How to Write an Accomplishment Statement

Most rsums list the job duties/responsibilities for each work experience entry. Typically,
these bullets read like a traditional job description. These job duties will convey a basic level of
work experience but do not highlight much else. In order to showcase your skills and
accomplishments, convert these bullets to Accomplishment Statements.

For example:

Traditional Job Duty Statement (Good) Accomplishment Statement (Stronger)
Increased food offerings at the student-run Miner
Coffeehouse
Developed relationships with local merchants,
which increased food offerings at the student-run
Miner Coffeehouse and increased profits by 15%.
Increased environmental awareness Established recycling program in the residence halls
which increased environmental awareness and
decreased amount of trash by 10%.

Preliminary Steps:

1. Prepare an accomplishment inventory. To do this, list all jobs, followed by job duties.
For example:

Job Title Job Duties/Responsibilities
Receptionist Answer Phones
Maintain office calendar
Schedule conference rooms
Publicity chairperson for nonprofit event Solicit donations
Create marketing campaign
Identify sponsors
Recruiter Review resumes
Arrange interviews
Negotiate compensation packages
Manage HR paperwork

2. Consider accomplishments you achieved in each job, or regarding each job duty if possible. See
handout regarding Action Words to help with this. You may believe that you have not
accomplished much; however, completing this exercise will help you gain confidence and recognize
your achievements. Spend time on this project, adding to your list of accomplishments over the
period of a few days. Although you will not use all these accomplishments, it will prepare you for
your interview and help sell your skills to your prospective employer.

3. If you are having difficulty finding accomplishments, use the Situation/Task-Action-Results (STAR)
technique.
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Consider the following questions:
What situations or tasks did I face?
What action did I take to solve the problem?
What result(s) did I achieve?


Situation/Task Action/Skills/Transferable Skills Results/Outcomes
Managed sales calls tracking
system
Researched, identified, and
implemented software program that
provided user-friendly system for
salespeople to input all sales call
information
Eliminated 90% of double calls
and increased sales by 15%
Assessed corporate executive
retention/turnover issues.
Conducted exit interviews with all
departing executives that
highlighted consistent concerns
with internal support. Implemented
new training program to address
issues
Decreased turnover by 20%
within one year. Achieved cost
savings in recruiting and
personnel of 25%
4. Still having difficulty with your accomplishments? Consider the following:
a. What was your impact on time, money, quality and/or customer service?
b. What other impact did your actions have on the project or situation?
c. Why is this important as an achievement?
d. How do you know it
1) Saved time or money?
2) Increased profit/revenues?
3) Decreased errors?
e. Describe the struggle to achieve the result.
f. What changed after completion of the task?
g. What was the scope, depth or breadth of each segment of your accomplishment?

5. Categorize accomplishments by importance. It may be helpful to think in baseball terms.
Place each accomplishment in a category for homeruns, triples, doubles, or singles. You should
include only homeruns and triples on your rsum.

Writing the Accomplish Statements

Now that you have identified your homerun and triple accomplishments, lets write the
accomplishment statements.
1. Use action words. (See Action Words handout)
2. Use third person.
3. Focus on your relevant and transferable skills and the outcomes you achieved.
4. Use concrete, concise terms that give verifiable results.
5. Rewrite your statements several times. Effective accomplishment statements can be the
difference between getting an interview or not.
The University of Texas at El Paso does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability,
veteran status, or sexual orientation in employment or the provision of services.
Source: University of Denver, Daniels College of Business. Used with permission