The Best way to Write your Resume Work Experience

Your resume feels perfect.

Contact information? – Accurate and up-to-date.

Performance summary? – Clear, strategic, and brief.?

Education? – Yep.

But job accomplishments. . .? Yikes.?

You might have your titles, employers, and dates all figured out, but writing the job accomplishments can sometimes feel like one of the hardest parts of the whole process.

Unfortunately, it is not enough to simply list the duties you’ve performed– you need to convey your impact, show how your experience aligns with the job you’re applying for, and ideally, back it up with quantifiable results.?

But– where do you even begin?

Do not worry, in this short guide we’re going to take it one step at a time, just like we would if we were creating a resume together. Whether you are drafting your first resume or updating an existing one, the process can be broken down into manageable chunks.?

Step 1: Understand the Role You’re Applying for

Before you can write effective job accomplishments, it is essential to fully understand what the employer values. Take the time to read through the job description carefully. What are the core responsibilities and key requirements for the role? What skills and experiences is the employer going to desire??

For example, let us say you happen to be applying for a public relations (PR) position. The job description likely mentions managing social channels, handling communications with the press, creating marketing campaigns, or developing sweeping strategies to enhance brand visibility.?

Notice, when analyzing the job description, we’re looking for those hard skills and other requirements the employer values. Before applying, make sure you meet at least 80 percent of the skills listed. Using the job description and your past experience, we can target the job accomplishments right to the job description.?

Step 2: Reflect on Your Past Roles & Transfer Related Skills, Results, & Experience

One more partial step before writing the job accomplishments: the balancing act of examining your past roles and transferring their skills to the job description.?

Once you understand what the job is looking for, think about your past work experiences and consider how they could relate to the employer. What results, hard skills, or experience do you have that the employer will be interested in? By thinking this through, you can make sure your past work is directly relevant to what you can do for the employer once we begin writing the job accomplishments.?

Word of caution– don’t get bogged down trying to find the perfect job experience. Sometimes, even jobs that seem unrelated on the surface can have transferable skills that will serve you well in the job you’re applying for.?

For instance, let us take a look at that public relations example again: if you have worked as a customer service representative, you might have developed communication and problem-solving skills that are just as important in a public relations role as they are in a customer-facing job.?

Of course, the ideal past job experience we’re looking for is specific hard skills and results relevant to the needs of the employer. But do not discount your other roles, just because they do not fit the job description to a square.?

Step 3: Writing Accomplishments– Challenge, Action, Result.?

Now that you have a solid understanding of your role and how your past experience connects to the job you’re applying for, it’s time to start shaping your job accomplishments. This part might take some reflection, but don’t worry—it’s not about making things perfect right away. It’s about putting together a clear picture of the impact you’ve made.

Often it’s easy to fall into the habit of listing tasks rather than accomplishments. For example, if you worked in customer service, you might write something like, “Answered customer inquiries and resolved issues.” While that’s true, it doesn’t really highlight what you brought to the role.?

Instead, think about the bigger picture. Did you help make things run more smoothly? Did you find ways to support customers better? Even small wins, like streamlining a process or improving response times, matter. Your experience is valuable, and this is your chance to show how you made a difference.

One simple acronym sums up exactly how we will write these job accomplishments. Moving away from task-oriented job accomplishments we want to follow CAR– that is, what is the challenge the role imposed, what was the action you took, and what was the measurable and significant result??

Step 4: Use Action Verbs to Set the Stage

Leading into these job accomplishments with the CAR model, we first want to bring them to life using action verbs. These give the accomplishments more “eumpf”, make them more accessible for the recruiter, and set you up for success when describing the challenge, action, and result.?

These action verbs could include “led,” “developed,” “improved,” “streamlined,” or “implemented” and more, but again, the point is to show your impact on prior roles.

Putting this into practice, for example, instead of simply saying,?

“Helped onboard new customers,”?

you could say,

“Designed and implemented smoother onboarding process, reducing setup time and improving customer experience”.

See how the second version feels more engaging? It implies the challenge (the onboarding process was not smooth sailing), describes the action you took, and concludes with a significant result.?

It tells a story of positive change.

Step 5: Include Quantifiable Results (When Possible)

Now, we have written a fine job accomplishment showing your impact, but what if you have the numbers to support? – Include them!

Metrics make your contributions feel more tangible. If you increased efficiency, improved customer satisfaction, or grew engagement, let that shine through. For example, we could write this for a customer service role:?

“Streamlined customer service processes, reducing response time 35% and improving customer satisfaction scores 12% over six months”

That said, if you don’t have exact numbers, that’s okay too. Using the CAR model, we can still highlight what you did and how it affected your responsibilities within the role.?

For instance, instead of “Managed social media accounts,”?

you could say,

“Managed social media strategy, growing engagement and improving brand’s online presence”.

Step 6: Additional Information

The basics of writing all job accomplishments are the same. Use the CAR model and show your impact to a targeted job, but there are some very understandable questions that sometimes come up. Before we end the guide, here are some other things to consider:

How many job accomplishments per role? Generally, try to add 3-5 job accomplishments per role. That’s usually enough to showcase the variety of your contributions without overloading the recruiter. But– if you’re going for a senior level role, you can stretch it to 6 or more. Just make sure every one of them counts.

What about similar job accomplishments? Try not to repeat accomplishments across different roles, especially if they are repeated metrics. Keep each accomplishment fresh and unique to avoid sounding redundant. Depending on the role and your field, there could be exceptions, but in most cases, it wastes a job accomplishment that could be used for something new.?

Hard skills in your Job Accomplishments? Showcase your hard skills within your accomplishments. If you’ve worked with tools or strategies, mention them directly. For example, saying “Led social media campaign using Hootsuite and Google Analytics” not only shows your leadership but also highlights your technical expertise.

ChatGPT Prompt: Try using this prompt to help you write you accomplishment. Copy/Paste your CAR. Then, ask ChatGPT: Write resume accomplishments and be concise. Use action verb to start each accomplishment.?