

Responsibilities will get you to Woop Woop. To reach Jobdale, you need to learn how to navigate achievements. And you’ve just found your guide.
“Throwing the best barbies in the neighbourhood.”
“Found Nemo.”
“Best friends with Crocodile Dundee.”
Blimey!
I’d hire you in this instant if I saw such accomplishments on a resume. But sadly, I’m not hiring.
You need to try harder to get your recruiter’s attention.
It’s time to learn how to write achievements on resumes that are relevant and help you get the job.
This guide will show you:
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Get quicker to the sections of the guide with this list of contents:
Find 40+ resume achievements examples for all industries:
Let’s dig Hawkesbury-river deep into how and where to write accomplishments on resumes.
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The Labour Market Information Portal projects growth in employment in 17 out of 19 industries in the five years to November 2025. And the four broadest industries will create as many as 600 000 new jobs alone!
That’s sick!
Imagine the opportunities.
To get where you see yourself satisfied, you’ll have to rethink how you write your resume.
Just look at it.
More responsibilities than achievements, huh? You’ve been doing it all wrong.
Your potential employer wants to see you as an achiever, not a doer. And only accomplishments can show off your results.
But I’m guessing you’ve just felt a shrug down your spine because you don’t know how to write them?
Take a look at the below examples first:
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The right examples are great achievements that prove you brought results.
The wrong ones, though, are mere job duties that’d put koalas to sleep.
So—
Here’s how to write achievements that don’t put people to sleep:
Let’s say there’s a job for a Senior Copywriter who has the know-how about conversion rate optimisation.
Here’s how they should write about that in an accomplishment format:
Increased landing page conversion rate by 36% in 4 months for an e-commerce site.
Now that you know how to write achievements in resumes, learn where to write them.
Ideally—
Your recruiter should observe achievements on your resume as if they took a Parkes Telescope.
To give them a high-definition stargazing experience, include your achievements in the following resume parts:
A personal statement is the first thing your recruiter sees on your resume, and it should make them excited to read on. So—
What else could make it more exciting than one of your significant achievements?
See how you can use this section to drop a few achievements in both career summary and objective:
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Result-oriented Project Manager with 7+ years of experience. Oversaw all stages of the $22M Lava project and delivered before deadline. Effective troubleshooter and risk mitigator, saved $2M thanks to noticing doubtful third-party provider forecasts. Excited to use cost management and data analysis skills at Cancel Inc. |
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Highly motivated and outgoing high school student passionate about the world’s cuisine, seeking to become a prep cook at Tres Leches. A winner of Peter Gilmore’s “Aspiring Young Chefs” competition in 2020, with a steady place among the best 10 students at Superth High. |
Last time I saw something so thrilling was when I did whale watching.
That’s awesome!
Choose the most sparkly yet relevant achievement for your personal statement to set yourself apart from other candidates immediately.
Pro Tip: Write it last. It’ll be easier to pick your key achievement for a personal statement when you have them figured out in either your work experience or skills sections.
Although your personal statement is first to get read, your work history is the most important.
Here, recruiters look into your past achievements to see whether you’re likely to bring results for them in the future.
That’s another reason why responsibilities never work. They don’t say anything about you, and anyway, your employer probably already knows what duties were involved in your previous jobs.
Check below resume achievement examples for a customer service representative:
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Customer Service Representative Unstuff, Perth January 2018–January 2019 Responsibilities and Achievements:
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It’s popping with achievements!
In your work experience section, write up to six bullet points with achievements. And don’t be scared to use adjectives next to power words to add value.
Now see what accomplishments a junior applicant could include in their work history:
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Application Developer (Summer Internship) Pear, Melbourne July 2021–September 2021 Responsibilities and Achievements:
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Childhood Education Volunteer Early Discovery, Adelaide April 2019–June 2019 Responsibilities and Achievements:
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And they said they had no work experience…
If you’re an entry-level candidate, use side jobs, volunteering, internships, or work shadowing experience to prove you’re perfect for the role. Non-quantifiable accomplishments can do wonders for you, too.
Do you know what else can do that?
Achievements in the—
Including such achievements as receiving scholarships, graduating with distinction, or making the Dean’s List will get you top of the interview schedule.
Engagement in learning gives you an advantage, and there are heaps of opportunities to show it.
Have a look at those from a Communication and Media graduate:
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BS Communication and Media University of Wollongong 2014–2016 Academic Achievements:
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Once again, achievements with no figures to describe them prove they’re equally important.
“President of a student program.”
Nice, right?
I can already tell they have excellent time management, organisation, and communication skills. Not to mention their motivation for taking the initiative.
Speaking of skills—
That’s another place where you should speak the language of resume achievements.
The best proof of you having a skill is describing how you used it and with what result. When your employer sees solid evidence, they won’t dare bring you in for questioning (unless it’s a job interview).
Have a look at the below accomplishments examples for an executive assistant:
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Time management. Saved around 8 hours/week per manager, thanks to excellent planning. Event planning. Noticed a 40% boost in employee engagement in internal surveys, thanks to organising valuable events. Detail-oriented. Increased executive documentation accuracy to 90% with proofreading. |
You get the drift, don’t you?
Read more: How to Write a Resume: Full Guide & Examples
So far, I’ve covered the required sections in every resume. But—
You can always do more, do better.
To make your employer happy as Larry, add a few accomplishments relevant to the industry in the additional sections:
Geek into the sales assistant achievements example below:
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Awards
Publications
Key Projects
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Fantastic.
Like the above guest posting example, personal achievements will do your resume a world of good, if only they relate to the job you’re after.
And as far as awards go, you can write them together with your achievements in the work history or educational background or create a separate section to single it out.
Last but not least, remember to save some achievements up your sleeve for when you’re writing a cover letter!
Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:
See more cover letter templates and start writing.
Take these home:
Now that you know exactly what makes for a winning resume, have fun changing your responsibilities into achievements!
Please tell us—
Do you have questions about professional achievements on a resume? Do you track your major accomplishments? How do you feel about coming up with an achievement list instead of writing your duties?
Give us a shout in the comments! Let’s get the conversation rolling.
This is it. This is yours now or never—take our advice to heart and don’t worry about how to write a resume ever again.