If you have not sat down and evaluated your career success in a long time, now is a good time to start. One of the areas where many senior professionals fall short is capturing strong quantifiable and qualitative achievements relevant to their industry.
Do any of these situations apply to you?
You have enjoyed steady career progression and have unexpectedly thrust into the job market for the first time in 15 years.
A viable opportunity for internal promotion has popped up, but you will be going up against some the company’s top employees.
You have reached the proverbial “glass ceiling” and want to pursue new executive opportunities.
A mentor you admire wants to introduce you to a key decision maker and a preliminary interview is scheduled.
All of these situations have the same thing in common—they require you to put best foot forward and provide proof of performance. Whether you are actively job hunting, preparing for an interview or about to connect with a new contact, you need to able to articulate your key strengths and unique value proposition.
If you have not sat down and evaluated your career success in a long time, now is a good time to start. One of the areas where many senior professionals fall short is capturing strong quantifiable and qualitative achievements relevant to their industry. Success for a sales executive is going to be defined in terms of sales growth, market share expansion and strategic alliances. A finance executive is going attract attention if he/she has noteworthy achievements that relate to P&L management, ROI maximization and cost reduction.
So how do you define success in your industry? Here are a few memory-jogging questions to help you identify and chronicle high-impact achievements that can power up your resume and impress an interviewer.
1. Have you recommended a new system or process that improved efficiency or productivity?
Possible answer: Introduced innovative process improvement initiatives that automated 45 processes, shrunk operating costs by $500,000 and eliminated 100% of manual, time-consuming tasks.
2. Did your actions directly save the company money or time?
Possible answer: Identified $13.5 million savings in general and administrative expenses by conducting extensive review of corporate and field sales operations.
3. Were you responsible for reducing costs or trimming operations?
Possible answer: Slashed annual HR expenditures by $18 million by eliminating duplicate costs, creating benefit efficiencies, and reducing employee training costs.
4. Did you initiative a new program that positively impacted the bottom-line?
Possible answer: Increased annual revenues 20% by introducing “first-of-its-kind” technology program which offered customers a complete suite of IT solutions instead of a-la carte services.
5. Have you ever been involved in a startup or turnaround operation? What was the outcome?
Possible Answer: Conceived and developed a startup technology consulting firm from the ground up to over $3 million-dollar operations in just three years.
6. Did you receive a powerful compliment or testimony from a senior leader in the company?
Possible Answer: “[Your Name] has devised an innovative marketing philosophy that has rebranded ABC company in the marketplace and positioned us for success. Her contribution to the team has been valuable and her expertise as a marketing guru is evident.” Chief Marketing Officer, ABC Company
7. Did you generate reports or data that improved decision making?
Possible Answer: Eliminated over $80,000 in project delay costs by implementing a project monitoring system which hhelped senior managers make informed business decisions on asset and resource allocation.
Getting prepared to develop your career accomplishments is not always an easy task. Don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to capture ten or fifteen years of accomplishments in one day – start by working with one company at a time before pulling it all together.
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Abby M. Locke, Executive Director of Premier Writing Solutions (www.premierwriting.com), is a Nationally Certified Resume-Writer and Personal Brand Strategist who helps senior-level professionals and C-level executives achieve personal success with customized, branded executive resumes and career marketing documents. Her resume samples have been published in Nail the Resume! Great Tips for Creating Dynamic Resumes, Same-Day Resumes, and Quick Resume and Cover Letter Handbook.
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