Why include achievements in your CV?

Including your achievements in your CV helps to present you as a person who:

• does over and above what is required in the role
• sees the relationship between their individual effort and the bigger organisational picture
• is results-focused
• likes a challenge
• gets things done

Now you need to think about how you are going to write this information in a way that you can use on your CV.

Here are some guidelines to help you –

Try these formulas to help you write those statements:

Beneficial Result             +             what you did to make this happen

e.g. Saved management time and improved customer experience by introducing an effective complaints escalation procedure

or

What you did                    +             beneficial result

e.g.  Introduced complaints escalation procedure which saved management time and improved customer experience

• Aim for at least 6 achievement statements for your CV
• The statements should be between 1-3 sentences long.
• Start with a positive action verb (e.g. increased, promoted…).
• Include some detail (but be succinct) about what you did and how you did it.
• State the difference that was made to the work/team/organisation as a result of this achievement.   Quantify this with numbers, % if possible, using estimates if the number is unclear.
• Ensure these are things that you can justify happened as a result of your contribution rather than being a more general achievement of the team or organisation.
• Be prepared to talk about these achievements in detail at an interview.

 

Below are some prompts to help get you started:

Prompts for Achievement statements
Won contract for ….	Eliminated errors by ….. …..
Increased average weekly sales by…	Won award for …………………..
Developed market share by …..	Nominated for ……………….
Reduced costs by ….	Devised system which….
Graduated within the top 1% …..	Tackled issue of….by….as a result…
Customer satisfaction rating of…	Implemented new …which …….
Reduced overheads by …	Promoted because of my work…
Accelerated processes by….	Increased output by …..
Improved productivity by …..	Reorganised… which resulted in…

How do I find out more?

Corinne’s new edition of her CV book has recently been updated to include an extended chapter on social media and how to use it to your advantage to market yourself, manage your web-presence and your online reputation. You can purchase Corinne’s book via Amazon.

If you would like to find out more about our career coaching services, including CV advice, we offer a free, no-obligation career consultation where you will have an opportunity to discuss your career situation and find out more about how we can help.

To book or to find out more, call us on 01753 888995 or fill in our contact form and one of our team will be happy to contact you to discuss your requirements.

Resources on this site:

• Professional CV template (free)
• Chronological CV template – CV layout UK
• Graduate CV template – first CV template
• Functional CV template
• What is a functional CV template?
• How to write a chronological CV
• What should be included on your CV?

 

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