Accomplishments are the “bread and butter” of client resumes.

That’s why it's ideal to include as many hard-hitting, relevant, and fresh accomplishments as possible in the resumes you write.

Accomplishments are so well received because today’s companies need professionals with a record of improving bottom lines.

For example, improve:

• Revenue
• Systems
• Staff Performance
• Conversions
• Clicks/Likes/Shares
• Costs

Take these two accomplishment examples into consideration:

Example #1: Transformed the sales department, growing sales and per-client conversions.

Example #2: Introduced Salesforce CRM functions and Herman Miller Sales Training that transformed the sales department. Grew overall sales 23.8% and upsold two major client accounts, adding $1.2M in new revenue in the first 6 months of the year.

Both these accomplishments touch on the same overall points.

However, the 2nd example is far more believable and visually appealing because it includes specifics.

As resume writers, our challenge is to squeeze as many accomplishments out of our clients as humanly possible.

So, how do you do that?

Start by asking the right questions.

Example questions to draw accomplishments from your clients:

• Give me a before/picture of your position. What was the condition of your employer or department when you started versus now? What’s changed?
• If I asked your boss what your most notable successes have been, what would he say?
• Have you received any acknowledgment or awards from a client or the company? If yes, for what?
• How have you made your job easier or improved your performance?

Once you collect a few outstanding accomplishments for the resume, the focus now shifts to including/excluding.

Yes, there will be times when you’ll want to avoid listing some resume accomplishments.

For example, let's say your client is shifting from one job focus to something drastically different — maybe sales to a mechanical engineer role.

In this scenario, eliminating some sales bits and shifting to career achievements specific to project management/development, technical solutions/support, and client relationship building is ideal if possible.