Accomplishments
You may have an enviable GPA, certifications, or earned impressive job titles, but a hiring manager wants to know one thing: What have you accomplished – what have you delivered?
Here’s a summary of the skills you learn in the Accomplishments segment:
- Listing achievements over skills, competencies, and responsibilities
- Providing the best evidence of your ability and competency through your achievements
- Describing achievements by defining the challenge, issue, or problem; the action you took; and the results you achieved, in that order, to make a powerful statement
- The importance of inserting something about your character in your accomplishments – how you perform your job, or achieve an accomplishment, is essential. This is what distinguishes you from every other candidate
Accomplishments should be listed in a succinct way: Present the problem, challenge, or situation you faced; the action you took; and the results you achieved. All three elements are needed to tell a full story. It is not enough to take part in the project or participate in the functional area. It is the outcome that impresses the reader of your resume.
What happened is key. Whether it means you met your goals or objectives; exceeded the number of calls taken versus the calls projected, or you completed your objectives on time, under budget, or before the projected dates, the result is what matters.
What was your contribution? What was the result of your involvement? How did everything turn out? This is what a prospective employer wants to know.
Whether you were a team member or team leader, you contributed to the success. Describe your role(s) as a team member and demonstrate your understanding of the team’s objectives and success.
Leading with your accomplishments also shows you are in touch with the big picture – that you understand the impact your work has on the overall organizational objectives and mission. This is an opportunity to discuss the details of the work you have done, including your ability to overcome obstacles and setbacks. Focus on character traits such as: tenacity, problem solving, creativity, and patience when appropriate.
When speaking about your accomplishments, inject your Three Key Strengths: understanding the big picture, creating effective working relationships, and your work ethics. These define how you perform your job and describe the framework of your character.
Speaking from your accomplishments is different than speaking from your experiences. It requires practice and listing all your accomplishments in one place. Exercises and examples for developing Accomplishments are included in my Source Blog entries.