What’s the best thing a customer said about you/to you this year? Image: MintImages/Shutterstock.com
By: Nancy Segal, Solutions for the WorkplaceOne of the most important things you can do for yourself is to track your accomplishments. This is a resolution well worth making—and keeping! Accomplishments are critical for your resume, your LinkedIn Profile, interviews, and the self assessment you prepare as part of your annual performance review. No one cares about your career more than you do, so getting in the habit of tracking your accomplishments is well worth it!
You can collect your accomplishments daily or if you prefer, schedule 10 minutes a week to do so. You should put this time on your calendar. The whole point is to make identifying and gathering your accomplishments a habit. Documenting your accomplishments is much easier when you are not under the pressure of a job application deadline.
Accomplishments are what set you apart from everyone else who does what you do. Accomplishments can win over a hiring manager — since past performance is often a predictor of future success.
Decide on a place to collect your accomplishments. You track your accomplishments electronically or do it the old fashioned way on paper. Remember, files on company / organization-owned computers belong to your organization. You should consider keeping your accomplishments on your own device. Keeping your accomplishments in one place will make it much easier to prepare / update your career documents.
For best results, write your accomplishments in CAR format: Challenge-Action-Result
First, note what the challenge was. (“I was given a goal or problem to…”)
Next, what actions did you take? (“So I…”)
Finally, what was the result? (“As a result of my efforts, ___”)
For the results, when possible, quantify the achievement in dollars, numbers, and/or percentages.
Here are some questions to ask yourself in thinking about your achievements:
• Have you been recognized as the first person to do something in your role?
• Describe a time when you saved your organization money.
• Have you met an impossible deadline? If so, what difference did this make to your organization?
• Describe a recent problem you had to solve.
• What is your biggest professional achievement in the past 12 months?
• What project have you accomplished recently that helped attract new customers to your organization?
• Look at your most recent performance evaluation or review. What were you commended for?
• What have you come up with in your current position that has made your work easier?
• What project have you accomplished recently that helped you or your co-workers save time with something?
• What’s the best thing a customer said about you/to you this year?
There are many more ideas, but these should get you started. Remember, the key is consistency; keep on tracking!
Nancy H. Segal is a federal job search expert. Following her own senior-level federal HR career, she founded Solutions for the Workplace LLC to provide a HR management perspective to astute applicants to U.S. government positions.
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