5 Keys to Resume Bullet Bliss: Resume Accomplishments Versus Duties
The Difference Between Resume Accomplishments and Duties On your resume, for each position you've held in the last 10 years or so, you'll need to include two key components: The description of your duties as well as your accomplishments.
These two components are really quite different, and they serve completely different functions.
Duties tell what you did; accomplishments tell why what you did was useful, valuable, and important.
Job Duties Your job duties are, quite literally, the work that you do every day.
Think about the work you do; now distill it down to 3 or 4 sentences.
Paint an accurate picture of the work you do that propels your manager, your division, or your company to rousing success.
Sample job duties for an administrative assistant might include: * Answered a 10-line phone system.
* Supported Chief Executive Officer by organizing paper and electronic files * Maintained accurate travel records and receipts for 13-person division.
Job Accomplishments Accomplishments differ radically from duties.
Your accomplishments are the specific successes you've demonstrated within your job duties (or sometimes outside of them!).
These show how you succeeded within your role and rose to its challenges.
Unlike the duties you've specified for each role you've had, the accomplishments tell the "so what?" about your job.
They answer the question: "So what happened as a result of your work?" Usually, the answers to these questions involve some kind of metric, either numeric or evaluative, demonstrating how you improved or changed a system for the better.
These accomplishments become the bullets that show why you're the most qualified to support the hiring manager's goals and needs-starting the moment you are hired.
Sample job accomplishments for the same administrative assistant could include: * Enabled 100% access to key data for traveling executives by renaming and recategorizing 2400 pieces of online data into related folders and cataloging each in an online database system made accessible to entire department.
* Earned 98.
8% achievement of goals on every annual evaluation for 5 consecutive years.
* Consistently and accurately produced 15 daily reports in Excel and Microsoft Project to improve team ability to visualize project statuses.
5 Keys to Identifying Resume Accomplishments If you're struggling to figure out what power the accomplishment bullets on your resume, ask yourself the following 5 questions: 1.
What was your hardest project? What made it difficult? 2.
What did you do that made it successful? 3.
How did your work on some project help you or someone else do their job better? 4.
Of which project are you most proud? Why are you proud of it? 5.
How does your job differ in reality from the human resources job description you were handed when you started the position? By answering these questions specifically, you'll choose the best parts of your career history that hiring managers and recruiters want to know about you.
You'll demonstrate that you have a terrific track record-and you'll show how you can hit the ground running on your first day of work.
These two components are really quite different, and they serve completely different functions.
Duties tell what you did; accomplishments tell why what you did was useful, valuable, and important.
Job Duties Your job duties are, quite literally, the work that you do every day.
Think about the work you do; now distill it down to 3 or 4 sentences.
Paint an accurate picture of the work you do that propels your manager, your division, or your company to rousing success.
Sample job duties for an administrative assistant might include: * Answered a 10-line phone system.
* Supported Chief Executive Officer by organizing paper and electronic files * Maintained accurate travel records and receipts for 13-person division.
Job Accomplishments Accomplishments differ radically from duties.
Your accomplishments are the specific successes you've demonstrated within your job duties (or sometimes outside of them!).
These show how you succeeded within your role and rose to its challenges.
Unlike the duties you've specified for each role you've had, the accomplishments tell the "so what?" about your job.
They answer the question: "So what happened as a result of your work?" Usually, the answers to these questions involve some kind of metric, either numeric or evaluative, demonstrating how you improved or changed a system for the better.
These accomplishments become the bullets that show why you're the most qualified to support the hiring manager's goals and needs-starting the moment you are hired.
Sample job accomplishments for the same administrative assistant could include: * Enabled 100% access to key data for traveling executives by renaming and recategorizing 2400 pieces of online data into related folders and cataloging each in an online database system made accessible to entire department.
* Earned 98.
8% achievement of goals on every annual evaluation for 5 consecutive years.
* Consistently and accurately produced 15 daily reports in Excel and Microsoft Project to improve team ability to visualize project statuses.
5 Keys to Identifying Resume Accomplishments If you're struggling to figure out what power the accomplishment bullets on your resume, ask yourself the following 5 questions: 1.
What was your hardest project? What made it difficult? 2.
What did you do that made it successful? 3.
How did your work on some project help you or someone else do their job better? 4.
Of which project are you most proud? Why are you proud of it? 5.
How does your job differ in reality from the human resources job description you were handed when you started the position? By answering these questions specifically, you'll choose the best parts of your career history that hiring managers and recruiters want to know about you.
You'll demonstrate that you have a terrific track record-and you'll show how you can hit the ground running on your first day of work.