007: Employers Are Not Interested In What You Do As Much As What You Have Accomplished

The Job Search That Works Podcast: Career Coaching | Lifestyle | Resume Writing | Interviewing

Welcome to the Job Search That Works Podcast. I’m you host, Ray Gooch. Over the next few minutes, we will answer your questions about how to navigate the challenges of looking for new job landing you quickly and safely into a career you love with a bright future. In today’s episode, we are talking about how Employers Are Not Interested In What You Do As Much As What You Have Accomplished

Highlights From the Previous Episode

But before we do, in our last show, episode 006, we talked about Five Reasons Your Resume Is Rejected And How To Turn It Into Your Own Personal Marketing Machine.

1. Poor Format
2. It is too long
3. Your Objective limits you
4. You fail to highlight your Accomplishments
5. Wrong keywords

If you missed it, you can listen by going to JobSearchThatWorks.com/006.

On This Episode

Employers Are Not Interested In What You Do As Much As What You Have Accomplished

There’s a big difference between Duties and Accomplishments. Duties:

• Are all the routine things you do in the performance of your job.
• Are done as a part of the minimum expectation in the performance of your job.

Accomplishments:

• Are those achievements beyond the daily routine.
• They bring added value and benefit to your employer.

A Pharmacist’s duty may be to greet customers and count pills. However, an accomplishment may be that the pharmacist grew the pharmacy from 150 scripts per day to filling 450 scripts per day within a 12 month period by speaking to neighborhood groups and civic organizations on dangers of common drug interactions. Perhaps you are struggling to recognize your accomplishments. Consider that:

• We all have them.
• We get so good at performing our responsibilities that we often fail to recognize how we distinguish ourselves from our co-workers.
• Employer reviews don’t tell the whole story. You may get a pat on the back for doing a good job and that’s about it. Who knows? Maybe your boss might thing you will want a big raise if they point out too many exceptional things you have done.

Accomplishments demonstrate that you have made your company money, saved your company money or improved processes within the company. These activities show your worth beyond being a warm body that can deliver the minimum requirement. Here’s a simple way to identify your accomplishments and move you toward being able to articulate them. Take out a piece of paper and make three columns on it. Next put heading on those columns. Title the left column “Challenge”, the middle column “Action Taken” and the right column “Results”.

Challenge | Action taken | Results

Fill out a page for each position you have held within each company for which you have worked.

I said this task is simple, not easy. It takes some thought. If you are having difficulty, consider the things your co-workers came to for. These will be indicators of your strengths. We are usually confident about something we do well. That is where we usually make a valued contribution. The second step to this process is articulating our accomplishment. Let’s continue the Pharmacist example.

• Our pharmacist writes down the challenge in the first column. It is a l150 scripts per day which is a low number. In the second column, she writes down how she attends neighborhood groups and civic organizations like Rotary or Kiwanis talking about some common drug interactions that are commonly overlooked. She offers herself as a resource for safely administering medications. Especially to children and aging parents who are often unaware of potential danger. She then writes in the third column how the number of scripts kept improving over the year reaching 450 per day. That is a 66% increase in the number of daily prescriptions fill in just one year. A student in one of my classes spoke up saying, “ I am a bailiff in a federal court. I don’t have any accomplishments.” To the contrary, if you don’t maintain order, will that slow down proceedings? “Yes.” he answers. Does it cost the court money when there are delays that you have direct control over? “Yes.” he answers again. Do you think the judge might have something to say to you if delays were a result of something you did or did not do? “Yes.” he replied. Then you have accomplishments. You simply need to use the formula you have been given to recognize them and learn how to share them.

• Assembly worker? What about a 15% increase in hourly production by re-positioning the parts supply within reach and the natural range of motion?

• Or a Pizza Delivery Manager who reduces accidents by 13% through adjusting the customer expectation from 30 minute to 45 minute delivery times. There was a national chain that did just that.

Click here to download the Accomplishment Worksheet I mentioned in the podcast. You can use to help you identify the contributions you make to your employer. Here are seven examples of where you will use the accomplishments you uncover.

1. In your 30 second elevator pitch during networking opportunities.
2. On your resume or CV.
3. In your cover letter.
4. During Informational Interviews
5. In formal telephone or face to face interviews.
6. During offer negotiations.
7. When you are asking for a raise.

Imagine how much more confidence you have when you know your worth and can talk about the value you bring. It is nothing less than life changing. I have interviewed many thousands of job seekers over the years and it is truly rare when a candidate can communicate their value. Be one of the few and you will stand head and shoulders above your competition. Rest assured that you will be remembered by the hiring authority. Someone who can communicate their worth is a breath of fresh air in the drudgery of interviewing scores of candidates, looking for that rare jewel. Knock the dust of and polish your presentation. Be that rare jewel the next hiring manager you speak with is looking for.

Recap

In review, we talked about the difference between duties and accomplishments. How knowing how to talk about your accomplishments will cause you to stand out in the crowd.

Something to Ponder

“By taking the time to stop and appreciate who you are and what you’ve achieved – and perhaps learned through a few mistakes, stumbles and losses – you actually can enhance everything about you. Self-acknowledgment and appreciation are what give you the insights and awareness to move forward toward higher goals and accomplishments.” – Jack Canfield Thank you for spending time with me today. I truly appreciate it.

What are your thoughts?

I want to make sure our time together is beneficial for you. Let me know some of the struggles you are having with your job search. I would love to help. You can go over to http://www.JobSearchThatWorks.com and click on the the voice message icon on the left side of the page. As long as you have a microphone on your device, you can just tell me your challenge and I might just include you asking your question here on the show. You can also share your thoughts with us in the comment section of the show notes. Until next time ….

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The post 007: Employers Are Not Interested In What You Do As Much As What You Have Accomplished appeared first on Job Search That Works.