Everyone Has Accomplishments

From time-to-time I help friends and friends-of-friends with their resumes, or job search efforts.  When I initially take a look at their resumes, they are very boring.  There is nothing there to excite me about them.

So I start asking the individual questions about their current job, what their dream job looks like and about their accomplishments.

That’s the trigger word: accomplishments.

When I ask this, most just look at me.  Then they say “well, I didn’t accomplish anything.  I’m just a programmer” or whatever their job is.

But this is where you are wrong.  You probably HAVE accomplished something.  Perhaps you coded some new procedures/functions/scripts that enhanced an application?  Maybe you helped design part of an application?  Maybe you even streamlined code that allowed the application to work faster/better/with less errors.

These are ALL accomplishments even if they were part of the job.

For example – as Director of Customer Support and Operations it’s my job to ensure that we meet service level agreements – the fact that I meet them is an accomplishment eventhough it is part of what I have to do.

It’s called “tooting your own horn” and friends, when you’re looking for a new job or the first job you do toot as much as you can BUT remember that you need to toot in such a way that you also show the value you will add to the prospective employer.

Now there are individuals out there that may not get the opportunity to make changes in their workplace, in some companies processes are so tight that you cannot make changes for various reasons – legal, regulatory etc., but there are always ways to streamline what you do — that is an accomplishment.

Let me give you another example.  One of my CS Agents prints out any memo that I send out and puts them into a binder.  He then builds his own “process” to handle those specific events.  He’s developed his own processes to handle those issues – that is an accomplishment.  He can bank that on his resume.

He can safely put on a resume “developed my own processes to deal with customer service issues” and in an interview expand upon that.

Regardless of the position you are in, you have the opportunity to enhance your work by looking at what you do and seeing if there are ways to improve upon it.  If you have spare time after having completed a project, look at it again and see if there is any way to optimize it.  Maybe there isn’t a way — but isn’t it better than just sitting around?

Be proactive in your career and you will find hidden gems that have the potential to propel you forward.