I was recently talking to a client about what to put on a resume. I gave her the example of hiring for a Customer Service Representative for an inbound call center. You have six resumes in front of you of people that all have the required five years of experience as a customer service representative for large companies that have an inbound call center. Without reading the resumes but based on that information, the hiring manager could judge each candidate as relatively equal in terms of ability to do the job. 

Then the hiring manager starts reading the resumes. Five of the resumes look something like this:

• Managed large number of inbound calls in a timely manner

• Followed a script when handling different topics

• Followed prescribed procedures for handling different situations

• Identified customers’ needs, clarified information, researched issues and provided solutions 

• Upsell products and services 

But the sixth one is different. Instead of a list of job duties, this candidate, instead, wrote about accomplishments.

• Ranked 2nd in a call center of 120 representatives for the volume of inbound call response

• Was on the employee team that re-wrote the standard response scripts when talking with customers. Resulted in enhanced relationship building and problem resolution. This resulted in a 5% increase in customer service scores for the call center

• In the lowest 10% of customer service representatives that needed management escalation of calls

• Maintained a customer service score of 4.6% out of 5 for three straight years

• Won the Star Achiever award for upselling additional services. In the top five for enhancing revenue with $227,000 in additional sales

Now put yourself in the hiring manager’s shoes. Which one do you think this hiring manager should select to interview?

Accomplishments vs. Job Duties

Many of the resumes that I have read make the mistake of only showing the duties of a job. But the problem is just because you do a job, it does not mean you do it well. We all know people in similar positions that perform them very differently – from outstanding work to just awful. Well, how do you as a co-worker know the difference in performance? You know it because you can see how the person works and what they get accomplished. The hiring manager needs to determine the same thing - how the person works and what is the probability they can be successful in the open role. If someone shows accomplishments on a resume, it is not a guarantee that the person will be successful, but it is a better indicator than just a list of job duties. Job duties tell what the person does; accomplishments tell how the person does it.

Metrics based roles

Finding ways to show your accomplishments is much easier in a metrics-based role like sales. You are probably already being measured based on meeting some sort of sales plan or profitability targets. In other areas, such as Marketing and Finance, your achievements may be able to be quantified based upon an objective that your role impacts. As an example, if you are a Financial Analyst and a focus of your role is to help the company save money, you could say the following:

• Saved the company over $100k by reviewing travel expenses and finding billing errors from our third-party travel vendor

Or a Marketing Manager could have the following as an accomplishment:

• Reduced the total cost of the marketing campaign for a new product launch by 25% while increasing media reach and ad frequency; received Great Impact award from the CEO

Non-metrics based roles

Some people are stumped if they are in a role that seemingly is not metrics based. Take an administrative assistant or facilities administrator. These roles may seem very rote if you look at a job description. Success is doing the job – answering the phone, making travel arrangements or stocking office supplies. How do you show achievements in doing that? You certainly can. Let’s take the example of an administrative assistant first.

• Saved $10,000/year in offsite storage charges by reviewing the present filing system and updating the records retention policy that resulted in shredding documents instead of storing offsite

Or a Facilities Administrator

• Saved $500 in overtime for a new-build project by asking that 10 employees work from home for one day so work could happen in the facility during normal work hours

How to come up with accomplishments

Many people are humble about their work and think what they did was no big deal. When writing your resume, you cannot afford to be shy about your accomplishments. So review your work for the answers to the following questions:

• Did you come up with a new procedure or process? If so, how did it help you, your team, department or company?

• Are you good at organization? How did your skill help you, your team, your department or the company become more efficient?

• Are you creative? Did you come up with an idea that was implemented? What were the results?

• Did you do something that had a positive impact on clients, customers or suppliers?

• How did you save time for others?

• What were the problems that you solved? Did you notice the problem on your own? How did your resolution impact others?

• What did you do that made money for the company? What did you do that saved money for the company?

• Were you asked to do any special projects or be on a task force? What was the importance of what you were doing? What was the result?

• Were you honored for something or received a special award?

• Was there mention of something you did in a performance review that your manager felt was significant?

What if I cannot remember the numbers?

I hear this quite a bit, especially as people are adding information on a resume for jobs several years back. They may be able to recall the accomplishment but not the metrics surrounding it. First, this is an argument for having an accomplishment sheet, where you keep all your work accomplishments in one place so you can always refer to it for a resume or interview. You will never regret the practice of writing down your accomplishments. It has the dual purpose of helping you write the self-assessment section of any performance review.

If you are stumped about the exact numbers surrounding your accomplishment, start with reviewing old performance reviews. You should always keep a copy. Often, either in a self-assessment section or in the manager feedback section, you may find the number you are needing. If it is not there, you might try asking a colleague if they can recall the information. If that does not work, you may have to give an estimate. As an example, you may not know the exact amount of money that you saved your employer, but know it was between $100,000 and $150,000. In that case, you can safely say, “$100,000+ in savings.” If you truly do not have any idea of the metric but know the direction, you can say, “saw an increase in engagement and customer service scores.” It is less impactful but better than writing a job duty in its place.

Try changing the job duties on your resume to job accomplishments. See if it doesn’t result in more recruiter and hiring manager interest.

Shelley Piedmont is a job search coach. She wants to help job seekers put their best foot forward by providing the tools for a successful job search. If you need career coaching, resume preparation, interview skills assessment or LinkedIn profile assistance, she can help. Schedule a 15-minute no-obligation consultation.