Moving on to your accomplishments

So you’ve got your Executive Profile designed to catch the attention of the reader. You do, don’t you? Your potential employer knows, in a nutshell, how great you are and what you can bring to their organization. Now you need the proof.

By proof I mean your accomplishments. A resume isn’t a resume without them. Or shall I say a GREAT resume. I know what some of you are thinking: I don’t have any achievementsat least none that are good enough for a resume! Nonsense. Most everyone can find at least one notable achievement for each position they’ve held. The higher career level you are at or that you are applying for, the more accomplishments you must show.

Quantify with numbers whenever possible. To say that you have improved employee company retention doesn’t mean a whole lot. But, if you say, saved company $100K in 18 months by improving employee retention 20%well, that speaks volumes. It’s plain to see the difference. The use of numberswhether they be dollars, percentages, etc.is a powerful tool in proving your worth to a company. The more you can show that you’ve been successful in doing in your past employment, the more they will think you can benefit them just as much if not more.

Now that you know what you’re going to say, what format are you going to use? Probably one of the most effective ways to demonstrate your achievements is by using bullets. Write a paragraph describing your strengths and what your duties were (but do not say my daily tasks or my responsibilities werethose are things you definitely don’t want to so. Spice it up and say it a way that makes it seem important, even when you feel that it isn’t.

After your paragraph, create bullets that highlight your accomplishments. Start with you most recent employment and work backwards. Use keywordsnot slangthat are known in the specific industry for which you are applying. Keep it professional and formal.

This should give you a good start to writing your resume. There will be more tips coming in the near future.