Replace every adjective with a number
'Dynamic leader with proven track record' says nothing. The fix is mechanical.
Open ten resumes from financial services professionals and nine will describe the person the same way: dynamic, results-driven, strategic, passionate. These words are invisible to recruiters because they carry no information and cannot be checked.
The substitution exercise
Take every adjective in your resume and force a substitution. "Strong credit background" becomes "approved 400+ SME files worth ₹220 crore with a 1.1% delinquency rate." "Excellent stakeholder management" becomes "ran the credit-business dispute forum that cut escalations by half." If you cannot find the number, the claim probably does not belong on the page.
Numbers that actually matter in BFSI
- Scale: AUM, book size, premium income, transaction volume
- Delta: growth, reduction in losses, turnaround time cut
- Quality: NPA ratios, audit findings, persistency, hit rates
- Rank: position against peers or target
The test
Read each bullet and ask: could three other people with the same title write the identical line? If yes, rewrite it until the answer is no. Your resume's only job in the first minute is to be unfungible.