Take a look at your current CV. Under your work experience, what do you see? If you’re like most Nigerian job seekers, you probably have a list of your duties and responsibilities. Phrases like “Responsible for managing social media,” “Handled customer complaints,” or “Involved in preparing financial reports” are likely familiar. While this information tells a recruiter what you were supposed to do, it fails to answer the most critical question in their mind: How well did you do it?
In the fiercely competitive Nigerian job market, where a single vacancy can attract thousands of applicants, a CV that merely lists your duties is a CV that blends in. Recruiters in Lagos, Abuja, and beyond are scanning through hundreds of documents a day. They don’t have time to guess your impact. They need to see immediate, undeniable proof of your value. This is where quantification comes in. Quantifying your achievements means using numbers, percentages, and concrete data to showcase the specific, positive impact you had in your previous roles.
Switching from a duty-based CV to an achievement-based one is the single most powerful upgrade you can make to your application. It’s the difference between saying “I was a marketer” and proving “I was a marketer who grew company revenue by 35%.” This guide will provide you with a practical, step-by-step masterclass on how to dig for, frame, and present your achievements using numbers, with plenty of real-world examples tailored specifically for the Nigerian context.
Why Numbers Speak Louder Than Words on a CV
Before we dive into the “how,” it’s crucial to understand “why” this is so important. A quantified achievement does three magical things for your application.
- It Provides Concrete Proof of Your Competence: Anyone can claim to be “results-oriented” or a “hard worker.” These are subjective buzzwords. But when you state that you “reduced operational costs by ₦4 million by renegotiating vendor contracts,” you are providing objective, verifiable proof. It’s a fact, not an opinion, and it builds immediate credibility.
- It Grabs the Recruiter’s Attention: Human eyes are naturally drawn to numbers and symbols (like %, ₦, +) on a page of text. When a recruiter is skimming through a dense CV, a bullet point that starts with “Increased sales by 75%” will pop out and demand attention in a way that “Responsible for sales” never will.
- It Helps You Beat the ATS: Many companies in Nigeria now use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to filter CVs. These systems often scan for keywords and data related to performance. A CV rich with specific, quantified results is more likely to be scored highly by the ATS and passed on to a human recruiter.
How to Find the Numbers in Your Experience
The biggest challenge for most people is thinking, “But my job doesn’t involve numbers.” This is a common misconception. Almost every role, from administration to creative design, creates a measurable impact. You just need to learn how to identify and frame it. The key is to ask the right questions. For every task you performed, ask yourself: “What was the result of this?” or “How did this benefit the company?”
Here’s a framework to help you start digging for your data.
Strategy 1: Think in Terms of Money (₦)
Every business cares about the bottom line. If you can show that you either made the company money or saved the company money, you will instantly have their attention. This is the most powerful form of quantification.
Ask yourself:
- Did I contribute to increasing sales or revenue? By how much?
- Did I identify a way to reduce costs? How much was saved?
- Did I manage a budget? What was the size of the budget?
- Did I negotiate deals with suppliers or clients that saved money?
- Did I improve a process that reduced waste or prevented losses?
Nigerian Examples:
Before: “Responsible for managing vendor contracts.”
After: “Renegotiated contracts with three major suppliers, securing a 15% average price reduction and saving the company over ₦5.2 million annually.”
Before: “Worked on the sales team to find new clients.”
After: “Generated a new sales pipeline worth over ₦80 million in 12 months by identifying and securing 25+ new corporate clients in the FMCG sector.”
Before: “Managed the diesel supply for the office generator.”
After: “Implemented a new generator usage schedule and monitoring system, reducing monthly diesel expenditure by ₦250,000 without impacting office operations.”
Strategy 2: Think in Terms of Time
In business, time is money. Showing that you can save time, improve efficiency, or complete projects faster is a highly valued skill.
Ask yourself:
- Did I streamline a process to make it faster? By how much?
- Did I reduce the time it takes to complete a task?
- Did I help deliver a project ahead of schedule?
- Did I reduce customer waiting times or response times?
Nigerian Examples:
Before: “Redesigned the client onboarding process.”
After: “Re-engineered the client onboarding workflow, cutting down the average time from initial contact to full activation from 14 days to 4 days.”
Before: “Handled customer service emails.”
After: “Implemented a new email templating system that reduced the average customer response time from 8 hours to under 45 minutes.”
Before: “Was responsible for preparing monthly reports.”
After: “Automated data collection for monthly performance reports using advanced Excel macros, reducing preparation time by 10 hours per month.”
Strategy 3: Think in Terms of Volume or Scale
This metric is about showing the scope of your work. It provides context and demonstrates that you can handle significant responsibility.
Ask yourself:
- How many people did I manage or train?
- How many customers or clients did I support?
- How large was the social media following I managed?
- How many articles did I write or events did I organize?
- How many units did I produce or sell?
Nigerian Examples:
Before: “Managed the company’s social media accounts.”
After: “Managed and grew the company’s Instagram and Twitter presence, increasing the total follower count from 15,000 to over 75,000 in 18 months.”
Before: “Trained new staff members.”
After: “Developed a new hire training program and personally trained and onboarded 30+ customer service representatives over a two-year period.”
Before: “Organized company events.”
After: “Successfully planned and executed the annual company retreat for over 200 employees, managing all logistics from venue sourcing to vendor coordination.”
Strategy 4: Think in Terms of Percentages
Percentages are perfect for showing improvement, growth, or reduction. They are easy to scan and provide a clear measure of your impact, even if you don’t know the exact raw numbers.
Ask yourself:
- By what percentage did I increase or decrease something? (e.g., sales, efficiency, errors)
- What was the customer satisfaction score improvement?
- What was the growth rate of a metric I was responsible for?
Nigerian Examples:
Before: “Improved the accuracy of data entry.”
After: “Introduced a two-step verification process for data entry that reduced errors by 98% in the first quarter of implementation.”
Before: “Worked to improve customer satisfaction.”
After: “Achieved a 95% customer satisfaction score based on post-interaction surveys, consistently exceeding the team average of 82%.”
Before: “Contributed to marketing campaigns.”
After: “Led a targeted email marketing campaign that resulted in a 45% open rate and a 15% click-through rate, surpassing industry benchmarks by over 50%.”
What If My Job Genuinely Doesn’t Have Obvious Numbers?
Even in roles like administration, human resources, or creative fields, you can still find ways to quantify your impact. You just need to be a bit more creative.
- Focus on “Firsts”: Were you the first person to do something? “Pioneered the company’s first-ever employee wellness program.”
- Highlight Frequency and Volume: “Managed calendars and scheduled over 50 high-level meetings per week for three C-suite executives.”
- Showcase Initiative: “Proactively created a new digital filing system that was later adopted by the entire 15-person administrative department.”
- Use Qualitative Feedback: “Received the ‘Employee of the Month’ award three times in 2024 for outstanding performance and teamwork.”
Conclusion: Become the Author of Your Success Story
Your CV is more than just a history of your employment; it is a marketing document, and you are the product. By transforming your responsibilities into quantified achievements, you are providing the powerful, evidence-backed story of your value. This process requires effort. It requires you to think critically about your work and to dig for the data that proves your impact. But the payoff is immense.
Go back to your CV right now. Look at each bullet point and ask yourself the tough questions: “So what? What was the result? How can I prove it with a number?” In the competitive Nigerian job market, the candidates who can answer those questions clearly and confidently are the ones who get the interview. Stop just saying what you did, and start proving what you’re worth.