Quick ways for skilled migrants to find work or jobs in Australia (and overcome the ‘local experience’ BS!)

Achievement statements

Responsibilities and achievements

Contemporary or chronological CVs are achievement-focused.

Whereas responsibilities are what you are supposed to do, achievements are what you have delivered, over and above what was required.

You sell yourself to a prospective employer by including powerful achievements in your CV.

Unfortunately, many CVs contain long lists of responsibilities with a few achievements. They do not convey what value you can give to the employer.

Increasingly now there is less emphasis on the responsibilities so that more space can be dedicated to achievements.

One approach is to contain a couple of broad sentences explaining your responsibilities then launch into the achievements in dot points. You do not then need to explain the dot points as “achievements”.

Each achievement should start with a strong verb in the past tense. You can even disguise responsibilities to read like achievements by writing them this way. For example, instead of saying that one responsibility was “Managing a team of four”. you can say “Managed a team of four”.

Substantiating achievements

The ultimate result of achievement is usually to make the employer organisation money or save it money.

In many government and administrative positions, however, there can be other less obvious advantages such as making a system more robust or compliant.

Some roles are easy to substantiate achievements. These usually have tangible outcomes as part of the job. For example, meeting sales targets, delivering projects or producing other set results.

Even if your role tends to be more ongoing, try to avoid the mistake of making your CV read like a reproduction of your job description – this offers the reader no real insight into what you did or are capable of.

Quantifying your impact

If you have trouble identifying your key achievements, ask yourself:

(1) What have I done to change this job from when I arrived to when I left?

(2) How is the job different from when I started?

Generally, the gap in both cases represents your achievements. Keep asking yourself “resulting in what?” to prompt you to dig further into the value you have delivered.

Consider endorsements and feedback

Doing a great job and receiving positive feedback is an achievement in itself:

(1) “The improvement was rolled out nationally and I was commended by the CEO for my innovation.”

(2) “Received consistent positive feedback.”

(3) “Rated ‘outstanding’ in my performance reviews.”

Combining achievements

Consider combining similar achievements under an overarching theme. This can save repetition, increase impact and provide an opportunity to list specific examples.

Example 1:

Appointed to various positions of responsibility:

  • XX Committee member
  • Diversity champion
  • SAP Subject Matter Expert

Example 2:

Implemented several significant process improvements. Examples included:

Introducing staff debit cards with spending limits. These saved staff waiting for travel expenses to be reimbursed and reduced processing times considerably for the staff member and accounts.

Automating the payment system of recurring invoices. This freed up the Accounts Payable team half a day per week.

Invest-gated and gained approval for a new overdraft facility. This saved up to $10,000 per year in unnecessary interest payments.”

Flattering language

Rather than just “undertaking” a secondment, you were “selected” for it or “invited”?

Consider using language that paints your achievement in the strongest possible light. Other examples are “appointed”. “elected”. “nominated” and “promoted”.

Improving achievement statements

Good – “Conducted many training programs in several offices that reduced problems.”

Better – “Conducted more than 45 service technician training programs throughout eight offices reducing customer complaints by 22% in six months.”

Best – “Reduced customer complaints by 22% in six months by conducting more than 45 service technician training programs through eight offices.”

Sample achievement statements

Received a customer satisfaction rating of 99.9% by developing a high level of proficiency on a new software during a two-month system conversion.”

Developed a promotional fundraising campaign that provided contributions exceeding $30,000, three times the previous record.”

Increased Consumer Markets Division’s revenue from $54m to $125m over three years with no increase in personnel. Built pre-tax profit from a loss of $3m to returns of $11m.”

Established and directed manufacturing task forces that reduced waste by 20% in plastic processes and increased productivity by over 10% in forming and printing processes.”

Identified excess investment in manufacturing and warehousing facilities. Negotiated sales of assets which generated over $4m and reduced fixed costs by approximately $1m annually.”

Useful verbs

The cumulative effect of all these “action words” is to paint a positive picture of yourself as a person who will make a difference, goes over and above and/or gets things done. If you are stuck for a word to sell your achievements, here are some options:

Accelerated

Accomplished

Achieved

Administered

Analysed

Approved

Awarded

Budgeted

Built

Championed

Completed

Conceived

Conducted

Consolidated

Controlled

Converted

Convinced

Coordinated

Created

Cut

Delegated

Delivered

Demonstrated

Designed

Developed

Devised

Directed

Drafted

Established

Evaluated

Event-managed

Exceeded

Expanded

Filled

Financed

Forecast

Formulated

Founded

Fulfilled

Gathered

Generated

Handled

Headed

Implemented

Improved

Improvised

Increased

Influenced

Initiated

Innovated

Installed

Instigated

Instituted

Introduced

Invented

Launched

Led (note spelling)

Maintained

Managed

Mentored

Met

Negotiated

Organised

Operated

Oversaw

Persuaded

Planned

Presented

Processed

Produced

Programmed

Program-managed

Project-managed

Promoted

Proposed

Provided

Purchased

Quantified

Received

Recommended

Recruited

Redesigned

Reduced

Reinvigorated

Reorganised

Researched

Retained

Revised

Rewrote

Scheduled

Saved

Serviced

Simplified

Sold

Spearheaded

Streamlined

Stressed

Str, etched

Structured

Summarised

Superseded

Supervised

Systematised

Terminated

Traced

Tracked

Traded

Trained

Transferred

Transformed

Translated

Trimmed

Tripled

Uncovered

Unified

Updated

Wrote