When you apply to a job, chances are you are not the only applicant with experiences and skills that match what the job description is looking for. But your professional achievements and achievements—with all their details and results—are yours alone. They tell hiring managers: “Here’s what I have done for my past employers. Imagine what I could do for you.”
How to include achievements on your resume
So you have decided to create a professional achievements section in your CV about work from your past roles. Here’s how to do it:
1. Choose the right achievements . Take a look at the job description for the position you’re applying to. Make a note of any skills or experiences you have that line up with the required or preferred qualifications or the job duties you’d be responsible for. Then, think about which achievements best exemplify these skills and experiences. If you’re struggling, start by thinking about your major responsibilities. What were your goals? If you were responsible for managing a social media account, were you supposed to schedule a certain number of posts? Grow the follower count? Meeting one or more of these goals is an achievements —and exceeding them certainly is!
2. Using Action Verbs Traditionally, resume bullet points start with verbs. Choosing strong, descriptive action verbs (in your bullet points and throughout your resume) will tell the reader more about your achievements —did you create a new process? Or did you streamline one? And don’t forget to change them up so the first word of every line isn’t the same!
3. Including Skills Don't forget to actually say what skills you’re trying to emphasize with each achievement—preferably using the same phrasing as the job description. If the posting specifically mentioned Salesforce experience as a requirement, for example, make sure you explicitly state that you used Salesforce to schedule all those meetings in your last job!
4. Highlight the Results Even painting the most cinematic picture of everything you did and the hard work you put in can still leave a hiring manager or recruiter thinking, “So what?” That is, if you don’t include how your achievements helped your team, department, company, or clients. Remember, anyone looking at your resume wants to know what you can do for them—so show them what you’ve done for others. Did you save or make money? Increase efficiency? Grow reach or visibility?
5. Showcase Numbers
Whenever possible, you want to quantify your achievements , or add numbers to give them scale. If you work with numbers directly, this might be self-explanatory. But even if you don’t, you can add numbers to your achievements by mentioning:
Time frames and frequencies for the tasks you’re describing
The number of times you did something or the amount of work products you handled
Money saved, earned, or managed
The number of employees, clients, or other stakeholders you managed, coordinated, or helped
Percent growth you saw and percentages of goals and KPIs you hit
Audience size
If you don’t know the exact numbers or they varied over time, you can list a range (from three to six employees), an approximation (~$100,000), or a minimum (over 50 clients).
Some Examples of Achievements
Managed communications for a club of 50+ members, increasing average meeting attendance by 25% and doubling fundraiser turnout year-over-year, resulting in AED 2,000 more raised at annual event.
Reorganized digital filing system using PandaDoc, making the office 100% paperless and digitizing more than 1,000 clients’ records.
Created images, designs, and layouts that contributed to a 30% increase in social media click-throughs, 12% increase in conversion, and a 150% increase in social media followers.
Launched six new products in two years, resulting in 30% increase in revenue YoY.
Oversaw implementation of AED 600K e-commerce feature, achieving key milestones on time and under budget, resulting in a 27% increase in annual revenue
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