How To Turn Duties Into Accomplishments To Dazzle Hiring Managers

How do you set yourself apart from other candidates going for the same job? Yes, the resume, cover letter, and the interview. But for now, we will focus on the resume.

There are three primary reasons people get hired: you can make the company money, save the company money, or reduce the time for others. Secondary reasons for hiring people include having the relevant skills to do the job, being a cultural fit within the company, and having long-term potential to grow within the company, which all tie back to money in the end. 

Many young professionals I come across have a resume full of tasks and duties that often reads like a job description, which in most cases isn't going to dazzle a hiring manager. 

Sure, they want to know what you do (duties), but they also want to understand how you’ve impacted your team, the organization, and ultimately the bottom line (accomplishments/results). This gives the hiring manager a clear idea about what you are capable of and what you could potentially bring to their company. 

I am going to share three methods to brainstorm job duties and start turning those duties into accomplishments: "Reflection Questions",  "How Many, How Much, How Long" Method, and the STAR Method. By the end, you will be inspired by your results with more confidence and have begun to train yourself to think about your every job duties and how you achieve results using your skills. 

1. Reflection Questions: Identifying & Quantifying Skills

One of the ingredients of a fulfilling career is to lead with your favorite skills. Knowing the impact, you make through your skills will help improve your resume and give you more confidence. And when the time is right, you will be fully prepared to ask for a raise, a promotion, or negotiate a higher salary at your next dream role because you understand how you deliver results.

Now get your resume out, and identify each bullet point that isn’t accomplishment-based or quantified. For example, an unquantified statement on a resume would be "Produced a portfolio of published articles" or "Schedule social media posts."  Start asking yourself, what skill did I use to accomplish this duty, and then go deeper to find the impact you made using the skill:

• For example, how did I reduce the time for others by implementing new processes or systems? What skill(s) did I use to accomplish this?
• How did my new processes and procedures improve things?
• Have I been recognized for exceeding expectations? What was explicitly said about my work from my boss, manager, and clients? (looking past reviews is helpful here)
• Have I won any awards for my contributions at work?
• How have I saved time/money or made money?
• What problems do I solve?
• Am I consistently meeting or exceeding goals?

Look for the impact you've made. Do you see any numbers you can use to quantify like cost savings, revenue growth, client retention, etc?

2.  The"How Much, How Many, How Long" Method 

Quantifying bullet points on your resume is the part where you will dazzle the hiring manager and yourself!  Quantifying means adding numbers or percentages to your accomplishments. Of course, not all of your achievements will be quantifiable, but many will be. So here, think how much, how many, or how long. For example:

• How many people do I manage?
• How much of a budget do I work with?
• How many clients have I acquired?
• How many articles have I published?
• How much more did I  increase user engagement?
• How many hours do I bill?
• How much funding, grants, or scholarships did I receive?
• How many media outlets have I secured for the company (don’t be afraid to namedrop!) 

Then, where appropriate, add timeframes using the calendar. For example, how quickly your team accomplished the goal - daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly. For example:

• Daily: Drafted and published 3 articles per day.
• Weekly: Drafted and published 15 articles each week.
• Monthly: Drafted and published 100 articles per month, generated over 2,000 new leads resulting in $100,000 in revenue over three months.
• Quarterly: Generated 2,000 new leads in Q1 2022.
• Yearly: Published 1,200 articles in 2021 generating 16,000 new leads resulting in $400,000 in revenue

Are you beginning to see the results you achieve and the value you bring to your company and your team? This one is always an instant confidence booster!

3. The STAR Method To Quantify Accomplishments

The best framework to brainstorm turning your job duties into accomplishments is the STAR method, which stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Think of the situation, challenge, or problem before you took it on, what you or your team did during, and then the after, what the results were.

Take one of your skills or bullet points on your resume and think of a few times you have used this skill successfully in your career. For example, my favorite skills/qualities are initiative, teamwork, communication, research, presentation skills, and problem-solving. I have a specific story in mind from when I was the Head of Music for a company that made money selling ringtone subscriptions. 

• Situation (the before): Our customer service team's onboarding process was manual and time-consuming. They were getting behind, and customers were unsubscribing within the first 48 hours from our services.
• Task/Duty (the goal): Find an automated customer onboarding solution.
• Action (the during): through research and outreach, I found the best-automated customer onboarding solution to fit our business needs and the budget allotted and presented them to the C-Suite Team. We got the green light to move ahead with the project and worked closely with the software’s account manager, technical lead, and our developers to implement it. 
• Result (the end): After implementation and training of the customer service team, they could handle 25% more customers, which reduced churn by 60% within the first month. As a result of implementing the latest software, our company saved $23,000 during the first month of launching it live.

Final Statements For Resume using the STAR Method:  

Here's an example of the final statement that will start with the action section and include the results section when appropriate.

• Researched, presented, and implemented a new customer onboarding software system, resulting in a 25% quicker onboarding process
• Reduced customer churn by 60% within the first month of implementation, earning $23k from customers staying subscribed

This example could focus on skills like communication, persuasion, leadership, and training, depending on what’s most relevant to the job. Using the STAR Method is also a great tool to prepare for job interviews!

You’ve got 7 seconds to make an impression with the hiring manager, and that’s it. If they see a list of duties, you may end up in the “no” pile. Instead, highlighting accomplishments on your resume will get their attention and set you apart from the competition. In addition, it proves you are a results-driven professional and know how to use your skills to impact the bottom line.

I  encourage you to get into a habit of reflecting on your accomplishments each month. It not only builds confidence, but you will also be prepared for when an opportunity arises, whether sending your resume out for that dream role, preparing for an interview, asking for a raise, or going for that promotion.

P.S. If you don't know what you want next career-wise, these job search strategies are too soon. Get clarity first, and then tackle this part. And whenever you’re ready... here are four ways we can help you get unstuck and grow your purpose-driven career: 

1. Watch a free Masterclass: Clarify the fastest path to land a more fulfilling and purposeful career & beyond. Identify any limiting beliefs and self-sabotage patterns so that you start creating an inspiring vision of your future dream career. Learn how to implement the 4-step game plan our clients are using to develop a career that they look forward to every day and a solid plan to achieve. Watch it.

2. Download my “Purpose Driven Career Quiz” workbook: If you're struggling to figure out what you want to do next career-wise, then download my new workbook "Purpose Driven Career Quiz" to see just how far (or how close!) you are to landing a purpose-driven career! Download it.

3. Join our FREE Purpose-Driven Careers Facebook Group and connect with other driven professionals learning how to make an impact, earn income, and create the freedom they desire in their life and career. Join us.

4. Work with me privately: If you’d like to work directly with me to build a career of your dreams... schedule your complimentary Career Strategy Breakthrough Call with me so we can clarify your fastest path to finding and landing your dream role and create a strategy for you to make it happen... Apply for your FREE call with me here. Book it.