PSA: Don’t Give Me Your Job Description, Tell Me What You Accomplished!

After reviewing hundreds of résumés – maybe more, who knows?? – over the years, I’ve seen many of the same types of mistakes over and over again. Regardless of federal government versus private sector, law enforcement versus academia versus accounting, I see a common pattern from one person’s example to the next.

 

One of those is listing the details of your work experience solely as job duties. What do I mean by this? I’m talking about rehashing the job description of that position when describing your responsibilities instead of demonstrating how you were successful in those essential job functions.

 

Example:

Police Sergeant

• Supervised and directed the work of patrol officers as well as the scheduling of shifts and required training.

• Reviewed and evaluated policies and procedures to ensure accuracy and relevancy.

 

The two bullets above are duties. They may very well be duties you carried out in your job as a sergeant or they may be listed as duties in the job to which you’re applying. However, nothing about those two bullets shows me that you’re successful at those responsibilities. What are better options?

 

• Successfully managed a team of 11 patrol officers, optimizing shift schedules and implementing required training programs, resulting in 15% improved response times and a 97% training compliance rate across the department.

• Identified misalignment between "Use of Force" policy changes and workflow processes, and designed and managed a 30-day beta test of new procedures that resulted in 40% workload reduction for lower-liability cases while maintaining accuracy, leading to Department-wide implementation.

 

Here’s another example:

• Collect, analyze, and interpret data from various sources, including law enforcement databases, reports, and public records.

 

This could be a bullet on an Intel Analyst job vacancy description, and it also could be a description of one of your current duties as Federal Air Marshal within the investigations section. If you’re looking to apply to a job like this after retirement, you may think, “I do exactly that right now,” and either copy and paste or rework some version of it to add as a bullet on your résumé.

 

However, how about being more specific? “Collect, analyze, and interpret data from various sources, including NCIC, UPAX, LexisNexis, and OSINT.”

 

This also is an example of what to do if you don’t have a statistic, a number or percentage to demonstrate your achievement. Not every bullet point will; I recognize that. But there are still ways to improve your phrasing.

 

Example for a Project Manager:

• Responsible for monitoring projects, ensuring they remain on time and in budget.

 

Use action verbs – “direct, managed, analyzed, spearheaded” – instead of phrases like “responsible for” or “served as.” Be specific: What was the project?

Try instead: 

• Direct the Electronic Handbook (EHB) system’s modernization and enhancement projects, avoiding cost and schedule variances.

 

Remember, your résumé is not just a document listing where you've worked and what you were supposed to do—it's your personal marketing tool that should showcase your unique value. By transforming “duty statements” into achievement statements, you give hiring managers concrete evidence of your capabilities and potential.

 

Don't tell them you were responsible for managing projects; tell them how your project management saved time, money, or resources. This simple shift in perspective can dramatically improve your résumé's effectiveness and set you apart from the rest. And if you’re not sure how to go about this, then that’s why I’m here. Reach out through LinkedIn or via email at contact@norriseditorial.com, and let me know how I can help!