Uncovering Your Achievements

A good resume will blend your experience and skills with a relevant list of achievements.  Use achievements to show your next employer how you can do more than just “do the job.”

Here are some questions that can guide you in identifying achievements.  Do they have to be quantifiable?  No.  If you have numbers, great.  If not, tell your success story in the best way that shows your value to you next employer.

What have I done to help my employer make money?

What have I done to help my employer save money?

What have I done to make the company more efficient?

How have I exceeded performance goals?

What has happened because I took the initiative to do something?

Has an employer said something about me in a review that speaks to my character?

Have I trained or mentored an employee who took on a position of greater responsibility?

Have I been selected for special projects or assignments?

ave I won any awards?

Keeping up with the Pack

A client sent me a job posting for a technical position.  It posed this excellent question: “How do you stay one step ahead of others in your field?”

The answer to this question will help you set yourself apart from your competition both in your resume and during interviews.  Review what you have done professionally over the last year.  Make a list of the things you have done to improve you skills and performance.  This list could include:

1.  Education or training

2.  Publication in a professional journal

3.  Professional conferences

4.  Being selected for a special project that extended your responsibilities

5.  Being recognized with an award or commendation

6.  Self-taught skills that you have used on the job

7.  Learning from a mentor or expert in your field

This list does not contain all the possible ways you could have improved your skills.  Keep asking yourself this question: What sets me apart from my competition?  Don’t focus on what makes other people good.  That’s too easy, and it doesn’t help you.  Similarly, don’t dwell on what you haven’t accomplished.  That’s self-defeating.  Be positive.  What have you done over the last year that makes you very good at what you do?  Use the answer to that question to improve your professional reputation, update your resume, and enhance your interviewing skills. 

You know that the job market is very competitive.  Companies want the best talent.  Show them why you are a leader, someone they have to hire.

Writing a Teacher’s Resume

School starts next week, and a logical assumption would be that most jobs for teachers are filled.  Once upon a time that would have been true.  Now teachers (at least in Chicago) will be hired and laid off based on the number of students attending school in the first weeks.  Teachers who might be laid off or looking for work should prepare a good resume.

For a public school teacher in grades K-12 every resume needs to list qualifications (education, certification, and relevant endorsements).  It should also describe what classes you have taught and how you have participated in any activities that have improved the school.  For example, some teachers work in before/after school tutoring programs.  Others coach or run music/art programs.

As school districts have focused more on tests, teacher also need to be able to show success stories.  Improving test scores is a good way to catch a Principal’s attention.  Similarly, any teacher who has had success in fund raising or grant writing needs to tell those stories.

Any teacher who loses a job at the beginning of the year has a tough task ahead.  That job will be made easier by writing a resume that tells potential employers why they need you on their faculty. Don’t be afraid to toot your own horn.  Take credit for how you have helped your students.

Sell Your Strengths

Good resumes tell an employer more than why you are qualified for a job.  They also demonstrate what sets you apart from other prospective employees.  One way to identify your strengths is to ask yourself: What do I like to do?  In most cases, we are strongest when performing tasks we enjoy.  Another way to highlight what makes you a cut above the competition is to play up you achievements and success stories.  Be sure that you are showing how your action benefitted the company.  In a competitive job market, it’s not enough to say, “I can do the job.”  Employers want workers who bring something extra.  Show how you can do that.  Start by selling your strengths.

Achievements without Numbers

One of the resu-myths that are repeated again and again on the web is a resume must have numbers to support achievement.  Is it good to have quantified achievements?  Of course.  However, some success stories don’t involve numbers.  Employers will still want to know this information, and it will help you land interviews.

Here are some examples of achievements that don’t involve numbers.  The occupation related to the achievement follows the achievement in brackets.  This information would not be included in your resume:

•     Created spreadsheets to track office expenses, income from each unit (church), and outstanding accounts. [bookkeeper]

•     Developed literature circles to improve skills in reading, writing, and presentation through drama and art. [teacher]

•     Played a key role on teams that adjusted work force levels after acquisitions  and downsizing. [HR management]

•     Won several awards for exceeding sales goals. [sales]

•     Opened new markets in Chicago andMiami, including high end accounts with boutique retailers (2011). [business development/sales]

•     Collaborated with a Product Manager to launch a new product that required input from several departments. [tech project manager]

•     Created a database with contact information for health educators throughout the state. [administrative assistant]

You can tell a success story without using numbers.  The key is to start by identifying the result and then determine what you did to make it happen.  That’s the formula for writing success stories, whether or not they have numbers.

Selling Your Success

While it’s important to let an employer know that you have the experience, knowledge, and skill to do a job, it’s equally important to highlight achievements.  By telling success stories, you let an employer see how you will bring value, how you will do more than the day-to-day duties.

Here are some examples of success stories:

•     Developed literature circles to improve skills in reading, writing, and presentation through drama and art.  (Teacher)

•     Increased weekly sales for the clients key brands (Sears, Wal-Mart) by developing strong, research-based advertising plans. (Marketing)

•     Led an internal training on employee benefits plans.  (Human Resources & Benefits)

•     Created a database with contact information for health educators. (Administrative Assistant)

•     Increased collections for overdue accounts by 45%. (Collections, Customer Service)

•     Led an in-service training on crisis intervention. (Nursing)

Except for one of the examples above, these achievements do not quantify achievements.  Don’t put numbers in your resume just to have numbers.  Let your success stories work their magic, and employers will want to meet you.

Show Your Initiative

Employers want workers who have the skills needed to fill an open position.  At the same time, they want someone who will work hard and bring extra value to the company.  One way to show yourself as this kind of ideal employee is to list an example or two in your resume of ways you have shown initiative. 

For example, you could write:

•  Took initiative to launch a new tutoring program that improved reading test scores.

•  Demonstrated initiative by training employees before/after business hours.

•  Completed projects on time by working with focus and self-motivation.

•  Solved problems for clients by being resourceful and working extra hours to provide same-day results.

•  Exceeded goals for performance by taking the initiative to pursue a new client base (students).

When writing or updating your resume, try to find a way to present yourself as the kind of employee every boss would want: someone who works hard and looks for new ways to improve performance.

A Resume Is Not a Job Description

Some clients will come to me with drafts of resumes that they think are very good.  Their confidence is based on the source of their resume – their current/former employer’s job descriptions. 

There are three problems with this approach.  First, companies write job descriptions to fit their needs, not to sell you to your next employer.  Often they emphasize skills that are not what a job seeker wants to emphasize.  A second problem is that most job descriptions contain the phrase: “other duties as needed.”  For many workers, those “other duties” are some of their most important job functions.  However, they leave them off the resume because they were not listed in the job description.  Finally, no job description will list your achievements, which many employers want to see.  They are not only looking for people who have experience.  They want candidates who have success stories.

Don’t trap yourself by relying on a job posting when writing your resume.  Think about the employers you want to work for.  What skills and experience are they looking for?  That should be the foundation for your resume.  Focus on the job you want, not the one you want to leave.

Success Stories and How to Tell Them

The holidays are a good time to look back and think about your professional achievements over the past 12 months.  This review is especially important in updating your resume and preparing to sell yourself at job interviews. 

Don’t think about the company or being on a team.  What did you do to help the company succeed?  What did you do that saved money or increased efficiency?  Take a few days to conduct a thorough review.  Invite a co-worker out for lunch or coffee and ask her to help you remember and articulate your success stories.

In presenting your achievements on a resume, list the result first whenever possible.  If it is appropriate, quantify the success with a number that will give weight to the achievement.  However, don’t put numbers in your resume just to have numbers.  Be sure that they are being used to sell the value you will bring to your next employer.

Here are a few samples of how success stories can be represented on a resume: 

•      Increased quality and response time by 15%-20%.

•      Selected to work on special projects that required strong organizational and research skills.

•      Recognized as Employee of the Month (#1 of 180 employees).

•      Exceeded sales quota by40%.

•      Mentored employees who took on higher level responsibilities in managerial and creative roles.

•      Increased sales from 25-30% each year.

•      Led the highest growing team in the division (each account executive earns more than $45,000 in  monthly profit).

Think about what the employer needs, not just accomplishments that make you proud.  You also need to practice telling stories in more detail than they are presented on your resume.  A good interviewer will ask you to explain how you achieved the success.  If you’re not prepared to go into more detail, a success story on a resume can be a trip line during an interview. 

You should conduct a review every year and try to have some current success stories on your resume.  If you don’t want to update your resume, at least keep a file with your success stories so it will be easier for you to remember them. You never know when you might have an opportunity to move up in your career.  Be prepared to tell your success stories and sell your value to potential employers.

Know Your “Value Proposition”

What do you bring to the table?  Why are you better than the other guy (or gal)?  In sales language, that’s called a value proposition.  And, leaving debates about jargon for another day, we can use this term to help us define career goals and write better resumes. 

First, think about what is important to your employer.  Second, and equally relevant, identify what is important to you.  To be really happy and successful in a job, your values need to be aligned with those of your employer.

What do you do that helps your employer deliver to its customers?  Think about both your job duties and any success stories you have had on the job.  Identify skills and knowledge that you could take to a competitor.  Talk about your achievements in a way that shows how you have increased sales, cut costs, or improved efficiency.  If possible, quantify your success stories.  But don’t fill your resume with numbers just to show numbers.  Real value comes from your ability to articulate your contribution, not from a number that you are using to try to impress people.

From a personal angle, what do you do on the job that is important to you?  If your answer to this question is, “Nothing,” it’s time to look for a new job or seriously consider a career change.  For the rest of us, the challenge is to identify the tasks we enjoy performing and the skills that we are excited to use.  If you are looking for a new job or angling for a promotion, those skills need to matched with employers who want them. 

Use your resume as a test.  Does it reflect both what you want and what the employer needs?  If it does, your career has a good focus.  If it doesn’t, you should take some time to reorder priorities and goals.  Take the time to make two list of value propositions, one for the employer and one for yourself.  Use them to map your future and guide your success.