There is a lot of discussion surrounding skill based resumes vs. accomplishment based resumes. I could easily sell you on why you need two resumes (and need to pay me to write them) but the truth is a resume that demonstrates your accomplishments should automatically showcase your skills. Allow me to explain.
It begins when we understand the true purpose of a resume. Resumes are not a laundry list of who’ve we’ve worked for and where we’ve gone to school. Resumes are the place where we document our accomplishments and showcase our abilities. A resume should make an employer say, “Wow! If they’ve done all of that for their current company, I bet they can do it for us.” A well written resume will do just that. It will make an employer want you to achieve just as much, if not more, of those accomplishments while working for them.
Showcasing your accomplishments should automatically cause you to showcase your skills. Never describe your accomplishments without talking about how you did it. A resume that describes your accomplishments without describing your skills is a project list, not a resume. The ability to describe our accomplishments is the uncomfortable part for many of us. We build resumes that show the number of houses we built, the number of people we led, or the revenue we generated but forget to tell people how we did it. A well written resume will share how you did it and make people want to you to do the same for them.
Here’s an example:
“Built 500 units generating $10M in revenue in 2012”
vs.
“Led a team of 12 project managers, while developing mutually profitable vendor relationships with subcontractors resulting in the construction of 500 units and $10M in revenue in 2012.”
The second example tells employers you have management experience, negotiation skills, subcontractor management skills, and high production experience. The first example simply tells employers that you built a reasonable number of houses and made some money. Employers today want to know that you have the experience necessary to lead and build relationships on their behalf. The second statement speaks to those skills while showcasing your accomplishments.
Taking the time to showcase your skills in addition to your accomplishments will open the door for an interview giving you the opportunity to sell yourself and land your next great position.
