Writing Achievement Statements

What are Achievement Statements?

Achievement statements are concisely written bullet points or a few sentences that outline something specific that you did and demonstrate that you did it effectively. These types of statements are important to include in job applications (and interviews) as they provide evidence to the employer that you have the relevant skills and competencies for the role you are applying for.

Recruiters score job applications according to how well candidates evidence the requirements outlined in the job advertisement or person specification e.g. the qualifications, skills, qualities, and experience. By including relevant achievement statements for each requirement, you will increase your chances of a obtaining a high score and progressing onto the next stage of the recruitment process.

Show don’t tell

Consider one of the criteria on the requirements for a job you want to apply for is “good communication skills”.

Tell - If you just tell the employer ‘I am suitable for this role as I have great communication skills and can quickly build rapport with customers’, you are relying on the employer to just take your word for it. Employers see these types of general statements on applications all the time.

Show - To really stand out from other candidates, include evidence of success where you can. For example, “I developed strong communication skills when I was a customer service assistant at Carphone Warehouse where I consistently exceeded my sales targets and was asked to help train new employees.” It is these concise, factual and specific examples of success we call achievement statements.

Where do you include Achievement statements in your applications?

▸As bullet points on your CV under the relevant sections to help your CV stand out amongst other candidates

▸Written as full sentences within a tailored cover letter. Include a paragraph that gives specific examples of how you meet the person specification for the job you are applying for.

▸On an application form there may be a blank box where you may be asked to ‘give a statement in support of your application,’ or ‘tell us why you are suitable for this job’. You are usually advised by the employer to give specific examples of how you meet the person specification.

▸As part of a personal statement for a postgraduate study application

▸Achievement statements can be expanded to provide fuller, more detailed STAR examples for answering competency-based questions on application forms and interviews such as “Tell us about a time when you demonstrated good team working skills?

Achievement statements needs to include the following:

Action verb + Task/Project/Activity + Positive Outcome/Result

For example:

▸Implemented a social media campaign on Instagram and organised 3 promotional events which increased the Film Society’s membership by 20%.

Achievement statements are:

▸Concise, clear, punchy statements (avoid too much jargon, specialist abbreviations)

▸Usually 2-3 lines maximum

▸Truthful (avoid exaggeration)

▸Usually in the past – they have been completed

▸Include a specific factual example of something that you did, give context, include adverbs (listened calmly, successfully completed) and include numbers to communicate scope/size.

▸Include action verb(s) describing what you did rather than your responsibilities. When applying for a particular job, choose action verbs that are linked to the skills you need to demonstrate e.g., Analysed, Researched, Organised, Liaise. Check out Effective Vocabulary for CVs and Applications to help with this.

▸Include the results/outcome of your activity, qualify or quantify/include measurements if possible (e.g., numbers, percentages, money, value-added for customers, team members or the organisation)

Examples of Achievement Statements

Education – examples that demonstrate skills, knowledge, experience and academic ability

(e.g. relevant modules completed with grade, average year grade, specific projects/assignments, group work, lab work, simulations, dissertation, presentations)

▸Researched and wrote a 15,000-word dissertation on X achieving 67%. Wrote an extensive literature review, conducted 30 in-depth interviews and ran a focus group.

▸Presented a poster and delivered an oral presentation on lab experiments. Wrote a lab report (achieving a 1st class mark) and kept an accurate log of laboratory work.

Work Experience – examples that demonstrate effectiveness in the role

▸Delivered excellent customer service in a fast-paced gastro pub assisting over 100 customers in a typical shift.

▸Started as a customer service assistant progressing to team supervisor within a year.

▸Tutored 5 GCSE students for a year one a 1 to 1 basis, adapting my teaching style according to student need. All students significantly improved their average grade.

Extra-curricular Activities – examples that demonstrate personal qualities, values, skills, interests

▸Implemented a social media campaign on Instagram and organised 3 promotional events which increased the Film Society’s membership by 25%.

▸Attended formal meetings with academic staff and successfully negotiated significant changes to coursework deadlines. [Course Representative, BSc International Tourism Management]

▸Volunteered for a local homeless charity, supporting the vulnerable every Monday evening for two years, fundraising more than £1,500 across that period

Finally

Don’t forget we are always happy to help you with every aspect of your career planning and development, wherever you are in your journey. If you are unclear about where to start or what to focus on first, just make an appointment with a Careers Consultant via Surrey Pathfinder and we can help you develop a plan for moving forward.

Visit our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion careers resources to find out more about diversity initiatives, employer perspectives and support at Surrey.

If you would like more information, visit MySurrey Help to find answers to the most common questions and details on how to ask us a question if you require more support.