The ABCs of Accomplishment Statements

 

A good meal is even more enjoyable when there is care and attention placed into the details of making it. Everyone needs to eat, yet when choice isn’t particularly limited, why not have the best? Taking the necessary steps to become an employer’s candidate of choice involved submitting a résumé reflecting detailed preparation.

Properly attending to the accomplishment statement, which is a bulleted phrase that details work experience, is an important part of preparing the résumé. Unfortunately, a common practice in providing this information is merely to list responsibilities, daily duties or tasks. This typically involves dragging a sentence from a job description and plopping it haphazardly onto a résumé. There are flaws with that approach in that job responsibilities fail to do the following:

·         Reflect the actual work that is done day-to-day

·         Advertise the uniqueness of the person performing the tasks

·         Define the degree of impact a person has on the department/company

Having well-crafted statements that capture achievement and clarify the employee’s value takes the savvy individual straight to the head of the class. How, then, are grade “A" statements written that truly reflect accomplishment? There first must be a shift in how work is considered. This shift involves one’s prescribed duties becoming much more than a "to do" list, including:

·      Learning, with vigor, the business’ or department’s “pain” (i.e. the biggest or most significant problems or opportunities)

·      Looking, with intention, for ways to apply individual strengths to the role, both intra- and interpersonally

·      Tracking, with diligence, the applications of strengths and the outcomes

Demonstrating accomplishment is first about looking for ways to make an impact and consistently recording the contributions made. As for the practice of writing, some basic rules or "ABCs" of résumé accomplishment statements follow with examples:

The “C” Accomplishment Statement – This level reflects the most basic statement which only captures responsibilities, akin to a job description.

Example: Responsible for compiling and generating reports.

The previous example is from a Customer Service Representative job posting. While it can serve as a good starting place, it is a bad stopping place.

The “B” Accomplishment Statement – This level applies good phrase structure (starts with a power verb, no period at the end), quantifies the task (addresses how many/much, and how often) and answers basic journalistic questions (Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?).

Example: Compile(d) and generate(d) six to ten financial reports monthly in Microsoft Excel for review by department leadership

The reader's mind can start to rest concerning unanswered thoughts about what this individual really does and why.

The “A” Accomplishment Statement – The last layer uses the STAR/BAR (Situation-Task-Action-Result or Behavior-Action-Result) method to guide composition of the most compelling statements demonstrating scope AND impact.

Example: Innovated the monthly financial reporting production process for six to ten reports, considering a departmental lag in delivery times, by utilizing a free software add-on to auto-generate reports, supplying documents in preferred formatting, directly to leadership saving six labor hours ($300) per month

Drops mic. The reader is provided with information on a problem that existed for a company that this individual’s contributions helped to alleviate and thereby saving money. There is fodder for the reader to want to know more about how this accomplishment could be applied to their department or company.

A prime opportunity to entice potential employers, although many reviewers will not spend much time on a résumé, is through substantive and effective accomplishment statements. With just seconds to make an impression, positioning the reviewer to look at “A” level accomplishments ensure that the time is useful. Make a concerted effort, and perhaps utilize some professional assistance, to turn “C” level accomplishments statements into “A” level ones so that the reviewer’s few seconds turn into a few more. Once you’ve grabbed the reviewer’s attention in a meaningful way, the employer’s decision to extend the interview invitation becomes a no-brainer.

If you're looking for more help writing stronger accomplishment statements shoot me an email, with your resume attached to alexandra@aacareercounsel.com. I'll do a no cost assessment and provide pointers to take you to the next level!

Prepare and negotiate, Negotiate, NEGOTIATE!

Negotiation is a topic of recent interest to me in the world of career development. It is often an underutilized, but potentially very rewarding tool as your career progresses and opportunity presents itself. More directly, it is an informed means whereby you can see that your needs and the needs of a
current or potential employer are met. This way everyone benefits from the outcome!

When to Negotiate
Getting an Offer

• EVALUATE: look at offers based on market research (Glassdoor.com or salary.com are good resources), your needs and the company’s needs. Ask lots of questions, get the offer in writing, do comparative analysis. 
• YES, MAYBE NO: It may not be the right offer for you if there is no room to negotiate, and that's okay. It's better to turn down an opportunity if it will be great for them, but not for you--or vice versa. You'll likely only find out in the end what you already suspected after wasting time and energy. 
• DEAL MAKERS/BREAKERS: Vie for things in a way that would ensure each party's interests are fairly represented. Be flexible, but know your worth and hold tight to what needs are tied to your most closely held values.

Making an Offer/Contractor Proposal

• You can put forward a one page proposal that demonstrates how you could leverage expertise to produce measured results in meeting a key need of the company/organization.
• Do this in response to an open ad., or a researched business need; in anticipation of an offer for a role you've interviewed for; or if you were well-liked as a candidate but weren't the top choice for the role.
• Sections to include: a summary, details of the organization need, your qualifications and how you will meet the need, success metrics, requested compensation range, and follow up requested.

Annual Review

• In preparing for a salary increase request or role/responsibility change in a current position, evaluation time is a prime opportunity to vie for the desired outcome via calculated negotiation. It is important to have some sense of organization/ department budget constraints, HR policy related to employee rights and position/salary change requests 
• Before the review meeting date, request some time during the meeting with your supervisor to talk about needs you have and have a document prepared that briefly and clearly supports your requests (summary of requests, rationale, and supporting evidence/documents)

Seeking a Counter-Offer (Upon receiving another job offer in a current position or two offers simultaneously in a job search)

•  I’ve read that seeking a counter offer can be seen negatively by companies if you're currently employed, so you have to really be sure that your current position won’t be jeopardized and that you’re perceived as an asset in the department/company.
• Request a conversation time to share your requests/needs, how staying on benefits the company and be prepared to share details of the other offer.

Tools for Successful Negotiation

Research and Documentation

• Get information on budget status for your department or company
• Keep your contributions, and evidence of how and where you exceeded responsibility, well-documented
• Know your rights and workplace policies related to salary/raises/role change
• Know how your salary and benefits compare to market rates in your state/city/industry

Characteristics of Successful Negotiators

• Confident
• Desire to serve
• Diligent
• Prepared
• Patient (yet with a sense of urgency)
• Excellent in work/work ethic
• Logical and evidence-based arguers vs. emotional and “personal” arguers (make your appeals based on evidence not on personal issues or pathos. It's not about being nice, it's about presenting facts and advocating for your interests. 'Nice' people get paid less, anyway according to this Notre Dame study!)

Other Items to Consider

• Having an internal advocate (your boss ideally, a co-worker, company administration, etc.) is more likely to produce favorable results with internal negotiation efforts. Colleagues and other third party contacts that can attest to your work are key, as well as a friend/trustworthy colleague in the human resources department. Make your network work!
• Keep a file and actively collect past reviews, anecdotes, reference letters, and recommendations for your work to refer to for negotiation times, especially in a current role
• Women are less inclined to negotiate than men, due to well-studied 'costs' women pay for negotiating (this Harvard Business Review article explains), but underscores the importance of a Win-Win perspective in negotiation (referred to as an "I-We" strategy in the article)
• ALWAYS NEGOTIATE! The worst that can be said is no...and no could very well be the answer- consider your approach or your evidence, the timing, employers resources, and ask for feedback on why the negotiation wasn't successful. If first you don't succeed try, try again (at the appropriate time)!

Social Media and Your Job Search

One of my favorite topics to talk about, present on and teach people to do is utilizing social media effectively when job searching...and by extension using it to build a brand, when transitioning to a different field/industry, and to proactively take control of one's Internet profile.

I am sharing below an abbreviated version of a workshop presentation I do on a monthly basis on the topic.

I'd love to field any questions about the topic here via the comments or by email: alexandra@aacareercounsel.com. Enjoy!

What TO do:

•  Conduct a self-search to know what’s out there about you

•  Share that you are looking for a job as well as what kind of job (however discrete you choose to be)

•  Stay active and engaged/engaging

•  Create your own opportunities by helping others

•  Balance in-person (networking) with online networking 

•  Try social media, other than the three major networks, for further demonstrating creative interests

•  Use social media manager applications to more easily control content 

What NOT to do:

·    •  Have bad grammar and typos

·    •  Have photos and images exhibiting questionable behavior

·    •  Badmouth current or previous employers and/or co-workers, and in general focus on negativity

     •  Be unaware of changing privacy policies with each network

·    •  Over utilize social media at work during work hours!

     •  Be afraid of social media if it’s new to you!

References:

5 Ways to Use Social Media in Your Job Search by Julie Feinerman

10 Smart Ways to Use Social Media in Your Job Search by Alexis Grant

How Social Media Can Help (or Hurt) Your Job Search by Stacy Julien

Job Search Balance: Social Networking vs. In Real Life by Abby Ringiewicz

Job Searching with Social Media For Dummies by Joshua Waldman

Smart Social Media Helps Jobs Find You by George Anders  

The Best Ways to Use Social Media in Your Job Search by Trudy Steinfeld

Your Employee Is an Online Celebrity. Now What Do You Do? by Alexandra Samuel

Getting the Job: It IS All About Who You Know

You have heard the saying, likely, that getting a job is all about who you know. In discussion with a colleague of mine recently, I realized that I am more in agreement with that statement than I have ever been. 

I was not always as sure because in my job hunting experience, the outcomes have not been attributed to just one factor. For example, I was able to be placed in a paid internship before through a cold contact who referred me to someone within the organization, where I had neither visited nor met any employees before! On the other hand, I have never had anyone say "I have a job for you" and place me in it either, with no formalities involved, which I think the 'who you know' bit can lend to.

So, how is that I have come to agree with this adage, given my varied experiences? Here’s where the light bulb came on: YOU are the product that's going to market in the world of work, and definitively knowing yourself (your aptitude, strengths, interests, core values, worth, etc.), as well as how to articulate those things properly, makes the biggest difference.

Being able to speak confidently about what you have to offer and how that meets an employers need, as well as demonstrate a track record of success (for yourself and your former employers) makes the best case for why a hiring manager needs you on their team! Not sure where to begin with learning how to know you and discuss your merits effectively? Here are few easy things you can do to jump start the process:

Take a Self-Assessment 

• Self-assessments can help to confirm what you like, your personality, or your preferences for reasoning and relating to others, while connecting that information to particular jobs or fields of work.

• There are several short and free instruments online that can give you a snap shot into the mentioned items, but represent larger, statistically valid and reliable assessments, at cost e.g. O*NET Interest Profiler, Jung’s Typology Test, Keirsey Temperament Sorter- II, the abridged DISC

Get Feedback from Family, Friends, and Co-Workers

• Arguably, the people you’ve grown up around or are currently closest to can offer insight into your strengths, inclinations, and communication style--all of which are important things to know how and when to share in a job interview, for instance.

Talk to a Career Counselor

• Once you've had the experience of informally collecting data on yourself, talking to a Career Counselor can help you with deepening the connections you've begun to make, more formalized assessment, exploring additional findings, or charting your next steps.

• I would love to help you navigate the process of making the best presentation you can to potential employers. Contact me today at alexandra@aacareercounsel.com.