Accomplishments are the meat of resumes. They are the most important part of your resume.
But how do we actually write a resume accomplishment or achievement? What should it include? And quantifiable accomplishments, how do those work?!
In this video I’ll show you how to approach accomplishments and achievements on your resume.
All resumes should be accomplishments-based resumes. The importance of accomplishments cannot be overstated. The reason they’re so important is because they demonstrate your skills and strengths, and give the reader a way of visualizing you in action.
We’re going to use Darryl Philbin’s resume as an example. Don’t worry Darryl. You don’t need Clippy to make your resume!
RAC
When I read a well-written resume accomplishment, I think to myself.
Hey, nice RAC.
Get your mind out of the gutter!
I’m talking about RAC. Result. Action. Context.
You may have heard about the CAR approach to writing resume accomplishments.
I like to take the RAC approach, and lead with the result so it’s the first thing the reader sees in a bullet.
Let’s work with Darryl’s inventory management idea, and break down what the RAC would look like.
Let’s assume that Darryl’s idea resulted in a boost in on time deliveries and efficiency. That’s the result.
His action would be optimizing logistics..
The context would be management of different product shipments.
Bringing this all together, might look like…
Increased on-time deliveries by optimizing logistics of different product lines.
Quantifiable Accomplishments
Now let’s talk about quantifiable accomplishments.
Quantifiable accomplishments obviously bring numbers into our accomplishments.
The reason these can be so useful is because numbers help the reader visualize the impact of your work.
How do we arrive at quantifiable accomplishments?
You can ask yourself questions like:
How often?
How much?
How many?
So continuing with Darryl’s last accomplishment example, I think it’s very possible to quantify this and will add major impact.
I suspect Darryl kept his eye on metrics like on-time deliveries, so we can consider something like:
Increased on-time deliveries 25% by optimizing logistics of different product lines.
Or maybe we could reverse this and say:
Decreased frequency of overdue delivered 25% by optimizing logistics of different product lines.
Or maybe this had a direct bottom line impact, like reduction of penalties:
Saved $100K in delayed shipment penalties by optimizing logistics of different product lines.
So as you can see, the RAC approach still applies here, we’re just adding a number for some oomph.
When NOT to Quantify
2.5 billion units sounds absurd.
This can happen on resumes because of the pressure to quantify.
But what I want to tell you is that you don’t always have to quantify accomplishments. Quantifying can help, but it isn’t always necessary and doesn’t always work.
Darryl counting individual pieces of paper is ridiculous.
So in this case, I wouldn’t have recommended that Darryl quantify this accomplishment.
Instead, especially since he was going for a leadership role in this case, he could have described the scope of his role, saying something like:
Oversee entire logistics and warehouse operations for Dunder Mifflin’s most profitable branch.
He could have quantified some of his accomplishments, for things like,
Number of shipments daily, weekly monthly
On-time deliveries (as we’ve already seen)
Cost reductions
Safety records
…and other possibilities.
But what Darryl shouldn’t have done was attempt to use the biggest number possible because 2.5 billion started to lose all meaning.
If you want more examples of how non-quantifiable accomplishments can work well, read my article on Jobscan.
Resume Achievements & Awards
On your resume, you might have your achievements, awards, and accomplishments in their own section.
This is NOT how a resume should look.
You need to reallocate your accomplishments under each of the roles in which they happened.
This includes awards that you won at work.
Again, accomplishments are the most important part of your resume. Everything is secondary to accomplishments. They are mini stories that demonstrate your qualifications.
How do you write your resume accomplishments? Have you tried the CAR approach? Will you try the RAC next? Tell me in the comments below!
0 Comments