Turning Tasks into Accomplishments
One of the biggest challenges many of my clients face when looking to build the communication for their job search is “turning the tasks they have done for each employer into accomplishment statements.” I have seen some clients build their resume by basically copying the “job description” for the job they had, and posting that as a description of what the job was about and what they did. Others will look to put together a list of the tools and technologies that they used in completing the job role, and not much else. Some will look to present what they did in long flowing paragraphs, as opposed to bulleting the items they have accomplished in the role. The bottom line is that being able to present that which you did in your job roles into accomplishment statements is a necessary step in both the written and verbal parts of your job search process.
So, how does one go about the task of presenting themselves in an accomplishment-based format. The first thing is for some individuals is getting past the mindset that they are bragging about themselves. As a coach I try to assure them, unless they blatantly lie or exaggerate what they contributed to the success of a project, they are not bragging about themselves. What they are doing, is giving a perspective employer a picture of what they may bring to the job role that the new hiring company needs from the person they are looking to hire. That company is interested in the situations you have faced, the actions you were involved with taking and most of all the positive results you helped generate for a former employer and the customers that employer served. What was your role in the process? Whether as a leader of a team, a contributor on a team, a person with a particular function that got to the final product, again, you want to make clear what you can deliver.
How does one know what may be their accomplishments on the roles they have filled in their career. Past performance reviews are a good place to start. Letters of commendation or recommendation from former employers are also of value. What did they indicate that you brought to a project or the job role of which you were a part? What did they most value about you? Have there been individuals who have been kind enough to write Recommendations on Linked In of what they found of value working with you? Do you keep a list of the projects on which you worked and what you helped to contribute? Are you able to acknowledge if a process you worked on cut the time to complete it from many days to a matter of hours? Was the process of which you were a part, one that previously had been done manually, and now is done in an automated fashion?
There have been many acronyms given to looking at that which you have done in an Accomplishment based format. One of the most common ones is your STARS stories, with STARS standing for Situation Faced, Tasks Needing to be Completed, the Actions of which you were involved taking and then the positive Results for the end user of your contributions. In the last two months I have done a lot of coaching work with staff from Marriott International, and they have incorporated STARS in as part of their culture in developing staff. (I am sure Marriott is not the only corporation to do so, and would venture the more the associates of the company touch an end user customer that they can see, the more likely a corporation is to embrace that model).
Becoming proficient at being able to provide your STARS stories in a resume or Linked In profile is also one of the first steps in preparing you for job interviews. Another outplacement firm for which I subcontract, provides STARS worksheets to assist clients provide feedback in helping clients enhance their resumes. Many a client has told me the work done in providing the STARS stories not only helped them provide feedback to the resume writing team, but helped them prepare their stories and examples for follow-up interviews with hiring companies.
What are the STARS stories of your career? Do you have them well documented? Are you able to use them as examples of the value you bring to those you serve? If they are not, you may want to consider capturing those stories now, so you have them ready, when you are in search for your next opportunity, whether it is the choice of the company that lets you go, or your choice to move on to your next employer.
