24 Sep 2012

A person who is seriously busy looking for a job is waiting for a call with an invitation for an interview to demonstrate their skills and knowledge there. However, in order for you to be called to a meeting, your resume must be of interest to the employer. To do this, the applicant must correctly and correctly fill in all the points.

As a rule, the item “main achievements” on the resume raises many questions from the applicants. Candidates get lost for fear of appearing immodest. As a result, at best one line will be indicated in this paragraph, at worst there will be a dash. Let's take a closer look at what to write in your achievements and why you need it.

Why does an employer need to know about your achievements?

To begin with, it is worth noting that if the employer is interested in this, then this is important and this paragraph should not remain empty. Of course, your experience and skills play a major role in your resume. However, from this information it is impossible to understand how proactive you are, how successfully you coped with your duties and whether you are able to assess your success.

The word achievement means setting a clear goal and getting the final result. This point will tell you how goal-oriented you are and how you realize it. If your professional achievements were noted by the management, then include this information in the resume. Emphasize that you were noticed, you were able to stand out from your colleagues.

It is useful for the candidates themselves to evaluate their achievements in work. From time to time evaluate your experience and think about what you have actually done for the company, for your professional development. This will help you determine your future career path.

So, the main responsibilities of the Achievement in Resume function are as follows:

How much have you improved your skills as a professional during your career;

Are you able to take responsibility;

Can you measure your progress;

Are you a purposeful person.

It is desirable that your answers correspond to the indicated points.

How and what achievements to indicate?

Before filling out this item, answer yourself the following questions:

How have you benefited from the start of your business?

What interesting experience have you learned from this?

Think about what significant project you've completed?

Are you trusted with work that goes beyond your responsibilities?

Why were you praised at work?

What successes have your management noted?

Even in the most routine work, significant events can occur. Demonstrate your willingness to complete all tasks to the final result. For example, using effective words and phrases: not “I made successful reports on work with clients”, but “I did the job of creating reports on work with clients as efficiently as possible”, did not “implement” but “implement”. In other words, describing the finished process.

Also, employers are more effective in evaluating the results presented in numbers. For example, he increased the number of transactions by 100%, brought 20% of new clients to the company, conducted 50 trainings for new personnel, etc.

Don't write blurryly. The “achievements” section of the resume should be clearly structured like the other points. For instance:

Trained 10 new sales managers;

Established office life support from scratch. Conclusion of contracts for the supply of water, meals, as well as with a cleaning company.

Created a base for maintaining incoming and outgoing mail, where recipients and senders could track the status of their letters and documents. As an achievement, I can note that not a single document was lost during my work.

Please note that if your achievements in work are a trade secret, and you cannot indicate indicators and numbers, then it is worth indicating the information more vaguely, without violating your agreement with the past employer. When trying to impress a recruiter, don't break the law. And even during an interview, you shouldn't say, "Generally, this is a secret, but I'll tell you." How can you be trusted after that?

If you want to get a position one level higher than your current one, in other words, you want your career to grow vertically, focus on the following:

Independent decision making;

Substitution of the head during his business trips / vacations / illnesses;

Experience in planning, strategy development and management of ___ personnel.

If you would like to horizontally develop your career, expand and change responsibilities and functions, then it is worth pointing out the following:

Solved tasks outside the scope of my duties;

During my work, I studied programs (name the skills and knowledge that you received).

Phrases not worth listing in achievements

Increased the efficiency of the department. If it is your credit, please describe in more detail how you did it using numbers. This wording is vague;

Set up work from scratch;

He did his job well. These are not achievements, but your work obligation;

During his work he did not receive a single reprimand. Of course you can be proud of this, but this information is definitely not for a potential employer;

Ensuring sales. Everything related to sales must be represented in numbers.

Such wording tells that you just went to work and performed your duties, even without reprimands and delays. In your accomplishments, you must highlight and describe the highlights.

What achievements to write to a retail employee, a sample

Retained clients during the crisis period by developing an individual system of discounts and offers;

Increased the company's profit by 20% by expanding the network in the market;

Increased sales by 30%;

Won Best Seller of the Month four times;

Over the past year, he brought 50 new customers of our products to the company.

Of course, what exactly to write is up to you, evaluating the result of your work. Our tips will help you formulate your thoughts correctly. After you've compiled a list of accomplishments, look through the eyes of a recruiter, would you be interested in such an employee? Or you will have questions and something will not be clear to you. Then you will understand what points need to be changed in order to attract the attention of a potential employer.

By posting his resume on a recruiting portal, the applicant expects that soon he will receive calls from employers. But it happens that this does not happen, and there are no or very few invitations for interviews. Obviously, the problem lies in the content of the resume - the candidate failed to interest recruiters.

This situation can be changed, your professional achievements. How do you do this so that the recruiter wants to invite you to a personal meeting? Read the tips.

The main thing is specifics
For example, consider the resume of the head of the sales department discussed on our portal. We read the description of the candidate's achievements in the last job - in the Russian representative office of an international concern for the production of PVC profiles.
“Major achievements:
- ensuring sustainable growth of turnover in the region;
- keeping all key customers in crisis;
- increasing the efficiency of the regional sales department;
- introduction of the current balanced scorecard ”.

The author wonders: why don't recruiters invite him for interviews? He has serious experience in sales - almost 15 years, he has a higher education and even an MBA degree. And the fact is that, when compiling a resume, the applicant made a very common mistake - he made it too typical. A resume with a list of responsibilities and achievements typical for a given position does not stand out among dozens or hundreds of similar CVs. How can a recruiter discern behind the many words that he is a really valuable specialist?

To attract the attention of hiring managers, you need to communicate your professional achievements as convincingly as possible. At the same time, the main thing is to be specific: give specific numbers, give real examples of your initiatives. There is no need for general phrases like: "steady growth in sales"; "Increasing the efficiency of the department." It is much more useful to provide concrete evidence of how well you worked. Three or four points (but persuasive) will be enough to make the resume play.

For example, the head of the sales department can indicate in the section "Achievements" how much he managed to raise the level of sales for a certain period of work in the company, how many clients he attracted, what tenders for the supply of goods or services were won. PR manager - how many mentions of the company in the media occurred with his participation, how this indicator increased over the entire period of work, how many press conferences were organized, for example, over the last year, what was their effectiveness. The head of the IT department should mention, for example, the successful implementation of a new production automation system from scratch, which accelerated the work of the design department by 30%. For a journalist - about winning a creative competition, about the great activity of readers when discussing his articles, etc.

Here's an example of a successful resume describing professional achievement for a sales director:
“- building a sales service for the company's services from scratch;
- annual sales growth in 2012 - 350%, in 2011 - 270%;
- attracting more than 100 clients, including 40 companies with more than 150 employees;
- victory in 15 tenders ".

Let the trade secret remain a secret
Of course, accurate numbers of your success can convince a recruiter that you are a truly effective employee. However, is the applicant always entitled to indicate specific financial indicators in the resume? An employer is unlikely to be happy to see a former employee divulging a company's trade secret, and such an employee is unlikely to receive good recommendations.

However, it is possible to convincingly describe the achievements without naming exact numbers, but still remaining specific. Use phrases like: "30%", "2x" to show the degree of your effectiveness. It is advisable to indicate the period during which impressive results were achieved - six months, a year or more.

If you have nothing to brag about yet
The availability of information about the results of work and professional achievements of the applicant increases his value in the eyes of the recruiter. But what to write in the Achievements section for those who, due to the specifics of their work, cannot boast of “increased efficiency,” “increased citation,” and “victories in competitions”? That is, those whose job is to carry out the same duties every day, for example, office managers, dispatchers, or payroll accountants?

In such cases, experts advise focusing on your reliability and ability to ensure uninterrupted and high-quality continuous work. Try to prove reasonably that in your work the absence of contingencies is already a significant achievement.

Of course, the "Achievements" section of a resume can tell a recruiter a lot about a candidate. Indeed, behind the numbers that convincingly speak of professional victories, one can see the analytical mind of the applicant, and his ability to prove his point of view, and dedication. And that, in turn, can make the journey to your dream job shorter and easier.

Why is describing achievement and performance important?

• The labor market today is not in favor of the job seeker: there are few good vacancies, but there are many times more competent candidates. It is the results of work and achievements that help to stand out from the general flow.
• In most companies, employees are doing the same job. Consequently, for different candidates in the resume, the description of duties is almost the same. The individuality of the resume is given precisely by the different results of work.
• It is possible to determine the level of competence of a particular candidate at the stage of viewing a resume only by describing his work. And the achievements here are the best proof.

How to properly reflect achievements:

1. remember the KPIs (they are individual for each position) or the tasks set;
2. describe in active verbs: implemented, developed, initiated;
3. we make a logical connection between our actions and the results: implemented - it allowed;
4. we use numbers, preferably in comparison: it was - it is.

Let's take a look at examples for positions with common KPIs.

Examples of achievements for positions where it is difficult to digitize work results.

Should you indicate achievements that are not related to professional activity?

Poll Options are limited because JavaScript is disabled in your browser.

Expert opinion

Natalia Molchanova

HR manager

Victories are not easy! But how to bypass rivals and get a position that hundreds of worthy competitors are ready to fight for? A serious argument is needed here - why exactly you. Do not give up, even if the competence of your rivals exceeds your personal achievements.

The main weapon in this battle is. Make it up in such a way as to arouse an acute desire about the employer to meet you. A particularly important aspect is to correctly indicate professional achievements in the resume, highlighting your strengths and.

What achievements to write about

To begin with, you need to be able to separate your personal qualities from your professional ones. Do not mix them under any circumstances. It is quite easy to understand this issue. List yours, which, as you think, are in demand in the desired field of activity. If in another area they are completely unnecessary - professional skills, otherwise - personal.

Often does not focus on personal achievements. Stop only at those that are adequate to the position and can contribute to the work.

Communicate to the employer your professional achievements: significant results and knowledge related to work, with an emphasis on:

• Embodied projects,
• improving financial performance,
• goals achieved,
• results that have surpassed your past victories or those of your colleagues.

How to Deliciously Present Professional Achievements

Everything matters when writing a resume. Even seemingly little things can affect the course of events.

The most common mistakes

You will get bypassed and never get a job if your resume is:

• Vague... Avoid general phrases: securing, promoting, introducing. One gets the impression that you wanted to do this, but did not have time because of your dismissal. It is doubtful whether you understand, in general, what is at stake.
• Verbose... The following statements will not give results: "helped to avoid mistakes", "led the team", "conducted training", "quickly completed tasks."
• Negative... Bypass negative information: "analyzed complaints about:", "controlled the decline in the percentage of sales", "moved from the position:".
• Contain passive forms... We rephrase the formulations “responsible for implementation”, “found application” into “implemented”, “effectively used”. The expression "held an administrative position" should be replaced by the word "supervised". Instead of “worked there for five years,” write “got a promotion”, and rewrite the term “did extra work” as “always did the job on time”.

How to write everything correctly?

Use business language.

Assumes business communication. It is based on numbers and calculations. Whatever topic is touched upon: corporate values, clients, working conditions of staff, financial issues are always brought to the fore.

Presenting your achievements in the language of business is the key to success and an indicator of communication. A resume is an effective method of expressing your abilities in the language of numbers.

Add specifics.

Result orientation and achievement of the set goal is the main component that influences the outcome of the selection of the best applicant for the position! However, not all successes will be credited to the candidate. The effect on the employer will only have the result that will be:

• Be important to the job seeker and recruiter.
• Measured in quantitative terms.
• Have a time frame.

To summarize, it should be noted that your achievements should be:

Examples of writing responsibilities and work achievements

Your resume can be described as follows:

• Transition of the capital investment service to a new settlement system. Introduced a new accounting program and trained 30 employees to work with it in 2 months.
• Increase in the supply of raw materials in 2016 - by 40%, in 2015 - by 20%;
• During the period from June 2016 to February 2017, he developed 56 new projects, which the company successfully implemented.
• In the 1st half of 2016, he organized the work of the furniture production workshop, which led to the fulfillment of 80% of the plan, instead of the planned - 20%.
• Saved the company 15,000 USD by developing a rationalization proposal for improving equipment.

Expert opinion

Natalia Molchanova

HR manager

If your ex-company is prohibited from disclosing commercial information, it will be enough to indicate the figure as a percentage or limit yourself to the expression “several times”.

Rules for describing the main achievements

Keep the style

When it comes to previous work, it is appropriate to apply the verbs of the past tense: erected, designed. You should talk about the present place of work using the present tense of the verbs: build, design. Give your phrases a finished form.

When applying for a leadership position, state your key skills in the language of the executive. For example: Influenced, Activated, Directed, Proved, Instructed, Initiated, Justified.

Balance of results

Balance is the key to effective work. This indicator is characterized by the rational use of resources and the development of team capabilities.

Example:

• Set a limit for paying bills;
• eliminated unnecessary water consumption costs;
• improved the mechanism for the distribution of equipment repair costs.

Tie personal accomplishments to your workplace

Describe your recent responsibilities and achievements in your resume. Outdated information has long lost its relevance. And if in your life you have changed from a dozen employers, then only information on achievements from the last 2-3 posts should be indicated.

Provide relevant information

Sometimes, the achievements indicated by the applicant do not correspond to the level of the position. For example, a candidate marks the position of the head of a department, and mentions the achievements of the master. Or vice versa. The applicant wants to get a programmer position, but describes the achievements in the resume of the highest management level in the business area where he once worked.

So, remember: applying for a job in the leadership team - indicate the success of the manager's level, if you want to work as a line specialist - meet these assessment criteria. Forget what you have been doing before and create a resume according to the requirements of the future job.

If there are no achievements

Do you think that you have no labor achievements? You just need to think. Of course, not everyone can have special merits and deeds, but if they wish, they can fill a small list. Success is different for everyone. And how many people, so many opinions.

The job of a janitor, for example, does not require achievement. The same can be said for the professions of a loader, handyman, cashier, fast food restaurant employee, driver, etc.

Expert opinion

Natalia Molchanova

HR manager

Achievements can be omitted if your position is on the list of unskilled labor - they are simply unnecessary there.

Or maybe you just underestimate yourself? Then use the criterion: you brought the business you started to its logical conclusion, and everyone got better. Apply this method.

In which section to place

Standard scripts used on working portals do not have a special column "achievements".

For example, on the largest recruiting website HeadHunter in the "work experience" section, you need to write your key skills in the "responsibilities, functions, achievements" field in the resume. Sample - see below.

Using verbs in a graph

According to statistics, the correct use of the verbs in the section will bring the desired result. Each type of activity has its own set of words:

Administration and management
Public Relations and Creativity
Financial management
Social assistance and patient care

Office service
Research and analysis
Sales and Marketing

Business partners are sometimes interested in each other's achievements. Anyone who at least once acted purposefully at his workplace will always have something to say. The main thing is to understand what an achievement is. Here we will answer a number of questions that a specialist most often encounters. What are significant achievements? How to identify and formulate major, major, highest or outstanding achievements? Personal and professional achievements - what to write on your resume? What achievements are better to indicate? We answer in order.

Can you tell us about the goals of your professional activity? We hope you can - everyone site materials help you. Goals tell you what results a person wants to achieve. This is information about the future. Achievement question involves a story about what results have been achieved. This is information about the past, accomplished, already achieved by the present moment. If you have at least once set clear, clear goals for yourself and at least once successfully achieved them, getting the result that you originally planned, then you know the main thing. In general, an achievement is a previously planned and successfully achieved result.

There is a lot in common between goals at work and achievements at work. The essential difference is time. Targets reflect the numbers and facts that need to be obtained over a certain period (or by a certain date), and are usually announced in the future. Achievements reflect the figures and facts that were obtained by a specialist in a certain period of his activity, and are declared, as a rule, in the past tense. The principles for formulating goals and achievements messages are very similar. Want an example? Here are two sentences as an example. Assignment: try not to guess where the planned result is, and where the result is.

• by the third quarter of the current (2006) year, develop a technical warning system for air concentration ... above the maximum permissible standards;
• in the second quarter of the current (2006) year, a technical warning system was developed about the concentration in the air ... above the maximum permissible standards.

Did you finish the task? No? Excellent. You probably have excellent knowledge of how to correctly formulate information about the achieved result. And now let's note the main thing.

When a question about achievements comes up in your resume or interview, it means that you are being asked to talk about the results that you received in your work in a certain period of time. For example, in the previous workplace or in the previous position, in the course of work on a certain topic or as a result of solving certain problems and tasks - depending on which specific period is being asked. Sometimes, in the question of achievements, such a period is not explicitly indicated. This means that the requested period is your entire work activity.

Preparing a preliminary list of achievements

To understand what achievements you have today, you can do a simple thing. Take a list of previous goals that you set for yourself during the requested periods of professional activity. Select from them those achieved. Rewrite their wording in the past tense. The first part of the material is ready.

Now remember, have you ever happened on the way to a planned result to receive results that were unplanned, but unexpectedly important, that are of significant importance to someone or something? - for whom or what exactly is still indifferent. Happened? Then write them down too. The second part of the material is ready.

In fact, you have got a list of the results obtained in different periods of your professional activity. Why are such lists announced? Your business partner is interested in how you can be useful for him, the organization, target groups. The owner of what internal wealth and active resources you are. It is the active ones who have already allowed you to achieve certain results. Passive resources - which "theoretically" seem to exist, but are not actually used - are not always of interest to real business partners. Why?

From what you own, for example, some knowledge and skills, to your colleagues, clients, etc. neither hot nor cold. You own, and great. Your knowledge and skills become interesting when you can achieve the desired result with their help. Then you demonstrate the availability, quality and usefulness of your resource - a resource that really is, that you are happy to use and that is constantly being honed in experience. Then we are talking about special knowledge and key skills that allowed you to get what you are talking about. Achievement information says much more than it might seem at first glance.

By having a list of your accomplishments and talking about them on your resume or in an interview, you are informing a real or potential business partner of two things. About what results you were able to achieve yourself or helped others achieve (what hopes can be pinned on you, where you can be especially useful). About how active resources (abilities, capabilities, knowledge, skills) you have in order to achieve similar or other results the company needs.

Choosing significant

So, we have compiled a preliminary list of professional results. Now we will look for real achievements among them. Ready?..

What is and what are the significant achievements? People assess the significance of this or that result in their work in different ways. Therefore, each specialist independently decides which of them is worth talking about. However, there are two things to keep in mind when talking about achievement.

1) ... This should be the result which turned out to be useful to someone - important, necessary, having a certain meaning for a specific person, group of people or the company as a whole.

Depending on who exactly the result of the work you are talking about brought more benefit (turned out to be more important), it can be attributed to one of two categories:

• personal achievement;
• professional achievement.

2. Results that may, but have not yet benefited others. Even if we are talking about a unique discovery, knowledge, invention or creation of something that gives you a sense of professional pride and is potentially of great importance to others, but has not yet been claimed by them, has not yet brought them any concrete benefit, such a result is currently time should be called personal achievement in professional activity. Remember that the question about achievement is about what has already been received. It is important here not to fall into illusions, but to objectively assess what you really have today. In this case, today you have something that can help someone tomorrow. Key phrases: "you have" and "can help someone." Despite the fact that such work results are classified as personal achievements, for your potential partners, they can be an important competitive advantage.

We will be glad to see information about your professional achievements in the comments.