Most resumes are "accomplishments" resumes, describing achievements. Skills resumes, in contrast, focus on skills gained (typically in College or University), rather than accomplishments.

There is an art to describing accomplishments, though. We give a few examples below.

Example 1: Avoid empty claims-based statements

Instead of empty claims such as:

A highly motivated, self-directed manager with proven leadership skills in developing and managing empowered teams. Demonstrated skills in planning and managing diverse projects, training and evaluation of daily operations. Recognized for planning, staffing, leading and controlling operations

Describe actual achievements, supported by numbers:

Management professional with twenty years of experience with the US Air Force, training and guiding teams up to one hundred within complex, government programs.  Assigned to roles of increasing responsibility within FAA, DoD and NATO.

Example 2: Reduce clutter

Member of key, senior management team responsible for turnaround of company mired in stagnant sales and product cycles. Daily administration duties included contracts management, coordination of promotion activities, sales growth, support of field sales personnel, distributor channels, as well as extensive involvement in negotiating terms and conditions.

Better to write as follows:

Restructured sales and product teams to spur growth and profitability:

• Reduced costs 20% by renegotiating contracts with suppliers

• Simplified job classifications by eliminating nearly 50% of the titles

• Decreased spare part costs by 20%

• Improved commission structure to increase average size of sale

Example 3: Emphasize your most recent roles

NEC From 1994 - present

Trainee Analyst (1994 - 96)

Programmer (1996-2000)

Programming Manager (2000 - 02)

Director of Product Development (2002-06)

Vice-President of Product Innovation (2007 - present)

Distinguished record of success and advancement from technical positions to a leadership role in product innovation and development. Earned Corporate Award for Excellence (2005, 2006), President's Award (2008), and Global Corporate Award for innovation (2009).

As Vice-President, responsible for an organization of 250 people in development, product marketing, support and R&D. Accomplishments include the introduction of the first intelligent hybrid disk and tape system for automated backups, design of solid state backups for terabytes of data and the conception and delivery of the first affordable PC optical storage system.

For more examples of how to convey your accomplishments

Check out the Resume Bundle from Job Success for many more examples on how to express your accomplishments