30 Resume Accomplishment Examples to Help You Stand Out

Updated: May 19, 2023

Do you want to optimize your resume so that it gets noticed by recruiters and hiring managers? If you answered yes, you need to include resume accomplishment examples in your resume.

When crafting a resume, many job seekers make the common mistake of merely listing their job duties and responsibilities without highlighting quantifiable results or relevant accomplishments aligned with the job description. This type of resume often falls flat, making it uninteresting for hiring managers to read. Consequently, it may not even pass the initial screening phase.

In this blog post, we’ll explain how to list accomplishments for a resume, plus provide 30 work accomplishment examples to help your resume shine among the competition.

What Are Accomplishments on a Resume?

Accomplishments on a resume are specific achievements or outcomes that demonstrate skills, capabilities, and contributions in your previous roles. They go beyond listing job duties and responsibilities and provide concrete evidence of your success in the workplace.

The important thing to remember is that accomplishments are quantifiable and measurable. Including accomplishments on your resume can make you stand out to hiring managers and showcase your ability to deliver results. They can be related to areas like:

Revenue generation
Cost savings
Process improvements
Project success
Team leadership
Customer satisfaction
Awards or recognition

Importance of Listing Resume Accomplishments

Including work accomplishment examples on your resume can make you stand out to hiring managers and showcase your ability to deliver big results. But listing your work accomplishments is essential for several other reasons:

It shows how you can benefit your potential employers by listing relevant examples.
The more specific and relatable the work experience listed on your resume is, the better chance any hiring manager will take notice and call you in to interview for an open position.
Including these details gives insight into what type of worker you are with regards to accomplishing goals.
Highlighting these could help employers determine whether or not they should give you an interview over other applicants who may have similar qualifications as yourself but lack some of your unique skill sets or abilities.

Where to Include Resume Accomplishments

The best place to showcase your resume accomplishments is in the experience section of your resume alongside your day-to-day responsibilities. However, if you have a lot of them, you can also list them under the skills section. Remember, your resume should tell a story. Don’t bury the best part of the story—everything you’ve accomplished!

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How to Turn Job Responsibilities into Resume Accomplishments

Responsibilities are what you did, and accomplishments are how your work was valuable. For example, “managed social media presence” is a job duty, while “increased Twitter followers by 30% in six months” is an accomplishment.

The key to providing examples of work accomplishments lies in making them measurable and specific. A good acronym to remember for goal setting is SMART. This means:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Timely

If goals are set with SMART in mind, then your accomplishments will be, too! While some resumes use vague terms like “leadership skills” or “effective communication,” it’s much easier for hiring managers to judge the extent of your contributions if they’re phrased as concrete numbers or percentages increase/decrease over time.

For instance, instead of saying that you did a good job of boosting morale among employees, talk about how employee satisfaction rates have gone up on your team or call-out rates have gone down since you’ve managed team members.

What If I Don’t Have Concrete Data to Use?

If you don’t have raw data to amplify your work accomplishments, focus on specific stories and examples of what your company accomplished. You can tell your story even without numbers. Focus more on the experiences you had and how they impacted the company.

Work accomplishments can also be measured in terms of results achieved. Did you save the company money? Did you increase revenue or market share? These are all great things to highlight on your resume. Numbers always help back up your claims, but if you don’t have any numbers to include, try focusing on tangible results instead.

Also, your resume doesn’t have to include traditional work experience or job titles. If you’ve done some fantastic things that don’t fit into one of those categories, find a way to showcase them on your resume. Volunteer work, freelance projects, and even personal achievements can be great additions to your resume. Just make sure they’re relevant to the role for which you’re applying.

What if I Don’t Have a Job? How Can I List Work Accomplishments Without Experience?

It’s hard to make yourself stand out when you don’t have any experience yet. If you find yourself in this position, start by listing some academic awards you may have received or volunteer activities that indicate leadership, time management skills, and teamwork abilities. You could also highlight an important project you completed in school, even if it’s not within the exact same field as to where you’re applying.

Remember to be clear and concise when writing these and try and find ways to relate them to why they make you the perfect candidate.

Examples of Resume Accomplishments

When writing your work accomplishment examples, be sure to use powerful and active verbs. Also, make sure that each statement is SMART, like we talked about before. Instead of saying “I increased sales,” say “I increased sales by 20% over a six-month period.” And, most importantly, refer to the job descriptions you’re applying for and list relevant accomplishments to the specific job on your resume.

These examples of resume accomplishments will highlight the accomplishment itself, but you’ll also see how you can weave information like your day-to-day responsibility into these accomplishments. Say what you did in the day-to-day to highlight what you accomplished.

Let’s take a look at 30 different job positions and what kind of accomplishments you can highlight. Make these your own. Tailor them to your experience and the job you’re applying for.

1. Marketing Manager

Managed social media accounts for various worldwide brands, resulting in a 110% increase in followers within nine months.
Oversaw a rebuild of the company website from scratch, after which web traffic increased by 400%.
Reduced customer support emails by 40% through improved communication with customers on product updates and shipping times.

2. HR Manager

Improved employee retention rate from 72% to 90%.
Ran daily operations of the HR department after performing all hiring duties for three years prior.
Implemented an innovative wellness program that saw 75% participation amongst employees.
Developed creative recruiting campaigns that resulted in 2 million organic impressions across Facebook and Twitter.

3. Social Media Manager

Managed daily social media postings across all platforms and increased impressions from 2 million per month to 9 million per month over a one-year period.
Reduced marketing spend from $50,000 per month to just under $30,000 per month while increasing the number of conversions and revenue generated through better lead targeting.

4. Business Analyst

Successfully completed over 50 consulting projects in various industries, including banking, telecommunications, and retail.
Led the development of a new financial reporting system that streamlined the monthly close process for the company, saving an estimated 90 hours of labor per month.
Reduced inventory levels by 20% through improved forecasting methods.

5. Sales Manager

Achieved a 300% increase in sales for the team within the first nine months on the job.
Closed over $250,000 worth of new business in a six-month period.
Became top performer out of 150 salespeople within the company within six months of joining the team.

6. Software Engineer

Successfully launched five software products that generated over $600,000 in revenue in under two years.
Contributed to open-source projects that have been downloaded over 100,000 times.
Received a patent for an invention that is used in multiple commercial products.

7. Executive Assistant

Supported CEO of Fortune 500 company through the successful acquisition of another company, saving the company millions of dollars in consulting and project management fees.
Managed a calendar for the executive team that resulted in a 25% reduction in meeting time requirements.
Successfully reorganized filing system that saved the executive department an estimated 15 hours per week.

8. Accounts Manager

Successfully grew client base by 20% through assertive cold-calling and networking.
Led team that successfully reduced accounts receivable backlogged payments by 25%.
Received commendation from CEO for efforts in cost containment which saved the company $200,000 annually.

9. Customer Service Process

Eliminated customer complaints by 53% through effective problem solving and training of new staff.
Awarded “Employee of the Month” for providing excellent customer service, resulting in a 20% increase in return customers.

10. Graphic Designer

Successfully increased web traffic by 25% through innovative design and promotion strategies.
Designs were featured on the home page of several high-traffic websites, resulting in an estimated $150,000 worth of added revenue.

11. Recruiter

Successfully recruited top talent for the company by networking and utilizing social media tools like LinkedIn and Indeed.
Managed a team that successfully placed 98% of candidates in positions within 90 days.

12. Sales Representative

Achieved 150% of sales goals through effective prospecting and relationship building.
Earned “Top Performer” status on a team of over 20 sales representatives every quarter for three consecutive years.

13. IT Manager

Successfully implemented a new CRM system, resulting in a 15% increase in sales.
Played a key role in developing the company’s first disaster recovery plan, averting a potential loss of $100,000 in data.
Reduced server downtime by 20% through implementation of proactive maintenance procedures.

14. Social Media & SEO Strategist

Successfully implemented an SEO strategy that increased the number of organic traffic to our website by 72%.
Played an integral part on team resulting in doubling annual revenue over the course of three years period through organic traffic.
Launched the company’s first email marketing campaign, successfully increasing click-through rate by 26%.
Developed social media strategy and launched Twitter account growing following from 0 to 25,000 within one year.
Increased paid web traffic by 24% through the implementation of targeted online advertising campaign while only increasing paid budget by 10%.

15. Director of National Accounts

Successfully negotiated a contract with ABC Corporation, which yielded an annual savings of $50,000.
Processed and filed all company accounts in under 30 days, ensuring no late fees were incurred.
Successfully completed an IRS audit, saving the company $15,000 in taxes.
Partnered with the purchasing department to reduce overall spending by 15%.

16. Web Designer

Increased web traffic by 24% through the implementation of targeted online advertising campaigns with eye-catching and creative graphics.
Successfully designed a website that won the “Best Website” award from a local business association.
Consistently produced high-quality graphics that resulted in increased brand awareness and customer engagement.

17. Project Manager

Led a project team that successfully delivered a $300,000 project under budget and two weeks ahead of schedule.
Managed all aspects of complex projects totaling over $1 million in total budgets.
Successfully coordinated cross-functional teams consisting of up to 15 people.

18. Expense & Billing Department

Reduced company expenses by 20% through implementation of process improvements.
Optimized billing and collections processes, which increased cash flow by 25%.
Identified and corrected errors in financial reporting that saved the company $50,000 annually.

19. Economics Professor

Initiated a new inflation course to teach alongside a fellow professor, providing students with an opportunity for real-world experience and knowledge.
Created and implemented a unique scholarship program that allowed underprivileged students interested in economics to attend college debt-free.
Developed a new marketing campaign that increased student enrollment in the college’s most profitable course by 20%.

20. Teacher

Successfully implemented differentiated instruction in the classroom, which led to a rise in student test scores by an average of 20%.
Raised over $4,000 in private donations to help plan and execute a field trip to the zoo for all fourth-grade students.
Successfully lobbied for a 25% increase in funding from the school board.

21. Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Grew company sales by 300% through aggressive marketing and business development initiatives over four years.
Reduced employee turnover rate from 50% to 15% through implementation of comprehensive training programs and an overhaul of company culture.
Developed a new product line that generated $700,000 in additional annual revenue.

22. IT Lead

Successfully migrated the company’s entire IT infrastructure to a new platform, which improved system performance by 25%.
Led a project that successfully upgraded the company’s network infrastructure, resulting in an increase of bandwidth by 400%.
Reduced annual technology budget by $200,000 through the implementation of effective procurement strategies.

23. Business Development Manager

Increased the revenue growth rate from 20% to 50% through aggressive prospecting and account development efforts.
Closed more than 100 new customers accounts, worth over $3 million in annual revenue.
Led a team of six people with a budget of $750,000 to accomplish development goals.

24. Human Resources Head

Successfully improved employee retention rate from 60% to 85% through improved benefits, more open communication between team members and managers, and the implementation of mental wellness programs,
Successfully recruited and onboarded a new Vice President, which resulted in an increase in organizational efficiency.
Developed a new performance management program that improved employee productivity by 20%.

25. Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Grew company sales from $500,000 to $25 million over a five-year period through aggressive marketing and business development initiatives.
Reduced annual technology budget by $200,000 through effective procurement strategies.
Established the company as a leading provider of its services in the Southeast region.

26. Lawyer

Successfully negotiated a settlement of $200,000 for a client who sustained injuries after being assaulted in the workplace.
Negotiated an agreement with opposing counsel that resulted in dismissing all claims against my client and saving him from bankruptcy.
Saved the firm an estimated $4 million by identifying errors in current policies and procedures, enabling us to avoid future litigation and fines.

27. Hospital Administrator

Successfully implemented a new system-wide performance management program resulting in a 30% increase in employee productivity.
Negotiated acquisition of five affiliated hospitals saving hospital network over $20 million annually through better use of resources such as staff, equipment, and supplies.
Increased patient retention rate from 65% to 95% by spearheading a new customer service initiative to improve the patient experience.

28. Engineer

Successfully developed and implemented a below-budget process that increased the production of the company’s products by 25%.
Successfully led project that enabled the company to enter into a new market, which resulted in an increase of annual revenue by $240,000.
Planned and executed a plant shutdown that was completed four weeks ahead of schedule and $100,000 below budget.

29. Key Accounts Manager

Improved cash flow position of the company by 20% through effective management of accounts receivable.
Successfully negotiated a reduction in supplier prices, which saved the company $200,000 annually.
Successfully identified errors in financial reporting that resulted in the misappropriation of over $100,000 by a former employee.

30. Nurse

Increased patient retention rate from 50% to 95% through implementation of comprehensive training programs and customer service initiatives designed to improve the patient experience.
Redesigned workflow process resulting in 15% increased productivity.
Successfully implemented a new system-wide performance management program which significantly reduced turnover rates among nursing staff, saving the hospital network an estimated $400,000 in recruiting costs.
Reduced nurse absenteeism rate down from 27% to under 10%.

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Don’t Hesitate to Show Off

As you can see from these resume accomplishments templates, you can include a variety of pertinent information on your resume. The most important thing is to choose examples relevant to the job you are applying for and highlight your specific skills and abilities.

Make sure to tailor your resume to each individual position and focus on the specific skills and experiences required for the role. Use powerful verbs when writing your work accomplishment statements, and make sure that each statement is specific and quantifiable. Remember, you want to tell a story and make your resume stand out from the competition.

Once you’ve updated your accomplishments on a resume, head on over to the Insight Global job board where you will find thousands of listings for current positions.