Writing Impactful Resume Bullets

Resume Accomplishment Statements

Accomplishment statements are the bullets/sentences under the experience section of your resume that describe and quantify your achievements, results, and successes from prior internship, student organization, volunteer, military, or education experiences. When writing these statements, don’t just list your role, responsibilities, and tasks; employers want to also know how you can contribute to their team or organization. Provide specific examples of the impact you made and the value you added during those experiences.

The following guidelines will help you start the process of writing strong accomplishment statements that highlight your qualifications and demonstrate your skills. Before you start writing accomplishment statements, consider the following:

❓ Have I ever: Improved something? Achieved more with fewer resources or money? Reduced costs? Improved productivity? Saved time? Increased recruitment numbers? Designed, developed, or implemented a new process, program or product? Brought diverse constituents together to accomplish something? Improved morale? Solved a pressing problem? Managed or led a team? Presented complex information clearly? Successfully multitasked? Dedicated long hours of work to accomplish something within a short timeframe? Balanced extracurricular/outside commitments with coursework? Took initiative without anyone asking? Received awards or positive performance reviews?

❓ Also consider: What are you most proud of? What would others you have worked with say about your contribution? How have organizations benefited from your work? What special projects have you worked on and what was the outcome? What is the tangible evidence of your accomplishments?

Guidelines for Creating Impactful Resume Accomplishment Statements

1. Utilize the Action + Project + Result Format

Project: Group related tasks together into more meaningful projects or activities
Action: Choose an action verb that describes what YOU did and what YOUR contribution was (NOT your TEAM!) to the project/activity. Highlight what SKILLS you made use of or gained through this experience
Result: Pitch the result and impact of your work. QUANTIFY the result and impact in terms of % improvement or % increase. If your work resulted (or will result) in a publication or patent, mention that

✏️ Write it out: [A] Choose an action verb + [P] Name a project you completed or problem you solved + [R] Describe the results you achieved, quantifying when possible

2. Accomplished [X] as measured by [Y] by doing [Z] Format

✏️ Write it out: [X] Lead with the impact you delivered + [Y] Numerically measure what you accomplished + [Z] Detail specifically what you did

Converting to Result Bullets: Before and After

Before

Worked with a student leadership committee to increase member participation
Contributed to system for streamlined application submissions and tracking
Selected for scholarship

After

Led a 5-person leadership team to increase student participation by 100% from 50 to 100 members by creating a stronger social media presence
Collaborated with the IT team to develop an online application submission and tracking system, reducing cost by 10%
Selected as one of 230 participants nationwide, based on top class rank coupled with community engagement work

Tips

Use Powerful Action Verbs: While each bullet starts with an action verb, certain action verbs sound more impactful than others. e.g. led, created, developed
Quantify your Impact: Before revision, bullets are focused mostly on describing activities, not outcomes. It is important to numerically measure what you accomplished through your actions
Contextualize Your Accomplishment: Provide a baseline for comparison to make it easier for recruiters to understand your accomplishment

Converting to Skill Bullets: Before and After