10 Tips for Writing Accomplishment Statements

Accomplishment statements are the heart of your resume.  I recommend to my clients and newsletter readers that when you are working you document your accomplishments quarterly. That way when the time comes to update your resume you have lots of accomplishments to choose from.  You will want to choose only those that are appropriate for the job for which you are applying.  Tailor each resume to be specific for that particular job.

1. Document your accomplishments for every job that you have had in the last 10 to 15 years.  This does not mean listing your responsibilities for each job but actual accomplishments that you were responsible for. Accomplishments could be: sales made, awards received, processes improved, projects completed, money saved etc.
2. Think about the accomplishments that you are going to write about in terms of problems, solutions, results.  For each accomplishment you will need to write down the problem you were solving first.  Then write down what you did to solve the problem.  Finally write the result of your solution to the problem.
3. Accomplishment statements for resumes are written very concisely. You can leave out words like “the” and “a”. Do not use the pronouns “I” or ”we”.
4. Sometimes when you write the solution and the result the problem is obvious and you do not have to state it unless it adds to the accomplishment.
5. The solution is the action you took to solve the problem.
6. The result is how the company benefitted from what you did.  Most common results are: money saved, money generated, time saved, productivity increased
7. Start each accomplishment statement with an action word like the following: increased, eliminated, built, taught, wrote
8. Use specific numerical results if you know them.  Numbers attract attention and stand out on your resume.  If you do not know the numerical result use the words increase or decrease instead.
9. An accomplishment statement can be more than one sentence but each must be written concisely sticking to just the problem, solution and result.
10. Choose accomplishments that clearly demonstrate that you have the skills the employer is looking for.  Read the job ad carefully or ask the hiring manager, recruiter or referrer exactly what kind of person would be best suited for the job.  Use the accomplishments that best show the value you will add to the company.