Accomplishments No Longer a Job Seekers Best Kept Secret - Part 2 of 3-Part Series - Sterling Career Concepts

Accomplishments â€" No Longer a Job Seekers Best Kept Secret - Part 2 of 3-Part Series Accomplishments â€" No Longer a Job Seekers Best Kept Secret Part 2 of 3-Part Series We discussed why, how, and when you should collect your professional accomplishments. Now let’s talk about how to best write up and document your achievements and results.   Writing Up Your Accomplishments Accuracy in collecting your accomplishments is critical. Quantify the scope and scale of the achievement in terms of percentages, numbers, and/or dollars. Be as specific as you can. Make the statements as powerful as possible. Include action verbs in your accomplishment statements. To come up with accomplishments: •         Take a look at your past performance reviews •         Think about any awards or recognition you’ve received •         Answer the questions provided in Part 3 of this series The most important part of the accomplishment is outlining your results. To be most effective, however, you also need to provide context for your accomplishment. There are several different formats to do this. Here are three common formats: STAR, CAR, and PAR. STAR Situation Task Action Results An example of a STAR statement would be: Recruited to revitalize an underperforming sales territory characterized by significant account attrition. (Situation) Tasked with reacquiring accounts that had left the company within the last six months. (Task) Developed contact list for lapsed accounts and initiated contact with decision-makers at each company. (Action) Reacquired 22% of former customers, resulting in $872,000 in revenue. CAR Challenge Action Result An example of a CAR statement is: Manufacturing plant recently had its third accident, leading to a line shutdown. (Challenge) Updated internal safety plan and instituted new training program for production employees to reduce accidents and injuries. (Action) Plant has been accident-free for the past nine months â€" the longest it has been without accidents in plant history. (Result) PAR Problem Action Result A sample PAR statement would be: Nursing home employee morale was at an all-time low, and long-time employees were leaving in droves. (Problem) Identified that new scheduling system was not well received by either new hires or long-time employees, resulting in significant dissatisfaction with employee schedules. Instituted new “employee choice” schedule system that increased employee cooperation in determining ideal staffing schedule and improved employee satisfaction as a result. (Action) Reduced turnover by 15%, saving more than $12,500 in hiring and training costs in the first three months after implementing new system. (Result) Can you quantify your accomplishments through any of these superlatives? • Only • First/Last •  Best/Worst • Most/Least • Largest/Smallest • Longest/Shortest • Highest/Lowest • Busiest Stay tuned for the next and final post in this series that will share some questions to help you identify additional professional accomplishments. Struggling with creating a strong achievement based resume? Feel free to email or call an expert!