How Do You Write Impact On A Resume?

You were probably in the midst of drafting your resume and suddenly realized you wanted to figure out how to mention a major professional accomplishment, right? Well, it’s good that you did!

More than your general roles and responsibilities, it’s the impact you’ve created that recruiters want to know - it separates you from a run-of-the-mill employee and provides a glimpse of your true capabilities.

Thus, it is vital to include any major impact/accomplishments you’ve had during your work experience.

Use the PAR framework

So how exactly do you showcase your professional achievements? Simple - use the PAR framework - a simple tool we designed at MakeMyResume to effectively demonstrate professional impact on the customer’s resume.

The PAR framework consists of 3 chronological elements, that answer the 3 main questions - Why, How & What:

1. Problem - The WHY; the issue or area of improvement you solved/worked on
2. Action - The HOW; the corrective steps you took or the tasks you did to bring about the impact
3. Result - The WHAT; explaining the outcome of your efforts

The ‘Problem’ section essentially contains the reason that spurred you to take action. It could be anything. Let’s take 2 examples:

1. Something simple such as wanting to improve average customer satisfaction scores
2. Something complex like overly long processes resulting in operational inefficiency

The ‘Action’ section focuses on the efforts undertaken to solve the problems. In the case of the two examples, it could be:

1. Adding a single line in a customer service trainee manual by asking customer care executives to start with a question as to whether the person they were speaking to had time to talk
2. Removing redundant processes, upskilling employees to use the latest tools & automating simple, but time-consuming processes

The ‘Result’ section outlines the effect your actions had on the problem - how it mitigated it or resulted in an improvement. For our two examples, it could be on the lines of

1. Improved CSAT scores to 93% from 69%
2. Increased operational efficiency by 57% by consolidating various feedback & quality check rounds into a single structured meeting and automating data entry

Thus, the final output for these two examples would be something like this:

1. Refined the customer service manual by making vital changes in the script, thereby improving CSAT scores to 93% from 79%
2. Reduced process time and increased operational efficiency by 57% by consolidating various feedback & quality check rounds into a single structured meeting and automating data entry

Points to keep in mind

You might have noticed a few similarities in the final outputs above, intended to maximize the influence your impact has on the recruiter. These are:

• Quantify your statement - it provides credibility to your point. If you don’t have the numbers on hand, calculate them. It can provide a 40% boost to your hireability!
• Brevity is key - Provide the details within a single sentence, up to 3 lines; the longer your point, the faster recruiters lose interest in reading it
• Create a separate bucket under the work experience for the point(s) - this ensures they’re not skipped over during a perfunctory glance of your resume

Following these pointers ensures your resume leaves a lasting impression on the recruiter and elevates it over the competition. Happy (job) hunting!

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