Resume Achievements

The stimulus to help trigger desire is your list of accomplishments, also known as results, impact Achievements, outcomes, contributions, advantages, achievements, or any other equivalent term.

Words to Woo Employers

Contributions set the stage for showing why the employer needs you and how you can satisfy the need. Your goal is to write shocking Resume Achievements that will cause the employer to stop and think you are the candidate has really made a difference for past employers and they need someone like you to do the same for their company.

Resume Achievements take you a step beyond the experience and education of your competition; because it is difficult to compare two candidate’s contributions, they might keep you in the running longer than a candidate who might have accomplished more than you but didn’t communicate it as well on the resume.

Resume Achievements examples

To illustrate how impact Achievements can address these buying motivators, We have listed each of the 10 reasons again in the following sections, along with possible impact resume Achievements for each reason.

Employers Motivator Achievements Examples

A critical analysis of buying motivators 1 through 10 reveals that some categories are nearly synonymous: such as saving time and saving money, and making work easier and saving time. Nonetheless, our motivation for supplying this detail is twofold:

  • To give you a broad springboard for ideas on how to write your own resume Achievements.
  • To point out how virtually any contribution you make can affect the bottom line.

1. Make Money Motivation

  • Captured a 12% gain in net profit, a record for the company’s 60-year history.
  • Reengineered operations enterprise-wide to net over $1 million in additional profits.
  • Built sales for start-up company from zero to $6.5 million over a four-year period.
  • Earned company $350,000 in incentive bonuses through on-time completion of commercial construction projects.
  • Countered a $45,000 annual increase in rent (relocated to high-profile location) with a $260,000 increase in sales.
  • Introduced new products to boost sales 14%.
  • Reversed branch’s historically poor performance from ranking #33 out of 35 units to #1 in country for sales, with added honors as Top Service Branch.
  • Achieved a nationally unprecedented 50% increase for product placed in field.
  • Prepared and presented proposals to secure more than $5 million in venture-capital financing.
  • Doubled sales volume for three consecutive years.

2. Save Money Motivation

  • Cut purchasing costs 24% through vendor partnership program.
  • Sourced new overseas vendors, providing equivalent quality in raw materials at half the cost.
  • Reduced expenses from 150% of target to goal attainment in all major expense categories.
  • Initiated cost controls that reduced labor expenses by more than $50,000 (7%).
  • Designed purchasing strategy to upgrade communications equipment to digital system at no cost to company.
  • Identified obsolete inventory on contractual service agreements to cut equipment maintenance costs 28%.
  • Captured a 20% savings for primary expense category via consolidation of services.
  • Trimmed more than $20,000 (15%) from upcoming fiscal year budget through business process reengineering.
  • Cut the cost-to-hire by 40% through improvements in recruiting policies.

3. Save Time Motivation

  • Retooled job descriptions to eliminate monthly overtime costs of $6,000.
  • Performed the work previously required of two full-time employees.
  • Reduced time requirements for month-end close of books from seven to two days.
  • Introduced technology that took data transfer from two-day process to “real time” mode; idea was subsequently adopted by company’s three satellite offices.
  • Pared hiring time on “hard to fill” positions from 90 to 30 days through electronic search vehicles.
  • Transitioned production from “batch oriented” to “cell groups,” slashing internal lead time through fabrication from 20 days to less than 1 day.
  • Introduced secretarial staff to timesaving concepts from the classic One-Minute Manager and other personal reading; team now has time for special projects that had been “on hold” for more than six months.
  • As change agent, analyzed administrative processes and introduced new protocol that reduced weekly report generation time by 75%.
  • Created new “find it fast” system for file checkout; idea has eliminated frequent two-hour searches for missing files.
  • Redesigned office layout, pairing support units with assigned managers for faster access and communication.

4. Make Work Easier Motivation

  • Consolidated business forms to reduce paperwork and eliminate duplication of information.
  • Merged four fragmented service centers into centralized unit to improve order-processing time 40%.
  • Anticipated HR issues associated with company’s growing pains and put “expandable” systems in place that accommodated a 25% annual growth in staffing.
  • Analyzed warehouse receiving process and implemented system that reduced unnecessary and time-consuming steps in stocking.
  • Introduced inventory-management software that eliminated costly physical inventory counts.
  • Initiated employee town-hall meetings and brown-bag lunches to gather input from all levels of organization; ideas generated from employees collectively boosted productivity 20%.
  • Created safety-awareness program that reduced occurrence of back injuries from 20 per year to 1.
  • Secured vendor involvement in trade shows to reduce staffing requirements 20%.
  • Served as impenetrable gatekeeper for executives, freeing them to focus on leadership responsibilities.
  • Created internship program that boosted capability of engineering team while providing mentorship services and an opportunity to screen and recruit some of the university’s brightest graduates.

5. Solve a Specific Problem Motivation

  • Troubleshot recurring computer crashes for key customer; traced problem to vendor software, facilitated corrections, and maintained account valued at $70,000 in annual income.
  • Appointed to lead team that replaced antiquated computer system for telecommunications leader; produced application that satisfied regulatory and internal requirements, while providing added commercialization potential worth millions.
  • Suggested tie-line communication system that enabled employees to call Xerox locations nationwide from customer sites without long-distance charges; idea generated $8,000 savings in branch for first year alone.
  • Challenged with providing uninterrupted services to club members during six-month, $4.7 million construction project; accommodated all events without inconvenience, including three-day regional invitational tournament culminating in dinner for 1,000.
  • Resolved approximately 25% of calls for service with telephone troubleshooting skills (company average for problem resolution by telephone is only 10%).
  • Addressed recurring quality issue that had been largely ignored by predecessors; resolution resulted in key customer increasing product orders 60%.
  • Assembled cross-functional team representing engineering, production, logistics, and warehousing to tackle complex production problem; initiative led to a 20% cost reduction and a 30% increase in productivity.
  • Virtually eliminated assembly-line “holds” and downtime through implementation of computer-based shortage-tracking system.
  • Suggested voice-mail solution to handle fluctuating volume of customer inquiries; technology saved expense of additional FTEs while making it easier for customers to access needed information.
  • Transferred paper records to magnetic media, simultaneously addressing storage space and ease-of-access issues.

6. Be More Competitive Motivation

  • Led strategy task force that captured across-the-board, 10-point increase in national regulatory audit (scores indicate quality performance above national average, highest in organization’s history).
  • Initiated company-sponsored training and certification programs for technical team; investment positioned XYZ as local market leader and enabled company to earn first-time contracts with Fortune 500 clients.
  • Managed post-acquisition strategy for divestiture of non-performing assets and reinvestment in high-performance assets, in some cases generating as much as an eightfold increase in annual returns.
  • Accessed influential community resources representing business, education, government, and civic leaders to promote city’s bid as site for a new University of California campus.
  • Translated marketing materials into Spanish and Hmong, gaining dominant presence in markets left virtually ignored by competitors.
  • Recruited top talent to expand division 25%; negotiated pay-for-performance contracts that kept labor costs at 10% below national average.
  • Selected for branch troubleshooting assignment to reverse eroding market share with advent of new competitor; inherited dissipating loan portfolio and rebuilt client relationships and deposit/loan portfolios to record levels.
  • Facilitated transition of company from price-sensitive competitor to a quality-driven service organization; new philosophy attracted niche market customers that boosted earnings 9%.
  • Challenged with liquidation of difficult-to-sell commercial properties to favorably position bank during aggressive growth (closed several sales in as little as 30 days, with one property selling at $60,000 above book value)—successes helped position branch as most desirable for acquisition.
  • Offered health benefits and accrued vacation time to temporary workers of a human resources staffing company; initiative increased client orders as a result of attracting better-skilled temps.

7. Build Relationships/Image with Public and Customers

  • Negotiated exclusive referral relationship with prestigious industry resource; alliance created image of a full-service organization for sole proprietor firm, without the need for additional capital infusion.
  • Debuted quarterly newsletter and grew it to a 20-page publication packed with valuable communiqués on legal concerns, legislative issues, educational updates, and technology advancements.
  • Spearheaded concept for educational/public relations video and brochures that document the mining industry’s success in reclamation of mined areas into viable wetlands, agricultural lands, and commercial uses.
  • Transformed association from fragmented factions into a cohesive, member-driven alliance proactively representing home education issues throughout the state.
  • Counseled executives on response to media inquiries and management of critical and potentially volatile issues; proactive stance promoted a favorable understanding of issues by citizens and employees and resulted in positive newspaper editorial and broadcast coverage.
  • Introduced Supplier Certification/Partnering, achieving company vendor alliance goals for quality, cost reductions, and expansion.
  • Initiated proactive telephone campaign to students’ parents to address concerns about changes from traditional to year-round school schedule.
  • Designed and produced series of high-profile communications to create company’s first fully integrated corporate communications campaign (annual reports, marketing materials, publications, website, print ads, collateral materials, etc.).
  • Forged with print and broadcast media relationships that have elevated the organization’s image as a hub for family-values issues and yielded a tenfold increase in media coverage; introduced sophisticated electronic methods for rapid dissemination of press releases.
  • Coordinated full-day staff-development event designed to promote departmental communications with internal customers—event was attended by 175+ staff members, physicians, and corporate executives; designed, scheduled, and coordinated interactive, entertaining seminars, such as a well-received spin-off of the game show Jeopardy.

8. Expand Business Motivation

  • Introduced “service bundling,” a concept new to the industry that captured an average 18% increase in 22 branches.
  • Supported R&D in achieving 50% increase in new products brought to market.
  • Launched first market in the nation for major Internet service provider; exceeded goals for all key performance indicators.
  • Collaborated on new product development, pricing, and roll-out—all new products met or exceeded first-year distribution goals.
  • Acquired undercapitalized competitor to capture dominant market share (up from approximately 25 to 40%).
  • Created marketing strategies to address fluctuating market conditions—during critical economic period, led company in campaign increases of as much as 153%.
  • Polled customers to identify preferences for additional services; introduced add-ons that increased average ticket sale by 7%.
  • Added training component to repair business; demand grew staff from one to four full-time certified instructors, adding $175,000 in revenue.
  • Launched new products and line extension (R&D, EPA approval, pricing, market planning, and sales presentations), capturing leading market share in less than six months.
  • Obtained additional industry certifications, enabling organization to offer exclusive services and capture lucrative add-on sales.

9. Attract New Customers Motivation

  • Cultivated relationships with influential Stanford physicians (previously inaccessible), gaining support for antiarthritic products to drive up regional sales 19%.
  • Sourced new customers through electronic research, generating a 12% increase in active accounts.
  • Attracted top sales performers from competitors with established client lists, expanding active customer database by more than 200%.
  • Offered existing customers referral incentives; program achieved a 10:1 return on investment for marketing funds.
  • Gained access to previously “no see” accounts through intensive networking and volunteerism efforts; recently completed contract negotiations with several of these accounts that will double personal sales production.
  • Analyzed promotional spending to identify ad vehicle generating largest new-customer response; data will enable company to increase future ROI 5% (from 3 to 8%).
  • Directed Chamber of Commerce membership drive that yielded a record 125 new members in a 24-hour period.
  • Led company’s first foray into television advertising; campaign labeled a “huge success” by Board of Directors and contributed to fourfold sales growth.
  • Launched company’s first Web page to capture technology-savvy, high-net-worth customers; electronic sales have grown from zero to $30,000 in first six months.
  • Secured new business with national accounts such as Wal-Mart (eight states), Home Depot, and Orchard Supply Hardware—national pres-ence supported sales growth from $100,000 to $2 million in five-year period.

10. Retain Existing Customers Motivation

  • Increased customer-retention figures from 70 to 96%.
  • Implemented direct-mail follow-up program for new customers; data reflects a 55% increase in repeat customers.
  • Boosted policy renewals from below average to top 5% in the country.
  • Improved customer satisfaction ranking from #10 to #1 among 12 branches.
  • Offered creative, low-cost incentive program for repeat purchases; program was adopted on national scale and contributed to strongest sales growth in company’s 77-year history.
  • Initiated direct-mail campaign for retail boutique that increased average number of purchases from two to four per year.
  • Acquired mailing lists that tapped target audience; tracking of customer purchases showed a 30% greater response than prior direct-mail sources.
  • Established company’s first customer database, equipping young organization with tools to plan, implement, and carefully monitor success of marketing campaigns.
  • Member of customer service team that supported a customer-retention rate of 85%—among the highest in the company.
  • Recruited to turn around sales territory with three-year record of declining sales and reputation for poor customer service; within 12 months, rebuilt relationships and obtained orders from key accounts to show a 47% increase in sales.

Making Resume Achievements for a positive corporate culture

These sample resume Achievements should trigger the salivary glands of any profit-conscious manager. Important to note is that the 100 examples cut across professional boundaries. Buying motivators are “seamless” when it comes to your profession—virtually all employers want someone who can help make money, save money, save time, solve problems, and so on.

Regardless of your title, there are few limitations on which buying motivator category you can contribute. Some professions will be more closely aligned with certain categories, such as sales professionals with making money and managers with saving money. At the same time, however, secretaries can just as well contribute to the “make money” category, sales representatives can contribute to the “save time” category, and engineers can contribute to the “retain customers” category. Adopting this common goal mentality makes for a positive corporate culture, adds to your camaraderie with colleagues, and contributes to career satisfaction.