Job Search Strategies - Identify Your Accomplishments

You are ready to search for your next career move. Congratulations! Unfortunately, now comes the moment in time where you say "I don't even know where to begin!"

You begin with answers to six critical questions necessary to developing a powerful resume.

• What problems, projects or performance objective did you take on? This information can be gathered from previous performance reviews, co-workers and team members. It should include special projects and ongoing responsibilities.   For example, did you have specific tasks that needed to be accomplished in a certain period of time?


• What action did you or your direct reports take? Project plans or documentation created throughout the duration of the project can provide you with specific actions. You can also interview co-workers and team members for more specific information. How did you approach the problem/project or performance objective?


• What were the results in quantified terms? Did you generate revenue or expense savings? How much? Over what period of time? Were management reports generated to measure the success of the project ? In the example of specific tasks, did you accomplish the tasks on time 95% of the time or higher?


• What knowledge did you draw upon to accomplish the results? This should include technical knowledge for a specific industry, or process, and generalized knowledge that can be easily transferred from industry to industry.


• What skills did you use in the process of completing this accomplishment successfully? This could be project management skills, typing, analysis, etc. Were those skills used all of the time, or occasionally? Were you required to learn new skills?


•  What character traits did you display as you accomplished your objective? This requires a bit more introspection. Character traits include teamwork, collaboration, risk-taking, ethics, etc. 

Why is it important to identify what you have accomplished in your career? Employers are looking for employees who provide value and what better way to make sure they know you can do that than to give them specific examples.   They want to know if your knowledge, skills and character traits are what they need in the job they have open.

Answer each of these questions for the accomplishments you are most proud of in the last ten years of your career, and you will be well on your way to developing a powerful resume.

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