How important is it to include measurable accomplishments on your resume? According to one survey, 33% of hiring managers said not including them was a deal breaker.

So when applying for a job, make sure you include measurable resume accomplishments. They show prospective employers what you really bring to the table.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to craft powerful resume accomplishments as well as provide you with examples across various fields.

What are resume accomplishments?

Resume accomplishments are specific, measurable achievements from your work history. They use numbers to show exactly how you made a positive difference at your jobs.

Resume accomplishments prove to hiring managers that you have the skills to benefit the company you are applying to.

Resume accomplishments vs. job responsibilities

Job responsibilities are the duties you are expected to perform at your job. Resume accomplishments focus on the successful outcomes of those duties.

In other words, job responsibilities tell what you do; accomplishments show how well you do it.

For example:

  • Job responsibility: “Managed customer complaints and resolved disputes.”
  • Resume accomplishment: “Managed customer complaints and resolved disputes in a timely manner, which improved customer satisfaction by 30% in just 2 months.

Where do you include resume accomplishments?

The best place to add resume accomplishments is to your work experience section. Here’s an example of a work experience section featuring measurable accomplishments:

Showing measurable resume accomplishments in the work experience section of a resume.

Another good place to add your resume accomplishments is to your resume summary. This is a brief statement at the beginning of your resume that provides a snapshot of your qualifications.

Here’s an example of a resume summary featuring measurable accomplishments:

Showing measurable resume accomplishments in the resume summary section.

If you’re a new graduate with limited experience, highlight your volunteer work, internships, and academic projects on your resume to showcase your achievements.

How many resume accomplishments do you need?

We recommend having at least five measurable accomplishments on your resume. The more the better!

To find out if your resume includes enough accomplishments, try running it through Jobscan’s resume scanner. This AI-powered tool helps you optimize your resume for any job by highlighting the key experience and skills recruiters want to see – including your measurable accomplishments.

Here’s an example of the measurable results section of Jobscan’s resume scanner:

Showing the measurable results section of Jobscan's resume scanner.

How to write resume accomplishments

To start generating ideas for your resume accomplishments, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Did I make or save the company money? 
  • Did I reach my goals quickly? 
  • Did I exceed my goals often? 
  • Did I contribute towards achieving company goals?
  • Did I create a system or process that helped the company’s productivity?
  • Did I help the company reduce costs and waste? 
  • Did I help improve customer satisfaction and retention? 
  • Did I receive awards for my performance?
  • Did I lead a team and drive them to achieve our KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)?

When answering these questions, think about money and time. Dollar amounts, timespans, volume, and percentages are all great ways to quantify your accomplishments on a resume.

Tips for creating powerful resume accomplishments

1. Use the CAR formula if you get stuck.

CAR stands for Challenge, Action, and Result. Your accomplishment should start with the problem or challenge, the action you took, and the result of your hard work.

Here’s an example of how to use the CAR formula:

Challenge: As a marketing intern at XYZ Corp, I was tasked with increasing the engagement rate of our social media channels, which had been stagnant for the past six months.

Action: I initiated a comprehensive social media strategy that involved market research, audience analysis, and the creation of a content calendar. I also implemented a new series of interactive posts and live Q&A sessions with product managers to boost audience interaction.

Result: Over the course of the internship, the social media engagement rate increased by 40%, and follower count grew by 15%. The live Q&A sessions became a monthly feature due to their popularity, receiving an average of 200 interactions per session.

Putting it all together for a resume bullet point:

  • Revitalized XYZ Corp’s social media engagement by crafting and executing a dynamic content strategy, resulting in a 40% increase in engagement and a 15% growth in follower base within four months.

Pro-tip: Use strong verbs like initiated, exceeded, outperformed, and mobilized. They grab the recruiter’s attention and are more impactful.

2. Include context when possible

Including context means providing the information necessary to understand the significance of your achievement. This helps the employer gauge the scale and impact of your work.

For example:

  • “Saved $100,000” doesn’t mean much on its own.
  • “Saved $100,000 year over year” is an improvement but still doesn’t paint a complete picture.
  • “Saved $100,000 year over year, decreasing operating budget by 52%” is much better

3. Incorporate keywords found in the job description

It’s crucial to include relevant keywords in your resume accomplishments. This is because most companies today use software called an applicant tracking system (ATS) to help sort and filter resumes.

When you send in your resume, it goes into an ATS database. Hiring managers find resumes by typing keywords into the database’s search bar. If your resume doesn’t contain these keywords it won’t be found.

This is why you should tailor each resume to the specific job you’re applying to. You do this by reading the job description and picking out the skills and requirements mentioned most often. Then add them to your resume.

Most job seekers don’t do this because it takes time and effort, but you can speed up this process by using Jobscan’s resume scanner.

The scanner uses AI-powered technology to analyze your resume against the job description. It then provides you with a match score. It also tells you exactly which skills and keywords you need to add to your resume to increase your score.

Here’s an example (missing keywords have a red circle):

Example of Jobscan's Power Edit resume score and suggested keywords.

To make resume optimization even faster and more effective, try our Power Edit feature (available to Jobscan’s Premium users).

For example, Power Edit shows you how to seamlessly integrate missing keywords into your resume. All you have to do is click on a keyword and you’ll see multiple phrase suggestions you can choose from:

Example of Power Edit's phrase suggestions feature.

You can turn these phrase suggestions into measurable accomplishments simply by adding numbers and metrics when appropriate.

Jobscan’s resume scanner allows you to create highly-targeted resumes faster and with greater ease. By sending out more quality resumes you’ll greatly increase your chances of getting more interviews.

Jobscan also offers tools to help you generate cover letters using AI, optimize your LinkedIn profile, and track your job applications.

67 resume accomplishments examples

Quick Links:

Customer service examples

  • Maintained a 97% satisfaction rating over a 24-month period as a customer care representative.
  • Increased client retention by 59% by implementing an efficient grievance resolution process and customer feedback system.
  • Managed 500+ customer accounts without any complaints in 5 years and with 100% customer rating in online reviews.
  • Increased customer base by 25% and improved customer response time by 11%, directly impacting sales in 2023.
  • Drove Quality Assurance (QA) from an average of 65% to 90%.

More examples: Customer Service Skills and Resume Examples

Sales examples

  • Exceeded retail sales goals by an average of 17% every quarter in 2023.
  • Expaned the client base by 60% in just 3 months.
  • Implemented an efficient sales funnel, directly increasing sales by 30% in 2023.
  • Created a robust pipeline and improved closing rate by 11% in just 2 months.
  • Awarded as the Top Salesman in Company X for 4 consecutive years.
  • Led a team of 10 sales professionals who consistently brought big accounts, driving year-over-year company profits at a rate of 80%. 

More examples: Sales Resume Examples, Skills, and Keywords

Marketing examples

  • Created campaigns that facilitated improved market share and customer engagement in 2023.
  • Grew email subscriber list from 300 to 2,000 in 8 months without expanding the monthly budget.
  • Managed and deployed profitable Facebook ad campaigns with a monthly budget of $20,000.
  • Created an SEO strategy that improved organic search traffic to the corporate blog by 58% year over year.
  • Created 32 new blog posts, 5 eBooks, and 6 landing pages, making up 30% of the company’s online content.
  • Exceeded customer acquisition target by 25% and increased new subscribers by 50% by launching niche marketing campaigns.
  • Exceeded partner development sign-on goals by 20% in Q1 2023.

More examples: Marketing Resume Examples, Skills, and Keywords

Computer science examples

  • Reduced data processing time by 50% by building a new cloud data infrastructure.
  • Worked with the CEO to analyze 10+ technology systems and consolidate them into a new system that encompassed all programs needed to reach business needs.
  • Set up and trained a staff of 15 on how to use the Microsoft Azure platform for cloud computing purposes.
  • Reduced company spending from $6M to $800K and reduced mainframe software costs by proposing renegotiating strategies.

More examples: Computer Science and Engineering Resume Examples

Management examples

  • Created a company culture initiative that raised employee satisfaction rates by 25% year over year.
  • Hired and managed a team of 6 data scientists to successfully deploy a new data processing platform ahead of schedule.
  • Implemented a bi-weekly meeting with 9 other department heads to discuss goals, updates, and challenges, increasing productivity across departments by 20% year over year.
  • Reimagined business development strategy to include a 20% increase in Salesforce, resulting in $550M in increased profits year over year.
  • Led the company through a complicated re-organization, resulting in a 75% increase in profits with minimal employee turnover.
  • Grew working capital by 30% in 6 months, allowing the company to take advantage of better resources for continued growth.
  • Implemented a company-wide work-from-home policy, resulting in an 87% increase in employee satisfaction, a 21% increase in productivity, and a 38% decrease in PTO usage.
  • Received 2 promotions, from co-management to director-level, in less than 12 months.
  • Chosen for the team lead on 15 design projects in 2023, 30% more projects led than any other team members.

More examples: Management Resume Examples, Skills, and Keywords

Human resources examples

  • Raised employee retention rates by 15% over a 5-year period by implementing a tiered interview system and organizing a minimum of 2 team outings per quarter.
  • Counseled, educated, and advised over 3,500 university students in a span of just a year.
  • Created simplified HR processes that boosted company productivity and morale by 10%.
  • Prepared regular pulse surveys for employees that increased transparency and engagement by 11%.
  • Recruited at least 30+ high-performing individuals who are now executives in big companies in the course of 3 years.
  • Organized the company’s annual international summit, including flights, accommodations, and itineraries for more than 30 attendees.
  • Scheduled and staffed coaching sessions for 70 weekly athletics classes.
  • Organized quarterly volunteer projects with upwards of 50 volunteers per event.

More examples: HR Resume Examples, Skills, and Keywords

Education examples

  • Assisted head teacher in overseeing and educating 18 students for 3 months.
  • Developed a comprehensive student submission system for final exam projects in the University’s online portal, accessible by more than 3,000 students.
  • Approved more than 50 pieces of new curriculum in the foreign languages department during the Spring semester of 2023.
  • Documented children’s learning processes and regularly met with parents, increasing student performance by 32% and parent engagement by 20%.
  • Awarded as an outstanding secondary teacher in Mathematics within the district for 3 consecutive years.

More examples: ​​Education Resume Examples, Skills, and Keywords

Administrative work examples

  • Reduced time spent on inventory by 20% by reorganizing the physical storage of supplies.
  • Digitized the company’s internal microfilm library of more than 5,000 files.
  • Managed multi-line phone system and effectively handled 200 tickets on a daily basis, contributing to a 60% increase in customer satisfaction.
  • Established an efficient document database during my first 30 days in Company X, reducing slack time by 10% and improving overall efficiency.
  • Created policies for the entire administrative team and streamlined processes that helped boost employee morale by 15%.
  • Provided administrative support to the Director of Operations and 50+ team heads in the office while helping HR with employee orientation and training.
  • Implemented a filing system for human resources, organizing more than 300 past and current employee documents.

More examples: Administrative Resume Examples, Skills, and Keywords

Accounting and finance examples

  • Led a process redesign and decreased the company’s month-end close time by 53%.
  • Increased the department’s productivity by 10% by establishing process improvement initiatives and implementing strict compliance with GAAP and SEC guidelines.
  • Provided timely financial reports that led to business improvement and a 25% drop in company costs in 2023.
  • Offered financial advice on crypto assets and investments to 50+ executives.
  • Contributed to over $65,000 in profits in 2023 through proposed system changes and investment strategies.

More examples: Accounting and Finance Resume Examples, Skills, and Keywords

Content marketing examples

  • Wrote 400+ relevant and helpful articles and increased organic website traffic by 21%.
  • Trained 10 content writers on content generation and high-impact writing, which improved Company Y’s Google rankings in 2023.
  • Created press releases that landed in the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Financial Times.

More examples: Writer Resume Examples, Skills, and Keywords

Other Fields

  • Provided in-home non-medical care for more than 15 senior citizens during a 4-year tenure, earning “Caregiver of the Month” on 4 occasions.
  • Published 6 scholarly articles in esteemed legal online publications on topics related to bankruptcy litigation over a 12-month period.
  • Increased shipping times by 100% by implementing computerized inventory and ticketing systems.
  • Created a 20-page training manual from scratch and led bi-weekly training sessions for new tour guides.
  • Performed an average of 15 real estate showings per week on upscale properties worth between $700,000 and $2 million.
  • Headed up a laboratory sleep study with 5 other research scientists to study 25 participants with sleep apnea.
  • Facilitated the opening of 250 new customer bank accounts in 2023.
  • Directed 25 events per year, including complex public events with more than 20,000 attendees.

More examples: Resume Examples for Any Job

Key Takeaways

Resume accomplishments are a powerful way to convince recruiters and hiring managers to move you to the next step in the hiring process and interview you.

Here are few things to remember:

  • Resume accomplishments are more valuable to recruiters than job responsibilities and duties.
  • If you feel stumped in writing your work accomplishment statements, use the CAR method. Start with a challenge, then share the action you did and the result. Don’t forget to use powerful action words.
  • Since recruiters use ATS to sift through applications, make sure to incorporate relevant keywords from the job description into your resume accomplishment statements.
  • Optimize your resume and increase your score with Jobscan’s resume scanner.

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Why are resume accomplishments better than job responsibilities?

Using resume accomplishments in place of responsibilities makes the most out of resume space by showing the hiring manager that you are results-driven and have a history of going beyond the expected requirements. 

Unlike job responsibilities, resume accomplishments prove to recruiters and hiring managers that there are unique skills and areas of expertise that you bring to the table and that you have a tangible track record of success.

How do you turn job responsibilities into resume accomplishments?

Converting job responsibilities into personal accomplishments is easy. You can use the CAR formula: Challenge + Action + Result.

For example: 

Job responsibility: “Wrote blog posts for Company X.”

To turn this into a resume accomplishment statement, you can say:

“Wrote relevant blog posts for Company X, which increased website traffic by 70% and customer conversion rate by 50% in three months.”

How do you identify your accomplishments?

You can start by writing down instances where you positively contributed towards company goals, profitability, or productivity.

Ask yourself:

  • Did I make or save the company money? If so, exactly how much?
  • Did I reach my goals quickly? If so, what was the exact time period?
  • Did I exceed my goals often? If so, to what degree?

How do you write an accomplishment statement?

Start your statement with an action verb, then follow the CAR formula wherein you state a challenge you faced, the action you took, and the measurable outcome of what you did.

Where do you list resume statements examples on a resume?

You can list personal accomplishments examples in the following sections of your resume:

  • Work experience
  • Resume summary
  • Volunteer section (especially for recent graduates)
  • Projects, internships, awards

Why do employers care about past achievements?

Employers value your past successes and achievements because they show what kind of employee you are and are indicative of your future job performance.

What do you include in your resume accomplishments if you are a recent graduate?

You can include volunteer experiences and list the soft skills that you were able to use and some measurable outcomes during volunteering. You can also highlight your academic awards and extracurricular achievements.

Check out this article about writing a resume with no experience.

How do you write resume accomplishments when you are a career changer?

If you are changing careers, you may include measurable achievements that are relevant to the job that you are applying for. You can specify how your previous achievements will help you in your new career.

Check out our guide on how to explain employment gaps.


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