How to Ask for a Raise > Articles Index > Have You Accomplished Anything?
Have You Accomplished Anything? by Vincent Gomory
Why?
Tasks and responsibilities don't tell a story. They just list things you did. Readers of resumes want to get a story, a punch line, or answer. They want to know you in two pages and 30 seconds. They need to be able to measure you and compare you to others. You are unique, but your tasks are a dime a dozen. I'm going to explain to you how to answer the question and complete the story for the reader through the use of incomplete examples and a lot of comments on my part.
Here's a mundane statement you read on resumes all the time: Managed a project that increased customer satisfaction.
This is a meaningless statement on several counts: 1) Customer satisfaction is undefined and unmeasured. Who was satisfied, by how much, and compared to whom? Most satisfaction surveys are meaningless because they are developed through the use of touchy feely questionnaires. Have you ever answered a question that asked you to rate your answer on a scale of 1-5? Usually, the legend tells you that a '1' equals 'strongly disagree' and a '5' equals 'strongly agree'. I don't think these terms have a real meaning anymore since they are overused.
2) I have read hundreds of resumes by salespeople who
include the statement above. This is surprising because salespeople are
supposed to understand the sales process, but, when they write a resume,
they forget what they have been taught. Customer satisfaction is not the end
of the process; it's an intermediary step to a sale.
3) In order for the statement above to be credible we need to quantify the
other measures in the sales process. Let's look at a few examples:
In each case, a general statement is followed by a specific statement.
a)Managed a project that increased customer satisfaction
a)Managed a project that increased customer satisfaction 22% in the first
six months.
b)This result was an increase in customer retention
b) Our customer retention increased 10% due to the improvement in customer
satisfaction.
c) Our conversion rate doubled.
c) A 10% increase in customer retention resulted in a 2% increase in our
conversion rate.
d)The project contributed to a significant increase in sales and revenues.
d) A 2% increase in our conversion rate resulted in a doubling of sales.
Now, I realize most people, even salespeople, can't be this specific. But, you must be as specific as possible on your resume. People want to read about accomplishments and results. HR people want to be able to go to a line manager and tell them that they can recommend someone based on something concrete and measurable.
But wait a minute - I'm a technical writer, not a
salesman. What I do can't be measured that way.
Not true.
You can measure your productivity and profitability by analyzing its effect on the business you support.
Example #1.
A technical writer works on several software development teams to support
the rollout of new software products. * Did the help documentation simplify
an instruction set for the call center and increase their response rate?
* Did a new set of process flows or new IT marketing brochure contribute to
sales revenue?
* Did this new documentation package help improve the quality of your
company's software development process?
* How did that accomplishment improve the strength of the marketing effort
for the sales team and how did it help improve new sales and/or retain
existing customers?
Example #2.
You wrote a documentation manual that standardized a new testing
methodology. The result is that more problems are caught early and fixed
before beta versions of the software are distributed to prospects and
clients. As a result, customer satisfaction has increased. Now we are back
to that amorphous concept of customer satisfaction.
Wow, this is where we started.
But now you know that its ok to talk about customer
satisfaction if you can link it to customer retention, conversion rates, and
ultimately sales and revenue.
Your challenge is to describe your creative efforts and accomplishments in
terms that salespeople can understand and identify with.
Remember - no one person is responsible for all of the sales and or revenue in their company. Employees need to think about the entire business process and connect their personal accomplishments to the bigger business picture. When you understand the relationship between your tasks and responsibilities on one hand, and the accomplishments and results that evolve from those daily functions, it will be easier to quantify your achievements and strengthen your resume.
About the Author
Vincent Gomory is a professional resume writer, business process writer, and proposal writer with ten years of expereince in the staffing solutions industry. In addition, Vincent spent six years at Price Waterhouse as a technical documentation specialist focused on audit, research and technology.
Email Vincent at vjgomory@gmail.com. View his profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/resumecoach