And you don’t always have to quantify them either. If you’ve been working at your company for any length of time there is something that makes you valuable that you can add to your resume. From 3 months to 3 years or more, if you’re still there obviously there’s a good reason why your employer is keeping you. You’ve probably heard time and time again to add accomplishments to make your resume stand out and immediately thought you needed to add awards. If someone tells you to quantify your accomplishments you may think you need sales or numbers for accounts. If you’re not in a sales-driven industry then how do you identify your accomplishments? Glad you asked!
When I was in IT as a Network Operations Specialist (for Video Conferencing) I noted any and every single thing I did that made my job and my coworkers’ jobs easier in addition to making our customers conferences go more smoothly. Everyone had routine tasks, but we were also challenged with other things such as: minor or major projects, being on call, bringing our server back up, troubleshooting outages and so on. For those things that were routine I turned them into accomplishments. Here’s an example of my responsibilities and bullet points of how well I handled those, added to my IT resume:
For connecting audio/video conferences:
- Instrumental in conducting a thorough audio/video check prior to each conference, resulting in a smooth meeting from beginning to end.
- Quickly identified issues through troubleshooting and resolved them in a timely manner.
For Customer Service:
- Provided excellent customer service which led to being assigned to support major customers such as Coca-Cola and KPMG.
- Received numerous customer kudos and praise for keeping an effective line of communication to non-technical end users.
For Being On-Call:
- Responded immediately to weekend emergencies whether on-site or remotely.
- Accelerated backup for a server outage and recovered files with minimal downtime.
For Projects:
- Successfully designed and implemented the workflow process to entire department.
- Played a key role in a seamless system migration to Polycom VTCs, completed ahead of schedule.
Notice aside from the projects, the other bullet points are really everyday responsibilities that I turned into accomplishments. When trying to come up with accomplishments for everyday tasks, just think of how well you do your job and how you’ve made a difference.
Have you thought of an easier way to do something? Did you take the initiative to do some extra training or professional development? What about a coworker who was out and you had to do yours and their job too? You can even turn good attendance into an accomplishment. These may sound minor or like things you’re supposed to do, but you can still show your value.
Here’s an example of an administrative assistant role. This is another one where many job candidates have a hard time with adding accomplishments to their resume.
For everyday tasks:
- Implemented a new process for organizing files resulting in easier retrieval for staff attorneys.
- Created a new and efficient Excel spreadsheet with pivot tables for easier expense tracking and reporting.
- Significantly reduced office supply expenses by sourcing new and local vendors.
For a coworker who was out:
- Successfully completed the daily workload of two employees due to temporary short-staffed department.
- Assumed role of executive assistant to CEO while simultaneously managing daily administrative role.
For great attendance:
- Maintained a zero absence attendance record for the past two years in position.
- Praised by management for consistently maintaining an excellent attendance record; often arriving 15 minutes early to work.
Notice out of all of these examples only two of them are even somewhat quantified. And those are estimates or facts that you should know.
So remember, just because you can’t come up with numbers doesn’t mean you can’t show accomplishments or results of your duties to make yourself marketable. You do have something to contribute that helps that company make or save money and time. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be there!
Still stuck? Become a subscriber and email me. Or, stay tuned for more examples in my next book release. And as always, good luck in your job search!