Resume help: I keep getting feedback that I need to showcase my accomplishments from previous jobs on my resume, but I dont feel like I accomplished anything.

23 Comments

1. Stephanie Branch LekowskiJanuary 15,2024 at 6:09PM UTC

   Did you take on any responsibilities that weren't in your job description? I was not a manager but asked to train multiple employees to fill in for me on my days off, vacation, etc. If you're afraid the employer would try to verify this with your employer they usually are only asked to give your dates of employment and job title. Hope this helps!

2. AnonymousJanuary 15,2024 at 6:11PM UTC

   Put numbers in it. For instance you updated management on metrics once a week. The hiring manager doesn't know that was expected. Some people don't even have a system, they just ask or explain when they feel like it.

3. Renee S.January 15,2024 at 7:38PM UTC

   focus on your job and its impact.
   what did you do and how did it better the organization?

4. AnonymousJanuary 15,2024 at 8:15PM UTC

   Oh boy. This topic gets under my skin. Some work really doesn't have impressive metrics or impact despite hard work and business acumen. Sometimes the company is so dysfunctional or your not around long enough to realize the impact of your efforts due to layoffs, etc. I've asked this question before and the responses typically sound a lot like what you are hearing here, as if you are ignorant or overlooking the obvious. I don't have the answer, but am writing to be supportive in how I am sure this makes you feel when you get this feedback.

   I work in marketing and I see so many Gen Z and younger Millenials claiming all sorts of outlandish achievements on their LinkedIn and personal branding stuff it just get's so outrageous...just a big game.

5. AnonymousJanuary 15,2024 at 9:11PM UTC

   Hello, Im new to the community but really excited to see all this support from folks having the same questions and struggles as myself. This is my first post so I apologize if its a little clunky. You can also use AI generated resume platforms to help with that. I like Teal, it has a pay side and a free side. It basically helps me translate my thoughts about my duties to accomplishments. It lets you rework and edit the accomplishments until Im satisfied it is close to my actual work and not some over embellished fantasy accomplishment. Hope that helps.

6. AnonymousJanuary 20,2024 at 9:39PM UTC

   This was an excellent suggestion! Thank you!

7. AnonymousJanuary 16,2024 at 2:33AM UTC

   Those are places to start. I was also confused and frustrated by this until I started thinking about it.

   When I did client-facing work, I changed a bullet from "provided case management to people with ...." to "provided case management services to xxx clients per [day/week/month] that had [list or number/type of conditions]."

   For a job where I was selling cars, I changed "became a master [car company] sales consultant" to "sold up to 10 cars per month for up to $600,000 in revenue."

   Since making these changes, the interest rate on my resume has increased significantly. More are making it through ATS to the hiring manager's desk.

   You don't have to have the metrics to do this. Make your best guess. The bullet about the cars was because I averaged about ten cars monthly, and the average sale price was around $60,000. I mapped out a day for case management to determine how many I cared for and multiplied to get the weekly/monthly totals.

8. AnonymousJanuary 16,2024 at 2:27PM UTC

   Great advice!

9. KatJanuary 16,2024 at 9:43PM UTC

   I struggle with this as well. Some of my "accomplishments" (like streamlining a filing system which saved $ on office supplies) aren't very exciting. Did you consistently meet or exceed expectations on annual reviews? Did you ever fix something (a spreadsheet, a procedure) to make it work better? Did you ever create something for yourself or the office/dept (like a database, mailing list, an office policy) that fixed a problem or filled a need? Use more action words to show impact. Quantify things to show how much work you do. Instead of "answered phones in a busy office" say "answered 100 calls per day"; "monitored company email" becomes "answered 25 emails per day" or "handled 10-30 routine email inquiries daily, routing/escalating to appropriate parties as needed". It's not easy to find ways to do this. Sometimes it helps to have a friend, co-worker or relative look at your resume to see if there are ways to improve it. Once you have a good list of action oriented bullet points, you can customize your resume as needed to include the most relevant ones for each job you apply to.

10. AnonymousJanuary 17,2024 at 12:48AM UTC

    Sure you have accomplishments. Write out the things you did in the content of the role, then write out the how often and what you did above and beyond. Where did you cross over with others and collaborate. What did you do that benefited the company and did you save them any time, money, resources when you did. Go back to your job description and reverse engineer that into your resume. And think about what you are expert at doing.

11. AnonymousJanuary 17,2024 at 1:22PM UTC

    Just because your accomplishments aren't "earth shattering" they are still accomplishments. List them and do be so hard on yourself. Looking for a job is hard enough don't add on that additional pressure.

12. Shannon Glasgow WinfieldJanuary 17,2024 at 1:25PM UTC

    Did any you supervise get promoted? Did you contribute on any special projects, whether it was your job or not?

13. AnonymousJanuary 17,2024 at 2:53PM UTC

    I have the same issue. I’m not trying to supervise or manage anything or anyone but myself. I come to work do my job and leave. I don’t feel the need to be earth shattering and besides that doesn’t get you anything but more work and less pay.

14. Monette AndersonJanuary 17,2024 at 3:12PM UTC

    This is totally doable you just need to get creative. ChatGPT can be hugely helpful here. Think about the jobs you are applying to and what skills they want you to have and then use that to take your bullets in a resume from the things you did to ways that showcase your soft skills like teamwork, project management or attention to detail.

    1. Instead of thinking about accomplishments think of not just saying what you did at your job but how you did it. Ie did admin tasks can be collaborated cross functionally with 3 departments to fulfill customer service needs
    2. people do want to see numbers and stats. These don’t have to be 100% accurate. You should be able to explain how you got there though. This could be taking “answered phones” to “managed roughly 15 customer service issues daily, including 10% that required follow up” if you took the office to a paperless filing system, use online estimates of how much the average office saves in paper waste or increased in efficiency. Use that average
    3. In the future, make sure you are setting some goals for your job to hit that follow star format. This will help you in the future so you aren’t getting into “I just did my job” have things you can say you worked toward. If you notice an inefficiency at your office, make a goal to research an alternate method and talk to management about how to implement it. Doing your job is great but you spend 8 hours a day at the office. I always want to be gaining some experiences and improving in some way during that time - 40 hours is a lot of time to develop something. Make it worthwhile even if it’s just mini goals to make your job/workplace/skill set stronger

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15. Tami CannizzaroJanuary 17,2024 at 8:47PM UTC

    I used to think the same thing yet think of this as stating what you did in the best possible way. Even CEO's have a difficult time at this, when you think about it, as they are simply steering the ship, managing others who execute the tactics.

    Think of each accomplishment this way: The result was THIS because I did THIS

    "Reduced inventory costs $1,000 by eliminating duplicate products from ordering system"

    Or something like that.

    To you, this may have been part of your daily work. To a hiring manager looking for a take-charge assistant, this looks like a win.

16. AnonymousJanuary 17,2024 at 11:40PM UTC

    Ask, if I were not there what would happen. Also ask yourself, if someone dropped the ball at this job what would that look like. Then build your accomplishment in juxtaposition to that response. Keeping things on course, error free , timely can meet the definition of an accomplishment too.

17. jessica farquharJanuary 18,2024 at 1:31PM UTC

    I like the idea of using ChatGPT! I have been experimenting with it lately and find it gives me an outside perspective. I put in my resume and the job posting and ask for a revamp or a cover letter.

    Most important is to put yourself in a potential employer’s shoes. Why should they hire you? And those authentic reasons are what your resume should highlight. I think of the resume as the thing that gets me face time. And the interview is where you really find out if it’s a match or not.

    good luck!

18. KathyAnn KrajcikJanuary 21,2024 at 7:50PM UTC

    I couldn't figure out how to use it.

19. Bradford McCormickJanuary 18,2024 at 1:34PM UTC

    What did you accomplish for the company? "You did your job" Did you do it well? Did you ever catch a problem before it happened?

    Let's say you were a nurse and you "just did your job". Can you say you never made a mistake in dosing the patients' medications on time? Can you say you always answered alerts within 2 minutes? Can you say that you often made complaining patients feel better? "Just doing your job" can be accomplishing something. And it also shows you are conscientious. Not everybody is.

    If the job really was routine and/or accomplished nothing (see: https://strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/ ), you can say you did not sign up for that and you did want to contribute bu that proved impossible, and that' s why you are here applying for this new position: to be able to contribute.

20. Maggie StoneJanuary 18,2024 at 11:18PM UTC

    Think positively. You did more than you think. Sit down and make a list of professional organizations that you belong to and awards you have won. Make a list of processes you have improved or made more efficient or ways you have saved money (e.g saved 15% on overhead by switching vendors). Failing that , or in addition to that, put tasks in numerical terms (e.g fielded 100 client calls daily). Good luck.

21. Liz MilneJanuary 18,2024 at 11:36PM UTC

    find your old job description from when you took the job and see if you can rework those phrases to sing your own praises. But honestly 'just doing the job' is also: 'didn't mess up', 'met expectations', 'exceeded targets', 'worked as a team/ led a team,' etc etc etc! (Many more I've probably missed!)

22. Jason LeeJanuary 18,2024 at 11:51PM UTC

    I feel the same way! and thought it was just me. Good to know I'm not alone.

23. Tina AsherJanuary 20,2024 at 2:49PM UTC

    When you got hired, they hired you because they saw something they liked about you. Think of why you were hired initially. Next think about times when you were asked to do something that others were not asked to do. They came to you for a reason. Example: if your boss says to a new employee, "shadow this person for awhile" and he or she does that for 9 out of 10 employees, in essence you have been asked to train 90% of new staff - selected by management to train 90% of new hires (might be a bullet point on a resume) If you have been asked to lead a project/meeting or take on something extra then those are accomplishments because they chose YOU. It may "be your job" but give yourself credit for being a great employee. It's hard to toot your own horn sometimes when you feel you were hired to do it but you have unique skills that others do not, embrace it. Good luck!