Here’s an exchange I had with a reader recently which I thought might be helpful to other people.

Reader: I have a question regarding Resume writing. As an autistic person, this process is like pulling teeth for me. I understand all of the concepts behind how to write a good resume, but I deeply struggle with figuring out how to put it into practice (the “how” of it vs the “what” or “why”).

I am specifically struggling around figuring out how to articulate the outcomes of the work that I’ve done, particularly when there isn’t a quantifiable data point attached to it. For example, in a previous position, I created workflows and processes in various areas of the business where they didn’t previously exist. But I really struggle with figuring out how to articulate what the benefit of that was, I think because it is glaringly obvious to me. Like, you need processes and procedures in place and documented so that people know what to do and how to do it. And that’s important because people don’t like feeling stressed about not understanding expectations. And you can’t expect people to mindread what your expectations are or to be able to intuit how they should do something. So, if you want things done at all/correctly and if you want employees to want to stay with your company long-term, and if you want employees to not be stressed and frazzled, then you need to have processes and procedures in place. And you should want your employees to not be stressed and frazzled because that stress will bleed into customer interactions and the quality of work you are able to give clients.

But that is not a quick little bullet point I can put into a resume. I’m also sure that isn’t what is meant by “articulate the outcomes.” But I can’t figure out how else to articulate that. And I can’t figure out how to crack the “coded language” that I know is often used on resumes in these types of situations.

I guess, basically I’m trying to figure out how to learn the language around Resume Writing without hiring a literal interpreter (ie some kind of resume writer). Are there any resources or ways of understanding this part of resume writing that are very specific in how you actually articulate these kinds of things?

Me: Sometimes it’s helpful to think about what would have happened if no one had done that work, and compare that to what happened because you did do the work — and that can help you see the “outcome” of your work more clearly. Or, imagine someone bad at your job doing those things — how is the way you approached it different from that, and how did that affect the outcome?

Does any of that help? If not, tell me what feels fuzzy and I will keep trying!

Reader: I really have trouble coming up with a more specific/professional descriptor than just “better.” Like, what would have been different if I hadn’t come up with a particular workflow? Things would have been chaos and everyone’s work would be harder … A lot of the work that I do is often like doing UX but for processes and workflows within a business. In the same way that good UX in an app is almost unnoticeable until you use an app with bad UX. And when you’re asked to describe why one app is better than the other, you can only say that it’s easier to use or a better experience. Sorry; my brain is better at explaining things in metaphor, but you can’t use metaphor in a resume bullet point lol.

Also, I feel like it might be important to point out that I am very sure that when I do this work, I do an exceptional job. Everyone always remarks on it, but once again it’s always with vague descriptors like “Wow, this is so much better than it was before.” Or “Wow, this makes my work so much easier.” “Wow, you’re really good at this.”

People will also suggest that I make the results I achieved quantifiable like: “how many hours did it save the team” but I also find that incredibly difficult to estimate. Like, everyone works at a different pace; I don’t stop and measure how long it takes everyone to do things before the improvements and I don’t measure after. Also, a lot of the time there is no standardized practice when I create workflows and procedures, so that makes it *extra* difficult for me to figure out improvement metrics. Is there some sort of Guesstimation Equation that people usually use that I’m just not aware of?

Me: I think with stuff like “without me, things would have been chaos and everyone’s work would be harder,” the key is to flip it and describe it in positive terms. So maybe it’s “By troubleshooting, monitoring for problems, and providing an accessible admin presence in the office, ensured a busy team ran smoothly and effectively, with a minimum of crises.” Or “monitored process X to spot potential problems before they blew up, ensuring team members could focus on client support.” Or “proactively identified ways to make employees’ lives easier, such as X and Y.” Or so forth.

And you can cite those compliments — “garnered regular, unsolicited praise from colleagues for X and Y.”

And yeah, re: quantifying things, lots of jobs just don’t lend themselves to that and there is not a secret guesstimation equation to use. If your job doesn’t lend itself to quantifiable measures, don’t worry about trying to do that; it’s okay to focus on descriptive measures instead.