How to Write About Achievements on a Resume
When applying for a new job, it can be tempting to tell your potential employers everything about yourself on a resume. The problem is that while employers want to read about what you can give to the company, they only have a little bit of time to read it. That being said, it is important to know how to write about your achievements on a resume in such a way that you can amaze your future bosses without taking up too much of their time.
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Instructions
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How to Write About Achievements on a Resume
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Write everything out first, using your feedback forms and work e-mails for historical reference. Your achievements are basically going to be anything you won, anything you did to improve a process, or anything you successfully led. The easiest way to start writing achievements on a resume is to write out all the details of each success. This ensures you won't leave out any of the key information later on when you start whittling it down to a few words.
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Include numbers, especially money, in your achievements. If the achievements in your first draft included you saving the company "a whole lot of money," be specific about how much money it was. Even more important can be how much of a percentage that was towards a budget or goal. For example, if you created an editing program that cut the budget from $1 million to $500,000, you saved the company 50 percent in total costs. Numbers can be impressive, as long as you don't "fluff" them.
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Highlight the "action" and the "result" parts of your achievement wherever possible. This doesn't apply for winning something like first place in a fundraising contest, but it can apply to leadership situations. If you were put in charge of a 10-person group to create that money-saving editing program, then the action would probably be that you were put in charge of the group. The result would be how much money you saved the company.
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Re-write the achievement to begin with a one- or two-word action statement. Action words can enhance the meaning of your achievement. "Put in charge of leading a 10 person group" could be broken down to "Hand-picked" or "spearheaded" a team.
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Re-write the end result to include the numbers or ultimate success. The end result of this example would most likely be "saved company 50 percent in overhead costs."
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Combine the elements to highlight your achievement. "Spearheaded 10 person group to develop money-saving editing program; cut overhead costs by 50 percent" might be one way to highlight what you achieved. The reader can see that you led the team, what your mission was, and the success of the goal in less than 20 words.
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Repeat the process as many times as necessary.
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Tips & Warnings
Don't include achievements that are atypical to your position and authority because most employers in the same business know what your previous job entailed.
Don't "fluff" too much of your work. If you try to sound better than you actually were, you can be given more responsibilities than you can handle, ultimately leading to termination.
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Comments
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this is interesting but will like to have one or two example of thase what is obtainable in my country.
