There are probably many people who can do what you do.  The differentiator is in how you do it.  It’s your unique approach that let’s you stand out above the crowd.  Here is an exercise to help you discover what makes you unique.  It will help you identify your brand and your value proposition.

You’ve heard of writing out accomplishment statements using the SAR or CAR or STAR method?  Well, I have another acronym for you.  I suggest you write out your accomplishment statements using the SARqY method.  SARqY stands for Situation-Action-Result (quantified whenever possible)-You.  After you write out the situation, action, and result (quantified/qualified), then state how the action you took and/or the way you approached the situation was different from what others would do.  As you compile your accomplishment statements, you will see a pattern emerge that represents your brand.

Because quantified statements are easier to write, I thought I would provide an example that illustrates a qualitative result with the identification of some of the employee’s soft skills:  S – Mary received a call from the Phoenix office telling her that the paychecks for her call center employees would not arrive on time for the Friday payday.  She was told she would have to tell the employees that they would have to wait until Monday for their checks.  A – After placing a nonproductive phone call to the company’s local bank across the street, Mary left her office and walked over to talk to the bank manager in person.  After discussion options, Mary convinced the bank to manually type up checks for each of the employees.  Rq – The 187 employees received their money on Friday as expected.  Mary gained trust, respect, and admiration from her employees, her peers, and her superiors.  She improved employee morale and most likely retention.  Y – Mary had only been with the company for two weeks when this occurred.  Mary knew her employees were expecting and were in need of their money on Friday.  When paychecks, mailed from the home office, didn’t arrive on time, company practice had been to allow employees to receive a loan from the bank to be repaid when their checks arrived on Monday.  Mary found it unacceptable to put employees in the position of having to ask for a loan and found a more respectful way to provide for the employees.  Most people would have followed company practice.  Mary showed concern, consideration, and respect for the employees, and she showed leadership, initiative, and creativity in finding a better way to resolve a challenging issue.

During my teleseminar the other day, a participant asked how to express results in a resume when there are no quantitative measures.  What a great question!  I can relate to that, can’t you?  Don’t we all have accomplishments we are proud of that don’t have measurable results we can tout?  Fortunately, there is a solution when numbers aren’t available.  A vibrant qualitative description of the results you attained can be a powerful descriptor and carry a lot of weight with a hiring manager.  Here are a few examples of how you can summarize your accomplishments qualitatively:

Resolved customer complaints with active listening and proactive resolution skills resulting in the receipt of appreciation letters from customers commending my services.

Facilitated productive weekly team meetings demonstrating exceptional communication and organizational skills that elicited a performance review comment from my manager as “best in class meeting facilitator.”

Cross-trained staff outside of normal job responsibilities resulting in increased productivity and increased customer service response time with reduced headcount.