If you didn’t know already, writing down a few of your greatest achievements on your CV is a must. It’s no use just stating how amazing you are without the relevant results and performance indicators to back up your claims. Your credentials need to be believable, and the only way you can do that is by providing examples.
Avoiding cliché statements is important if you want to write a credible CV. The employer is well aware that you are biased in your opinion, so they would rather see cold, hard facts. Cliché statements are not going to win you any prizes. Here’s a great example of what to avoid:
I have great communication skills
I work well has part of a team
Results driven
Fast learner
I have a strong attention to detail
Instead of stating how great you are you should instead show the employer. This is the mantra of a ‘show, don’t tell’ CV and will help you to write an application that gets you noticed!
Here’s why you should write a CV full of results and achievements because it says this about you.
You go above and beyond
Someone who achieves high results is clearly someone who goes above and beyond their standard routine. Every employee is given a list of tasks and responsibilities, and the employer is content if you stick to those and do a good job. However, if you really want to go places you need to move out of your comfort zone and raise the bar higher.
Outstanding achievements on your CV tell a new employer that you are willing to do more than what is required. You are then likely to do that for them, which is an added bonus. They are not always expecting or requesting that a new hire looks for additional responsibility. But the ones that do are more likely to achieve better results and drive the company forward – as well as their career.
You see the bigger picture
Most employees focus upon their own tasks and fail to recognise the needs of the company. Whilst this can still get the job done to a high standard, it doesn’t always align perfectly with the company. Your outstanding results and proven performance record demonstrates to a new employer that you are able to see the bigger picture.
But what does this mean for the employer?
The employer will always favour a new recruit who already sees the bigger picture. If you can prove that on your CV and in the job interview, you will be favoured over other candidates who are simply happy to do what’s asked of them.
Every decision you make takes into consideration how it will affect the company, and not just yourself, the customer or the team around you. This is a huge bonus for the employer, and this type of individual is hard to come by. Your ability to look outside of your own role and decide what’s best for the company will catapult you to a promotion in no time.
You are results focused
“To give the employer a clear indication of your level of performance you should provide details of how you demonstrated the soft skill, along with your results. Those two ingredients will instantly provide credibility and increase your chances of getting an interview.” ~ Martin Carline, CV Template Master
If your CV demonstrates lots of great results for each of your previous roles, then you are clearly focused on the outcome. You are not just another standard employee who happily goes about their day without worrying about achieving something good – great even!
To demonstrate how results focused you are then your CV needs to contain actual facts. This could be in the form of numbers, stats, graphs, charts, presentations, or anything else that you can think of. You could even describe a particular situation that occurred if numbers would not do it justice.
Here are two examples of a statement from a CV. The first is what we would call a ‘cliché statement’, and the second is a similar statement but with actual evidence:
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I am a hard working individual.
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I always worked overtime when the month end accounts were due. This was to ensure I completed the month end report and handed it in on time. I never missed a deadline over the 4 years that I worked for Audi, Nottingham as Accounts Manager.
You can see how much better the second statement is. It provides a clear indication that you are a hard worker by confirming you never missed a deadline – and it doesn’t need to say it. This also shows that you are organised and great at time management.
If you had chosen to go with the first statement there would be little chance that the employer would believe you. Anyone can make claims on a CV, but it’s those that can prove it that make it to the job interview and beyond.
“Nearly 100 percent of first-, second-, and sometimes third-draft resumes I see contain the exact same problem – telling about a responsibility instead of showing results. And, this critical error is the number one thing that leaves many candidates off of the need-to-interview roster.” ~ Josh Lord, MBA
