"I really don't have many accomplishments"
Bill Jackson was an experienced executive in his late 40s. He lost his job as assistant chief engineer of Maverick Ltd. when his boss retired and a new engineering vice president was brought in. Although Bill had been job hunting for several months, he had not had an offer that really interested him.
One day Bill had a particularly discouraging interview with Champion Company-it was for a job which really excited him and for which he felt well qualified. But he was sure that he had failed in the interview. That evening as he was getting his thoughts together for an interview with Arrow Company the next day, his mind wandered back to the experience at Champion. As he thought about it, he suddenly became indignant and blurted out, "I know damn well I'm qualified for that Champion job. After all, I straightened out the development-engineering problems on the Widget Project which everyone else was ready to give up on-and it went on to become one of Maverick's most profitable lines. Then I re-engineered what's its line when it was going downhill so drastically, and it became reestablished as one of the most important products of the company."
Bill went on to recall three similar accomplishments. He realized that he had never even mentioned two of the items in his resume or in any of the seven or eight interviews he had had to date. He also realized that he had mentioned two other accomplishments only briefly in a couple of interviews because he assumed that the employers would automatically understand the full implications of them. Judging from their reaction, they apparently didn't.
For example, Bill had completely overlooked one activity: his membership on the building committee for a major addition to his church. This gave him valuable experience in dealing with an architect and in overseeing construction. Aspects of this experience, including his persuading the committee to select a relatively unknown architect-which turned out to be a very successful choice-were important points in his being offered his next job as a division general manager. Overlooking key accomplishments is frequently a way job hunters undersell themselves.
In every first interview Bill had had, he had been asked to describe his education. In each case he explained that he had been to the University of Kentucky and had majored in mechanical engineering. In reviewing the Champion interview, he recognized that he had been greatly understating the implications of this education.
So, in the Arrow interview the next day Bill described it in this way, "I went to the University of Kentucky and majored in mechanical engineering. While I was there I carried on a 20-hour-a-week job which allowed me to pay 75 percent of my expenses. I graduated with honors with a B+ average and at the same time was able to play three years on the baseball team and was vice president of my fraternity." The executive vice president of Arrow was obviously impressed and he stated, "That shows that you are obviously damn smart and highly motivated." This example illustrates another great difficulty for many job hunters-they communicate their accomplishments ineffectively. Bill Jackson's experience is not unusual at all according to many of the best outplacement consultants. In fact, less than 1 percent of all job hunters overstate their accomplishments, and the vast majority greatly understate them. Let's see now how you can overcome this difficulty.
Presenting your accomplishments
How can you present these accomplishments most effectively? To help there is an easy called PAR-P = Problem, A = Action, R = Result.
For each of your key accomplishments answer: What was the problem? What action did you take? What was the result? You will find it worthwhile to take the time to outline each one of your PARs in writing. You will use them many times in your campaign.
Sometimes important experiences don't lend themselves to it easily. Note that not only does such a write-up show how to outline your accomplishments in detail to make a satisfactory presentation in your interviews, but it also serves as an example of a condensation of each, suitable for your resume. Underline key words and phrases to identify the highlights you want to include in your resume. Spend considerable time on the wording of each of your accomplishments for your resume. Note the importance of using action words. A key point to get across is how effectively you work out solutions to problems and work with people in getting them implemented.
Examining your accomplishments in depth will provide you with the basic information you need for your resume.
