{"id":53032,"date":"2019-02-01T14:22:52","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T22:22:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=arcnews&p=53032"},"modified":"2023-08-04T16:16:15","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T23:16:15","slug":"what-have-you-accomplished","status":"publish","type":"arcnews","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/what-have-you-accomplished","title":{"rendered":"What Have You Accomplished?"},"author":1312,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10992],"tags":[160592,160602],"arcnews_issues":[25212],"class_list":["post-53032","arcnews","type-arcnews","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-managing-gis","tag-jobs","tag-resume","arcnews_issues-spring-2018","arcnews_sections-gis-people"],"acf":{"short_description":"Managing GIS: A column from members of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association","pdf":{"host_remotely":true,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Managing GIS: A column from members of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"At some point, everyone looks for a job, whether straight out of college or partway through a career, voluntarily or involuntarily. In standard hiring practices, all job applicants have to submit a r\u00e9sum\u00e9\u2014through a human resources department, a colleague, or even a friend.\r\n\r\nThis r\u00e9sum\u00e9 is a job candidate\u2019s one shot at making a first impression. The right one can land someone a job interview. The wrong one can put anyone straight into the \u201cno\u201d pile.\r\n\r\nSo what makes a strong r\u00e9sum\u00e9? For starters, r\u00e9sum\u00e9s need to highlight accomplishments, not previous responsibilities. To ensure that your r\u00e9sum\u00e9 actually does this, here are some tips I have compiled after sifting through countless r\u00e9sum\u00e9s over the years.\r\n

It\u2019s About Accomplishments, Not Responsibilities<\/h2>\r\nAside from general errors and avoidable typos (I had someone misspell\u00a0SQL<\/em>\u00a0once), most people are making one glaring mistake on their r\u00e9sum\u00e9s: they aren\u2019t telling hiring managers what they have actually accomplished in their careers.\r\n\r\nAccomplishments are different from responsibilities. Responsibilities are the tasks and activities that someone was hired to do; anyone hired for that position could list out their job responsibilities. Accomplishments, however, are the results of effectively carrying out those responsibilities; only people who execute a job well could put accomplishments down on their r\u00e9sum\u00e9s.\r\n\r\nThe most straightforward way to present accomplishments is by having a series of bullet points underneath each job subheading that highlight what you achieved. This shows hiring managers that you have done most, if not all, the tasks required to perform well in the role they are hiring for.\r\n

How to Change Course<\/h2>\r\nThere\u2019s a simple way to turn a responsibilities-oriented r\u00e9sum\u00e9 into an accomplishments-oriented one. It requires a simple, two-step process.\r\n\r\nFirst, underneath one of your previous job titles, write a brief, one-to-two-sentence paragraph that explains what you were hired to do. Second, in a subsequent set of bullet points, list out what you actually achieved in relation to these responsibilities. Then do that for every single job on your r\u00e9sum\u00e9.\r\n\r\nTo illustrate how this works, here\u2019s an example. In their current positions, Sandra and Bob both work on data conversion projects. Sadly, Bob is often behind schedule, has to continually fix errors, and never tries to figure out how to improve the process. Sandra, on the other hand, always converts her files quickly and accurately. She figured out how to automate the conversion process and improved production procedures. In fact, Bob started using Sandra\u2019s script for his conversions.\r\n\r\nBoth Sandra and Bob could write the following bullet points on their r\u00e9sum\u00e9s:\r\n