Resume Writing: Quantify impacts by calculating growth with negative original value

Hi there,

Q: Last year profitability is -150,000 USD and this year profitability is 300,000 USD, while sales growth remain stable. If I were to calculate the YoY growth, how should I correctly calculate it? 

In this case it would probably be easier to report the absolute amount (+$450k in profits in 12 months). You could also add the initial and final values to show you went from negative to positive. 

Alternatively, as mentioned by Maikol you could show profitability before and after the change (eg changed profitability from -xx% to +yy%).

Best,

Francesco

Hello,

Let me assume that the sales is $10M.

1) You can say that you improved the profit margins from -1.5% to +3% 

2) You can say that your efforts improved the net profits by $450,000 and say that this has been the biggest jump since xx years 

Hope this helps!

Rushabh

Hi there,

The simple answer is that you can’t really do it. There’s a workaround often suggested i.e. turning the base into an absolute value but it‘ misleading.

For your example, this would mean:

(300k - (-150k))/(ABS(-150k)) = 450k / 150k = 300%

In my estimation this is misleading because of the following; let’s assume you had the same positive result but dug yourself out of a deeper hole:

(300k - (-200k))/(ABS(-200k)) = 500k / 200k = 250%

Even though your growth was more impressive from a lower base, the % growth has gotten smaller.

Bottom line: Would suggest to use absolute values

Hope this helps a bit. Best of luck!

The most effective way is to say that profitability improved from -5% to +3% (fake numbers) in one year.

For this example, it’s probably best to describe it like you did here. Instead of absolute USD values you could use % profit. 

Hi there,

I think this is an interesting question that may be relevant for many people. I would be happy to share my thoughts on it:

• One way to quantify your achievement could be to state that you turned a negative profitability of -150,000 USD into a positive profitability of 300,000 USD. You can also mention the initiatives and strategies that you implemented to achieve this.
• As for calculating the YoY growth, it is not meaningful to calculate it in this situation as the base year (last year) had a negative profitability. YoY growth is typically used to compare the change in a metric between two positive numbers, so in this case it would not accurately reflect your achievement. Instead, you could focus on the absolute change in profitability, which in this case would be 450,000 USD (300,000 USD - (-150,000 USD)).

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to best express your achievements in your resume, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

I would say “ changes contributed to a $450k profit uplift, from -$150k to $300k.”

I would make sure you add the total change as this is quite a big number.

Managed $xxM P&L of x department; identified profit initiatives, prioritized, and implemented across xx months and xx teams, ultimately turning -$M annual loss into $xM annual profit