If you are regular reader, you may notice that another recent post showed someone similarly posed. That post was about signaling strength during job interviews. So it pictured a young boy flexing his muscles.
Today’s photo shows someone who has just accomplished something great. In her case, the completion of her 365 day self portrait project that she shared on flickr.
I used this picture because writing a great accomplishment statement is just the beginning of the conversation about you. It is the result of a story you should be telling in your marketing documents. Stories that illustrate your impact in the world.
So there’s a bigger story. And there’s an element of passion. An energy about your great works in prior companies. And the better you do this, the better a hiring manager can envision you doing similar things for their department or company.
And the accomplishment statements you write are your way to engage the reader. So that you will be granted an interview. An audience to tell your stories and share your energy.
So they have to be good. Well written. They also have to be relevant and measurable.
Also remember not to mix them up with your responsibilities. I shared this and other tips as part of the tutorial introducing my favorite resume and CV template.
So to help you think about how to write a great accomplishment statement, I thought I would illustrate an example for you. And then walk you through each part. Here it is:
So now to take you through it step by step:
1. Action: There’s a great list of action verbs at Quint Careers. You can use a few of those or think up your own. But make sure that your leading words suggest movement, ownership and leadership.
2. Relevant Topic: What does your target company care about? What do you know about the role this person will play? With a solid knowledge of your likely audience, you can focus on the right topics.
3. Impact: You need a word here that clearly states what happened. In this case, something got reduced. And that is a good thing. Make sure the positive impact you had is clearly stated.
4. Key Metric: What was impacted? Make sure that metric is also relevant and measurable in the way your industry defines it. In an economy where budgets are heavily scrutinized, your ability to measure and report will be important. No matter what your role is in the company.
5. Benefit: Accomplishment statements need numbers. Something tangible like a % increase/decrease, $ revenue up or $ cost down. And you can strengthen the benefit by adding a second short sentence to answer the “so what” question. In this case, you could add: “BENEFIT: Delivered new revenues 6 months sooner than expected.” That’s a nice surprise.
So what if you charted out your key accomplishments like this? Sound like a lot of work? I’ll bet if you do it for a few, you’ll get the idea. And have this structure in your mind as you write or re-write the rest.
What are your favorite action words?
Or better yet.
Share (via a comment below) your best accomplishment statement and I’ll give it a review.
Want to really take your materials up a notch? Consider a professional resume writer. You can find writers I’ve approved and listed here on the site. Or find one on my Twitter list.
