Notice something odd about that last number? 🤔
If you punched '87.65309' into YouTube right now, you'd find yourself listening to an 80s hit song. Yet many of you probably accepted it as fact.

Numbers are powerful tools. They catch attention, build credibility, and tell your story. But they should always be grounded in truth.

Because in a world drowning in data, the most valuable skill might be knowing when to question the numbers everyone else accepts.

The lesson for your job search? 💡

Be strategic with numbers on your resume:
✅ Use real, verifiable metrics
✅ Be specific but honest
✅ Question statistics you see online
✅ Don't invent precision where it doesn't exist

4️⃣ Authority Signaling
Metrics make content feel researched and authoritative. Journalists use them to convey accuracy. Marketers know headlines with numbers get 36% more clicks (see what I did there? 😉).

3️⃣ Cognitive Shortcuts
Numbers feel like 'cold, hard facts.' When we see statistics, our critical thinking often takes a backseat. We assume someone did the math, so we don't have to question it.

2️⃣ The Precision Bias
We trust precise numbers more. Research shows people judge '60.37%' as more credible than '60%' – even when the precision is meaningless. That extra decimal point creates an illusion of careful calculation.

1️⃣ Visual Distinctiveness
Numbers literally stop our wandering eyes. Eye-tracking studies show we fixate on digits because they're visually distinct from text. Our brains process them as mini-graphics that demand attention.