes of a job search, you should always be prepared to give a 30-second statement that briefly highlights your skills, experience and career interests in favorable, yet not overly boastful, terms. For instance, an effective response to the question asked by the department manager above may go something like:

“I am a brand marketing manager.  While most of my career has been in the consumer products industry with companies such as Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola, I most recently worked at American Express on a new financial services product they plan to roll out to their premier customers.  Right now, I’m very interested in pursuing opportunities that would leverage my skills and experience in the travel and hospitality industries.”

Regardless of your profession, your elevator speech should showcase your talents and be sufficiently open-ended so as to potentially expand your career opportunities into an appropriately broad range of professions or industries.  If it’s too narrowly focused (e.g., “I’m a hotel sales manager”), you may miss out on opportunities where your skill sets are potentially transferable.  If it’s too broad (e.g., “I’m a people person”), it comes across as too ambiguous or whimsical and risks diminishing your candidacy.

At this time, I recommend you take a moment and grab a blank sheet of paper and draft your 30-second elevator speech.  While it may seem awkward and silly, I also encourage you to practice your speech in front of a mirror or a video camera until you feel comfortable with not only the content of your remarks, but also your delivery style.  As with any step in the job search process, there’s simply no substitute for practice and preparation and that includes your elevator speech.