Get Noticed with a Resume Focused on Your Achievements

The number one fatal flaw in nearly every resume I review is that they are written in what I refer to as the 80s style. By this I mean that every job and every "given" responsibility is listed in a bulleted format. Are you telling your career story in this way?

If you are nodding your head yes, then stay with me because I promise to provide solid information to help clarify how to tell your readers (the hiring folks) about your achievements. Following are the components of a simplistic strategy for getting those achievements right once and for all. First and foremost, lets consider the following logic to support the reasons we use accomplishment statemen

ts:

1. What does an accomplishment statement do? The accomplishment statement enables a potential employer to understand what kind of performer you were in the previous positions youve held. It demonstrates your past ability to provide substantive productivity and/or profitability results to your prior company by citing specific illustrations and tangible examples.

2. What are the main components of a well-crafted accomplishment statement?Many resume writers, including myself, refer to this as the CAR story. Let me explain by isolating each word from this acronym.

• CHALLENGE: In the role you held, what was happening at the time you were hired? What uphill challenges were you facing? Identify the greatest challenges and jot them downthis is an essential first step in building a strategic, results-focused resume. For additional support in identifying your career strengths, explore our Career Counseling Services.

• ACTIONS:Using action verbs, describe the actions you took to correct the problems you faced. This does not need to be a lengthy explanation or a thesis. But, be specific about how you planned and executed your achievements. Include as much information as you need to, so that you can recycle this information when preparing for your upcoming interview.

• RESULT: What did your actions accomplish? Use metrics, awards, and client feedback. Hiring managers look for impact, executive resume writers know that the absence of quantifiable results is a missed opportunity.

Most resumes will include #1 (challenge) and #2 (actions) but often drop the ball on #3 (results/implication/outcome) of their achievements. What you may not realize is that the impact of your actions reallydoesmatter on the resume. Show the hiring managers that you are a performer by leading them to the finale or conclusion of your achievement statement.

In fact, no hiring manager or employer will consider that you are a top performer if you dont lead him or her to thefinale. Most importantly, make sure the achievements or CAR stories are relevant to your job objective. Many times candidates will list achievements that have no relevancy to the role they are seeking.

Finally, isolate each challenge you faced and address the actions you took and the result or impact on the department, division, or company. A representative sample of a CAR story could look like this. But, let me remind you that you will need to boil this entire CAR story down to a one or two liner for your resume.

EXAMPLE OF A CAR STORY FROM A DIRECTOR OF A CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM

Challenge:When I took over this program, all manner of referrals, authorizations, treatment plans, client binders, staff HR folders, budget information and paperwork were not well organized. The challenge was to organize and streamline the system as there were many redundancies and things falling through the cracks, like staff training, staff clearances, and budget shortfalls.

Action/Story:I first had to determine what was required by the state for authorizations, so I conducted numerous phone conversations with the funding sources to find out what needed to be included on our treatment plans, what was needed to be most efficient in getting authorizations, etc. Next, I created charts and checklists for our internal processes including trainings and FBI clearances for our staff, as well as ensuring our staff were regularly supervised. None of this had been recorded and tracked previously hence, it had not been getting done. I made clear and easy systems to make the lives of my staff easier, not harder. I also made systems to make my job easier, not harder.

Result:The result was that our program was assigned more clients, our paperwork was approved at almost 100%, and our staff was no longer confused about where to be and what to do. Another result was that our funding source was confident in our paperwork and treatment plans, and would send us authorizations before receiving the paperwork at times. Another outcome was that our program was more profitable, budgets were met, and our staff more confident and our clients better served. Our program also gained a stellar reputation in the agency and with our funding source.

In other words, when you shrink the CAR statements down to one or two compelling lines without disparaging the company you work for, it looks like this:

Orchestrated, planned and executed new internal monitoring systemgeneratingincreased cash flow,elimination of budget shortfalls and a reductionof staff. These internal controls allowed program to deepen relationships, earning a formidable reputation with funding sources, clients,and the local community.

There are many fatal flaws in the world of resume writing; however, if you can transition your old resume to a more modern version that drives home your accomplishments (and focuses on keywords) and connects them to the job you are targeting, you will be well on your way to landing more interviews.