“Don’t just list your tasks and responsibilities in your resume, communicate the results you’ve delivered.”

This advice is one of the most important things you’ll hear from job coaches because so many people’s DIY resumes don’t do that.

Instead they list their responsibilities for each position they’ve held.

As many a frustrated HR professional and recruiters will say: “I’m not interested in seeing a list of job descriptions in your resume, I want to see the value you’ve provided in those roles. I want to see how you’ve contributed to your employer’s success.”

While this is enough of a reason to put the effort into identifying the results you’ve delivered, there’s another reason for making a results and accomplishments focused resume, which will also impact the success of your job search.

That reason is when you do your resume the right way, it builds your confidence.

I’ve seen time and time again with clients what happens when a person begins to fully appreciate the many ways they have contributed to past employers by doing their job well.

When going over a client’s resume, I’ll ask them to elaborate on the tasks, responsibilities, and projects. Often, I’ll ask “What was the result of you doing that particular task well?”

As they talk about it, I can see the light go on as they appreciate the huge impact they’ve had, but had previously taken for granted.

Other times, they’ll list a deliverable, such as a new inventory process or a training manual without elucidating the impact it had. When I ask them about it, at first they are often blasé, kind of like “Well…it was no biggie…I’m sure anyone could have done that.”

No, actually… not everyone could have done it as well as they did…or maybe at all.

Because it was easy for them, or because they just saw themselves as doing their job, they took for granted a major contribution and source of value they created.

It is heartwarming to see people light up when they start to realize how awesome they really are and what they truly have to offer a future employer.

Here’s the thing…

Appreciating your value isn’t important because it makes you feel good.

Appreciating your value is important because it has HUGE implications for your job search success, including your ability to negotiate a better salary offer.

Recognizing the many ways you would be a real “catch” for an employer—or to put it another way, your ability to “Own Your Awesome”—profoundly affects:

  • Your willingness to network. Because you recognize how much you have to offer, you feel far more willing to reach out to people than if you see yourself as nothing special and wonder why anyone would want to talk with you or help you locate opportunities.
  • Other people’s ability to identify great opportunities for you. Because you’re clear about what you’re exceptionally skilled at and the ways you provide value, it makes it much easier for others to think of opportunities that would be a good fit, compared to saying vague statements like “I’m looking for new opportunities in the UX space.”
  • Your ability to put out a magnetic vibe that attracts people. When you feel confident about yourself and what you have to offer, people pick up on it. Conversely, when someone feels insecure and needy, people pick up on that, too. Calm, humble confidence attracts people; insecure neediness (unfortunately) repels people. As sales trainers say, if you want to be successful in sales “your first sale needs to be with yourself.”
  • Your ability to communicate cogently the many ways you can help a prospective employer—When you’re in a job interview, you want to be able to answer questions about your previous contributions, successes, strengths, and skills with confidence and clarity. These are not answers you want to generate on the fly. By doing your homework ahead of time so you are crystal clear about what you offer that prospective employer, you will come across as confident and competent.

Doing the work to create a results-oriented resume helps you Own Your Awesome, which in turn makes every aspect of the job search easier and more effective.

 

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