Write Impressive Work Accomplishment Statements on Your CV
An essential aspect of your CV is your work accomplishment statement. So, if you want an impressive CV that blows the minds of recruiters, you’ll have to work on your accomplishment statements. As an employer, it is natural to want to know what a job applicant has done before. Because if you know what that job applicant has done, you’ll be able to predict what that person is capable of doing. This is the purpose of the work accomplishment statements on your CV – to show hiring managers what you have done.
There are several things you have to consider to write an impressive work accomplishments statement. Would you like to include your accomplishments and achievements throughout your resume (i.e., in the sections for the summary, professional experience, and skills)? Or would you prefer your accomplishments and achievements to stand alone? Whatever methods you choose, remember that you can help potential employers understand your strengths and talents when you list your achievements. These things set you apart from the sea of candidates.
Most people feel overwhelmed when they want to write their accomplishment section. “How can I talk about my accomplishment without seeming to brag?” Without a guide, you may ruin this section and consequently fail to impress the recruiter. Let me show you some things that your potential employers want to know about your accomplishments. They want to know briefly:
- Whether you saved the company and how
- Whether you beat your sales goals or increased sales (state by how much)
- How you delivered your duties in unique ways
- Something you did out of the ordinary, etc.
The need to share what you have accomplished might come off as a bit of a challenge. My advice? Relax! Recruiters want to know what you had done before they met you and if you follow the methodology laid out in this article, you’ll win all the time. Note also that recruiters have to compare your CV with that of other potential candidates and typically have a limited number of interview spaces. Therefore, I’ve written this post to show you how to write killer bullet points in the work accomplishment sections of your CV that would impress hiring managers.
Templates for Writing Impressive Work Accomplishment Statements on your CV
There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to writing your accomplishments on your CV. But the first thing to remember is that you need to keep it simple. Many career writers recommend the “situation, action, result” model for writing your accomplishment statement. While this isn’t entirely a bad idea, it makes for quite a lengthy accomplishment section. So, you can focus on your actions and results, leaving out the situation. But if you can effectively summarize the problem, then write it!
Problems solved, awards received, systems or procedures implemented, skills gained, targets passed, etc., are worthy accomplishments. Your achievement section can include scholarships gotten, positions held, the impact made, feats achieved, etc., are worthy accomplishments for fresh graduates or people with little or no professional experience.
I will like to show you three basic templates to writing impressive work accomplishment statements without further ado.
- Template 1: Verb, Noun.
- Template 2: Verb, Adjective, Noun.
- Template 3: Verb, Preposition, Noun.
Template 1: Introduced “Procedure, Idea, or Product”
This template requires you to state whatever procedures, ideas, or products you introduced to a system. So, it can go like this:
Introduced Lean procedure to the product development team.
To further build on it
Introduced Lean to the product development team; increased early adopters by 35%.
From the example above, you can see how I mentioned what I introduced – Lean. This is an accomplishment in itself. Then I went on to state the results I got after I had introduced Lean. This is an excellent example of the verb-noun template.
Template 2: Created “Amount, Business”
In this template, you state what you created, the amount, and the business. For example, “Created $20 million business”. It can go like this in your CV:
Created a $20 million business unit; realized the highest margins in the corporation.
You can add a time frame to make it more credible
Created a $20 million business unit in two years; realized the highest margins in the corporation.
Again. It’s an achievement to create a $20 million business. Stating the amount serves as a quantifier of your worth. Pointing out that you did that in just two years and attained the highest margins in the company serves as the icing on the cake. Your achievement in the company was unrivaled in two years! This is an excellent example of the verb-adjective-noun template.
Template 3: Promoted to “Position”
Using this template, you state your promotion and the position you were promoted to. For example, let’s assume you got promoted to the office of Vice President. You can present them like this:
Promoted to Vice President in 20 months.
To flesh it up:
Promoted to Vice President of the company’s largest division in 20 months.
Again, it is an achievement to be promoted to the office of Vice President. Stating the speed of the promotion is the icing on the cake. And mentioning that it was the company’s largest division is the cherry on top!
Tips for Writing Impressive Work Accomplishment Statements on your CV
- This section of your CV counts for more than 50% of viewing time by hiring managers, so you’ll likely spend a considerable amount of your CV creation time on making this section impressive
- Keep it as simple as possible. Try focusing on actions and results.
- Below the job title and company you work(ed) for, you have an opportunity to briefly summarize your position at the company or/and inform the hiring manager of what the company does. For example, Job Title: Brand Manager – Recruited by the CEO to reposition its $12m pharmaceutical division to the 18 – 35+ younger demographic across six markets in Africa.
- Every statement should start with an action verb (Developed, Assessed, Collaborated, Increased, and so on);
- Avoid using the same action verbs throughout each section.
- Each statement should be on average 15 to 20 words;
- Avoid describing your responsibilities but instead, provide the results of your contribution.
- Include quantitative and measurable results where possible to magnify your work. e.g., increased revenues by 60% in the last 9-months by acquiring four mega sales partners.
- A simple rule of thumb is to have no more than 7 to 8 statements for each job position you’ve held.
- Include hard skills that are important to the prospective employer.
- Always think of transferable skills – Can the prospective employer think of you achieving a similar success level at their company.
- Check for spelling and grammar errors.
A Sample of Work Achievement Statement on a CV
I’ll give you an example of how to write your work achievements in your CV. It is good to spread out achievements in as many workplaces and positions as you occupied in your career. Take a look at the sample below:
- “Vice President, Import Services Business Unit (2008 to 2011)
- Managed $350 million in a 430-person organization – the top provider of SSL (Amazona) and programming language packages. (You can add other relevant information about the workplace).
- Introduced five new products. Increased revenue by 11% in 17 months.
- Promoted to Vice President in less than 20 months.”
- In the example above, you can see the achievements of the individual in the two bullets. Keeping it simple, brief, and to the point is the best thing to do.
Conclusion
Adding well-detailed professional achievement or accomplishment to your CV shows your potential and worth to recruiters. You may not be able to include full details of what you achieved in each bullet point, but you should be able to summarize your information in such a way that the hiring manager would be impressed and would like to know more. Therefore, always understand the context of what was written as it is likely you’ll be asked to expatiate on it on the day of your interview, so you cannot be ambiguous. In any case, anything that you cannot defend on your CV should not be written in the first place. Use this guide to write an impressive work accomplishment statement. We meet at the top!
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