How to Write Achievements in Your Resume (+ Examples)

Your resume offers a quick snapshot of your work history and relevant skills. But what can make it stand out and grab the attention of a hiring manager? Short answer: Effectively communicating your professional accomplishments. 

Most job seekers make the mistake of simply listing duties or tasks you’d find in their current job description. But that doesn’t tell potential employers why you’re right for their role. Listing achievements in your resume and job application can help you cut through the noise by offering a more complete picture of what you’ve done.

Here’s the good news—you don’t have to figure this out alone. You can use Teal’s AI-powered Resume Builder to write your achievements for you, so you’re never starting from scratch. Plus, this guide breaks down how to write achievements in a resume, if you’d prefer not to use AI. 

Understanding resume achievements

Resume achievements refer to the accomplishments featured on a resume. These achievements should focus on how you’ve contributed to a particular role, department, or business using concrete and measurable business outcomes. 

That means including any awards and specific metrics that typically include numbers or other KPIs to illustrate the point. 

Resume achievement examples

• Cut expenses by 20% within a fiscal year 
• Increased website traffic by 42% in a year
• Implemented sales strategies to increase annual revenue by 30% in six months

To write effective achievements in your resume, follow this formula:

Action verb + Noun + Metric + Outcome = Achievements

While you can tweak what you write and add more nuance, this is a good starting point if you’re feeling stuck. Check out 75+ resume accomplishments for inspiration.

How to identify your achievements

Sharing your achievements might not come naturally to you. It can feel boastful. You want to get it “right” but the stress of figuring out the right presentation may leave you with analysis paralysis. A common question is, “How should I write my achievements in my resume?”

Career coach Annette Garsteck suggests starting with these questions:

• What was something I improved?
• Did I save my company from extra spending?
• Did I contribute to extra efficiency?
• Where did I exceed a goal or key performance indicator (KPI)?
• Was I recognized with an honor or given an award?

“After answering the above questions, go a bit deeper and add a quantifier. Demonstrating the outcome you achieved on your resume will help you stand apart from the competition,” says Garsteck. Numerical metrics, she says, are one of the best ways to showcase professional results:

“I format accomplishments on a resume with numbers that demonstrate the scope of the responsibility, the percent improvement, savings, time savings in hours or full-time equivalents, how much a goal or target was exceeded, and the name of the award or honor given.”

When you list achievements, you can include a mix of personal and professional accomplishments. Personal achievements can be a good idea if you have limited work experience and are looking for an entry-level job. These can be academic awards or based on your hobbies and interests. If your personal achievements are relevant to the job you’re applying for, include them. 

Here are some achievements examples: 

Personal achievements

• Volunteered at a local food bank for four years, serving thousands of families
• Maintained a 4.0 GPA in all four years of college
• Studied abroad in Madrid for six months, becoming proficient in Spanish
• Completed a triathlon in 2023
• Created a custom website for [nonprofit] 
• Spearheaded the committee for the theater company’s annual gala 
• Taught English at the local library every weekend for two years 
• Had photographs exhibited in the New Talent gallery showcase 

Professional achievements

• Increased website traffic by 52% in 12 months
• Implemented cost-saving measures and reduced expenses by 30% 
• Streamlined bookkeeping protocols, reducing errors by 15%
• Managed a team of 10 employees and increased customer retention rates by 7%
• Consolidated vendors, saving the company $35,000 annually
• Exceeded sales targets by 25% in Q1 
• Led the DEI committee, leading to a 91% company approval rating on workplace inclusivity
• Secured five major partnerships for a media campaign 

To help you identify and improve your achievements, use Teal's AI Resume Achievements feature. Included in the Resume Builder. The achievements generator can rewrite what you already have and add notable keywords to customize them to each job description.

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Writing effective achievement statements for your resume

Writing an effective achievement statement is pretty simple. Here’s the easy framework once again to help turn any work accomplishment into an eye-catching resume achievement:

Action verb + metric + timeframe = achievements 

Here’s the step-by-step breakdown of this achievement formula:

 An action verb, as you can probably guess, is a verb that demonstrates a particular action. Some action verbs that you can consider using in your resume include:

• Analyzed
• Directed
• Integrated
• Conducted
• Produced
• Generated
• Administered
• Organized
• Facilitated
• Evaluated
• Coordinated
• Demonstrated 
• Tested
• Developed
• Communicated
• Overhauled
• Taught
• Guided
• Collaborated
• Trained

Related: Check out 250+ more examples of action verbs for your resume

The next step is adding a metric. A metric refers to the measurement of something quantifiable. So instead of “Saved the company money” you’d include “Saved the company $75,000, reducing the operating budget.” (If that were true, of course.)

Common resume achievement metrics

• Annual revenue
• Profit
• Conversion rates
• Retention rates
• Project completion time
• Customer satisfaction
• Sales

Different professions may focus on other metrics as well. Research common OKRs and KPIs for your industry to craft compelling and relevant achievements.

Resume achievement metric examples

• Increased follower count by 100,000 across social media accounts
• Implemented a new SEO strategy, boosting website traffic by 52% in the past year
• Analyzed hundreds of online reviews to develop a strategy to increase customer satisfaction
• Created a new curriculum, raising test scores by 23% from the previous school year 

The metrics you end up using depend on your industry and your role. What you’re measuring can be expressed as a percentage, dollar amount, or time saved. Which one should you use when writing resume accomplishments? The one that sounds the most impressive. 

Going back to the “Saved the company $75,000, reducing the operating budget” as one of the accomplishments examples, whether you use a dollar amount or percentage will depend on the overall budget.

Let’s say the operating budget is one million dollars. As a percentage, that would be “Reduced the operating budget by 7.5%” Which one sounds better? Obviously, the achievement example about saving the company $75,000. On its own, that sounds like a good chunk of change, even if it’s a small percentage of the total budget. 

The final part of the achievement equation is to include a timeframe. It’s not absolutely necessary in all cases, but it can increase the impact of your achievement. Illustrating that you accomplished something within a set period of time can be more impressive than generalizations about what you did in your former role with your previous employer. 

Timeframes can include days, weeks, months, or years. Some examples of achievements for resume using time frames include: 

• Increased open rate by 31% for company newsletter in 4 weeks using a new strategy 
• Trained 10 new employees over three months 
• Developed a sales system increasing revenue by 65% in two years

Examples of resume achievements

Your achievements section is where you add a bit of razzle-dazzle, instead of listing lackluster job duties and basic responsibilities.

As Eva Steortz, an ex-Disney executive turned ICF certified executive coach at Vita Creativa explains:

“Writing your resume is no time to be modest. You have to tell interesting stories about what you are most proud of achieving in your career. Pick the scenarios where your actions led to a significant result. Be concise and specific using interesting action verbs like increased, elevated, created, and revamped. Use numbers when applicable but a description of the impact your actions had works, too.”

Student

When you’re a student, you may have limited work experience—or none at all—because you’re focusing on your education. And that’s okay! That’s perfectly appropriate for this time of your life.

There are still ways to highlight your professional accomplishments, such as including GPA, academic awards, and volunteering opportunities. 

Student resume achievement examples

• Maintained a 3.8 GPA over four years 
• Received Best Innovative Scientist award 
• Volunteered at Memorial Hospital, reading to sick children
• Created a short film used at new student orientation 
• Learned X,Y,Z programming languages 
• Completed a year abroad in Spain, becoming fluent in Spanish 

Recent graduate 

Graduating is such an exciting milestone. It’s the end of one chapter and the start of another. But it can also be daunting to join the so-called real world and jump head-first into the job market. Especially if you haven’t had many jobs. Here are some pre-career achievements worth considering:

Recent graduate resume achievement examples

• Graduated with honors 
• Contributed to a successful launch of a new product during a marketing internship for [employer]
• Organized the end-of-year fundraising drive for the Arts Department, leading to $20,000 in donations 
• Presented original research at the Future of Biology conference 
• Completed training to become a certified crisis counselor at the Crisis Text Line
• Worked part-time at the Office of Student Affairs supporting students, while attending school full-time and maintaining a 3.9 GPA

Manager

Experienced managers likely have a range of achievements to consider adding to their resume. The key is to choose the most potent ones that relate to the job description for the role you want. 

Manager resume achievement examples 

• Identified new revenue streams and increased profits by 40% in 18 months
• Increased retention rates by 50% in two years after implementing new employee programs 
• Reduced $500,000 budget by 15% by streamlining vendor relationships 
• Managed a team of 23 agents working collaboratively with other departments
• Elevated new employees’ skills through career development initiatives, reducing project completion time by 30%
• Maintained a roster of clients with an average of 93% customer satisfaction for five years

Sales

If you’re in sales, you likely know how to sell products. But with resume accomplishments, you need to sell yourself. It may not feel comfortable, but the good news is sales is a metric-heavy industry, so you have recorded data in your CRM to pull from. Some sales achievements examples include:

• Generated $600,000 in revenue over the past year for a new product 
• Created upselling protocols, increasing the average transaction by 23% in six months
• Trained five new sales consultants in three months, resulting in a 200% increase in sales
• Transitioned to a new CRM, reducing reporting errors by 20% 
• Established major partnerships, increasing brand visibility and boosting sales by 37%
• Increased closing rate by 41% in two years

Nonprofit

Nonprofit employees work in a range of industries. It’s key to list achievements to score your next nonprofit role or to help you transition to the private sector. 

Nonprofit resume achievement examples

• Increased volunteer participation by 60% in two years 
• Developed new educational programs, serving 2,000 low-income community members
• Managed various grants from 20+ funding partners over three years
• Led a team of 10 teaching artists providing free art classes to 500 students over the school year
• Organized gala, resulting in $250,000 in donations in one night
• Improved community outreach, resulting in 28% higher participation in six months

Human Resources (HR)

HR professionals are often the backbone of a company, wearing many hats along the way. When it comes to how to write achievements in resume, HR pros should include their diverse range of experiences and accomplishments.

HR resume achievement examples

• Implemented a new employee wellness program reducing healthcare costs by 27% in one year
• Facilitated sexual harassment training among all employees every two years to comply with local laws
• Mediated employee conflicts and disputes, reducing complaints by 42% in two years 
• Managed 10+ vendor relationships as part of the employee benefits package
• Redesigned employee training program, saving the company $10,000
• Developed a new system for employee reviews, increasing satisfaction by 33% in one year

Related: Browse 75+ more examples of resume achievement examples

How to use AI to write achievements in your resume

Don’t see achievement examples for your field? Teal’s AI Resume Achievements feature can help. To get started, create an account or log in to your Teal account. 

Navigate to the Resume Builder (resume icon) from the homepage. From there, you can either import an existing resume or submit your LinkedIn profile URL to generate a resume.

In the work experience section, under each role, you can click on the plus sign next to “Add an achievement.”

From there, type in an achievement or click “Write with AI” to generate three suggestions that you can edit and customize to match your experience. 

Teal will present three achievements options to choose from. Select the one that is the best fit for the job you’re tailoring to. 

After making a selection, you can customize the resume accomplishment in several ways. You can add keywords, attach a job description to match to, or use a custom prompt to help you craft the best version. 

Note: You get five free AI generations as a Teal user (unlimited as a Teal+ user).

How to arrange achievements on a resume

Now that you know how to write achievements in resumes, it’s time to order them appropriately on your resume.

While you can highlight some achievements in your resume summary and cover letter, the bulk will be resume bullet points within the work experience section. This makes it easier for a hiring manager to scan and focus on your past experiences and accomplishments. 

Your most recent position should have three to five bullet points. Older positions, or ones that aren’t as relevant, may only have a couple or none at all. This can help draw the most attention to your most recent role and avoid lengthy, wordy resumes. Teal's Resume Builder can help arrange achievements easily and effectively.

Including awards in your resume achievements

Your resume achievements section should convey how you’ve tangibly contributed to the company. But should you include awards on a resume?

If you’re a recent graduate or have taken a break it can make sense to include awards on a resume. Additionally, if the award is related to your career, it can add more credibility and prestige to your work experience.

Add an awards section to your resume and include relevant information. Teal’s Resume Builder lets users incorporate awards into a resume with an easy-to-use template.

Simply add the award, organization, and the date received. Then hit “Save” to complete the process and add to your resume. 

Why resume achievements matter 

One of the most common resume mistakes is not being specific. The vast majority of job seekers who simply repeat the duties on their job description won’t move forward. But you can make moves to stand out to hiring managers by highlighting the specific things you’ve done.

Speaking to your achievements in your resume summary and work experience sections can bring your job duties to life and show more of your characteristics, skills, and abilities. It not only shows that you did your job, but also that you did some parts of it very well. 

To get started, use Teal's AI-powered Resume Builder to help you write, format, and arrange your achievements and better tailor your resume to specific job descriptions.