Accomplishments RULE Resumes
January 18th, 2007The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article about how to make your resume stand out… and they agree with us. One page, reverse chronological, accomplishment bullets under responsibility paragraphs.
And for those who doubt that responsibilities alone are not enough, consider the first paragraph:
Listing your job responsibilities on a resume may get you on an employer’s job-candidate roster, but if you note some solid accomplishments as well, you may be able to make the jump onto a recruiter’s short list. Terry Gallagher, president of Battalia Winston International, a New York-based executive search firm, says he places “three times as much value on results versus responsibilities on a resume.”
Just in case you haven’t heard me say it, consider this when you look at your “responsibilities only” resume: The people who are most likely to do their resume that way are those that were fired.
You think about that, you’ll figure it out. As long as you’re okay with being lumped in with them, leave accomplishments off. MUCH easier to get it to one page, too. 
Stumble it!Trackback URL for this post: http://www.manager-tools.com/2007/01/accomplishments-rule-resumes/trackback/
January 18th, 2007 at 10:25 am
I spent a good part of last weekend updating my resume (which I admit I hadn’t done for over an year- listening to the MT podcast inspired me!). It was very challenging to condense everything down to a single page, and at times, frustrating.
However, I am pleased with the effort, and will work on polishing it further in the next few days.
I cannot thank you enough for your tips and advise….
January 18th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Our pleasure and privilege. We hope it serves you well.
Mark
January 18th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
Mark,
Anyone that doesn’t heed this advice is a fool. Before I listened to the Resume Podcast, the Accomplishments Members-Only Podcast (what are you waiting for people? Sign up now! It’s easy and it’s FREE. Value!) and the Introduction Members-Only Podcast, I was in the dark and utterly clueless in this area. Now, after implementing everything and re-reviewing frequently, I am a week and a half away from being flown to Florida to interview for not one, not two, not three, but four positions in one of my dream companies! A full day of interviews (panel and individual) in two departments.
While I am confident in my chances with this company I still realize that, “until you have something, you have nothing.”
And by the way, Closing Rocks! I used it in all of my phone interviews and I’m sure it was why I am being flown down. Anyone who doesn’t close doesn’t deserve the job.
Your advice and direction have been priceless. I am indebted to you.
Now what is the timetable for the Interviewing Podcasts…….? : - )
January 18th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
I heard that article on the WSJ Morning Show podcast. The entire time they were going over all the of the different points I kept thinking that I’d already heard each and every one of these in the Resume podcast.
I find it strange that the WSJ would publish the manager tools style resume right after having someone from monster.com on talking about how length isn’t important only keywords are. It would be great if they had much more of the manager tools style tips rather than people from monster.com trying to sell their product.
January 18th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Mark,
First, thanks for all the hard work both on the podcasts and on the website, you have given me invaluable information which gets used on a daily basis.
I was successful in getting my current position by including accomplishments in my resume. After I was hired two members of the search committee told me that the information I put in the resume really made it stand out from other applicants with similar titles and responsibilities.
A second plus to thinking about accomplishments over responsibilities is in how that mindset prepares you for an interview. Our organization requires the use of experiential based questions. If you have already thought about the things that you have done, both as an individual and as part of a team, your interview will go much better because you will have already thought of the right answers for the questions.
I coach my firefighters who are looking to promote that whenever you get an opportunity to highlight your performance of a task or project you will always do much better. You are showing the selection panel that you have already done the job, not just prepared for it.
Jeff
January 18th, 2007 at 7:53 pm
Mark, Keep up the great work. It is invaluable to those of us smart enought to use it.
What about that “other type” of resume. You mentiuoned it in the resume podcast. “The skills/accomplishemnt based resume”, you had suggested that it is more diorected to much higher level positions and made the focus “what i’ve done” organized by area of epertise, in ocntracst to the resume format covered in the resume cast that was organized chronologically, with focus on job title, responsibilties/accomplishements.
I followed the resmue cast, and developed my one-pager, but have not been getting as much traction as I’d expected. In review, I think what i’ve done tells a better story than the “where i did it”, and I am focused on the high level (vp ^) jobs.
Will these be a cast on that “other type” of resume structure?
January 18th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
I today received perhaps the worst resume I’ve ever seen. 8 pages! It had typos and misspellings in it. It ran on into a giant blob of letters and numbers. At the end I had no idea what the guy had done except everything using every tool invented and using every acronym standard in industry. I respectfully declined to interview the guy.
January 18th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
KC-
Way to go! We’ll be rooting for you, even if the interview casts won’t be out before you go. Sorry!
Mark
January 18th, 2007 at 10:12 pm
Mike-
A cast on a different type of resume?
Nope.
Mark
January 18th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Tom-
Take some pictures of it and send them to me. I have… an idea….
;-)
Mark
January 18th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Is it a “Dark Mark” idea????
January 18th, 2007 at 11:04 pm
If “don’t do THIS” is a Dark Mark idea… then yes.
It may not work, but we’ll see.
Mark
January 19th, 2007 at 12:01 am
I was thinking more of, “This is your resume on crack!”
Tom - Do the guy a favor and drop him a note to check out Manager Tools.
January 19th, 2007 at 2:07 am
I love resumes with spelling mistakes. It cuts down my reading time because they go straight into the trash.
I’m sure a lot of you feel the same way: What does it say about a person’s attention to detail if the details aren’t perfect on the most important (to them) business document they’ll ever write?
Thanks guys for all your podcasts and especially the resume cast, which I first heard two weeks ago. For years I’ve been wrestling with my 2 page resume which never seemed quite right. Now it’s a page and says everything I need it to.
PS: All spelling and grammar mistakes in this post are intentional
January 19th, 2007 at 7:58 am
Concerning resumes and looking for jobs, I particularly like this guy’s advice:
http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/
Like MT, but for those looking for work or changing careers. Inside scoops on what HR (who are not really the people to talk to), line managers, and headhunters look for and gives honest, open advice. He also talks about how to “do the job during the interview”. Click his articles link for some good insights.
January 24th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Hi Mark,
This article in the WSJ was recomended above
http://www.careerjournal.com/jobhunting/resumes/20070116-mattioli.html?mod=RSS_Career_Journal&cjrss=frontpage
The article has several “sample resumes”, all of which deviate signficantly from your Resume podcast “Your resume Stinks 10/31/2005″. Was your recomendation intended to refer to the comments and NOT the samples?
Mike
January 24th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Mike-
Yes. Ignore the ineffective, inefficient and idiotic samples.
Mark
February 10th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
A practice that I have used since a period in my career when I needed consulting CVs is to maintain *several versions* of my resume. I was fortunate enough to have a wide range of clients (Fortune 500 through smaller non-profit organizations) and I found that having a document tailored to needs that resonated for various sectors was helpful. It is a bit more work but I have found it to be generally beneficial.
Now that I am gainfully employed, I do the same thing for conference speaking purposes, board candidacy opportunities, and (perhaps one day) another career move.
LjB
March 5th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Firstly, your podcasts are great. Very topical, very relevant.
A one page resume is a challenge but I do like the results rather than responsibilities approach. I have done an extensive amount of work in the not-for-profit sector (NFP), including serving as the Chair of a national board of directors. In a way my NFP work has paralled my career accomplishments. I am never sure the extent to which I should highlight the NFP work, aside from the obvious tailoring to the position.
March 22nd, 2007 at 1:49 am
Runner-
If your NFP work is separate from work, list big accomplishments under the job you had when you achieved them as the last bullet in that job. Be ready to talk about it in an interview.
Mark