Undergraduate Career Services

Accomplishment Statements

Accomplishment statements illustrate the skills you used or actions you took in your jobs and the results of your “work.” Avoid using “responsible for” and “duties included.” A well-formulated accomplishment has two parts:

  • The results or benefits that came as a result of your work.These results should be stated in terms of the value added, tangible, and quantified. Quantifiers: %, $, frequency (daily, monthly, etc.)
  • The action you took to achieve the benefits/results.

When drafting your accomplishments – ask yourself the following questions:

  • What you did?
  • Why did you do it?
  • What were the results?
  • What are the specifics (quantifiers)?
  • Does your wording and content focus on information most relevant to your industry or desired job?

Accomplishments may include:

  • Saving time or money (i.e.: finishing projects on time/early; projects being under budget)
  • Increasing productivity or customer satisfaction
  • Reducing costs or complaints
  • Improving or streamlining procedures or products
  • Increased productivity or customer satisfaction
  • Eliminating problems (small and large scale)
  • Overcoming small and large challenges
  • Enhancing performance or quality
  • Managing a crisis effectively
  • Any unique contributions or special projects or assignments you worked on

Formula for writing accomplishment statements:

Action Verb + Object + Context + Results

Action verb: managed, planned, exceeded, initiated
Object: managed website design project, planned a promotional event, exceeded monthly sales quota
Context: (describe and quantify) who you did it for, time frame, number of people, size of budget, type of population
Results: the effect of your effort (quantify when possible) on the implementation, improved sales, increased enrollment

Good accomplishment statements

  • Automated and refined monthly metrics reporting process utilizing advanced Excel functionality, saving the company $20,000 annually.
  • Designed website and launched a social media campaign and electronic mail distribution list for the Drexel Marketing Association to increased member participation at club events by 35%.
  • Used an electronic appointment system to schedule student appointments for staff of eight
  • Scheduled over 425 employer appointments with students during on-campus recruitment
  • Introduced approximately 50 students weekly to office services
  • Increased annual sales of office career manual by 20% by creating display space

Poor accomplishment statements

  • Made appointments for counselors
  • Answered phones
  • Showed students career library
  • Sold Guide to Career Planning
  • Helped improve processes