The most important part of the resumé!

Quick, what is the most important part of the resumé? Ok, ok, besides your name. Yes, I know you get points for getting that right on the SAT test.

No, most people are going to tell you that the most important part of the resumé is your work history. I vehemently disagree.

As a Hiring Manager a Work History only tells me that you have experience in a certain role or industry for X amount of years, which means you may have just met the minimum qualifications. Meanwhile, I have another 100 resumés in my inbox that pretty much tell me the same thing. At face value, a Work History is not exceptional and by itself will never make you stand out in a pile of resumés.

We have addressed how an effective Cover Letter can set you apart and we have touched on an effective resumé structure. I am going to take that analysis and we are going to drill down on the single most important thing you can do to enhance your resumé and stand out as the most hireable if not intriguing candidate.

The answer of course is the Accomplishments section.

The Accomplishments section of your resumé should be on the first page right before the work history. This section is the hook. In this section you will detail your triumphs, your creations, your successes and your goals that you have achieved in your professional life. They do not have to be specific to where you worked, but they should contain measurable achievements.

Let me give you an example. If you work as a sales manager selling farm machinery and under your watch, sales increased by 20% in 2 years, then this is a measurable accomplishment. Getting promoted to sales manager is not an accomplishment. Selling or managing the sale of farm equipment in and of itself is also not something that I would recommend listing as an accomplishment. It is a vague job description. Understanding this difference is key and it is lost on many candidates.

Let’s try again. While working in an Administrative Assistant role for an organization, you were able to identify excess office supplies ordered. By creating an inventory system an organizing the storage of supplies, you were able to cut annual office supply expenses by 30%. That is a measurable accomplishment. Ordering office supplies for the office is part of the job description and should be listed in the Work History section.

What if you cannot remember the exact number for your accomplishment? Ballpark it. No one is probably going to call you to the carpet if you are not precise. It is possible that it could be back checked in a reference check, and if that is the case, even better! This will just confirm your accomplishment.

To be sure, I guarantee your past boss will not remember the exact number, just don’t put out some crazy exaggerated number. Try to be somewhat conservative and don’t embellish. Never put that you doubled the client base for an Engineering firm if you only grew it by 25%.

Increased responsibility and promotions are not accomplishments. They are awesome for sure, as they provide feelings of self-fulfillment and affirmation for hard work put into a job. However, they are not quantifiable accomplishments. It is better to list why you were justified for a promotion with numbers backing it than just to state the fact that you were promoted.

The goal here is to point out that you have a track record of improving organizations, work culture, efficiency or revenue, as well as reducing cost overruns or improving performance among subordinates if you are a manager. The trick is to describe them in measurable terms.

To hammer it home: Think about professional baseball players. Many ballplayers enter free agency in hopes of getting a better deal with a better team. MLB players get to have professional agents (who are vetted for their ability to sign better and measurable deals (wink wink)) who advocate for them.

The main thing that agents can use to advocate are statistics like batting average and Earned Run Average. In sports, everyone is compared by the same measurable standards (free throw %, field goals made, fielding percentage). If your team picks up a free agent who hit 40 home runs and batted .325 last year, you are going to be excited.*

*For non-sports fans, 40 home runs is really good, and so is .325. Just trust me on this. Also I am a Detroit Tigers fan and I don’t know what it is like to feel joy.

When putting together the Accomplishments section, I would list no less than 5 and no more than 10. Use bullet points and try not to be too wordy. No one likes to read big paragraphs, especially Hiring Managers who have 99 other resumés to read. Be concise.

Finally, make sure that your resumé does not run longer than 2 pages! If it does, then you need to pare it down some.

This may seem a bit non-traditional in terms of preparing a resumé, but beefing up your Accomplishments section will make great talking points in an interview. You will get to rehash your successes without having to recall all of them off of the top of your head! Finally, everyone will gets to see how hireable you are in measurable terms.

And finally, here is some nice resumé paper to consider. Southwork has other options as well, but this is the one I have used on my resumés. A small stylish touch can never hurt: