How to write Achievement Statements using the FAB Technique

The modern job market is competitive, so you will need a CV that sets you apart from the rest. Including achievements within your CV demonstrates credibility and shows potential employers and recruiters what you are capable of achieving and highlights specific examples where you have excelled in the past.

This article explores the value of including achievement statements in your CV and how to create them using the FAB technique.

Responsibilities vs Achievements

In a CV, responsibilities and achievements serve different purposes and it's important to understand the difference between them to effectively communicate your professional experience.

Responsibilities refer to the duties and tasks you are required to perform within your job role. So, for example, your responsibilities could include managing a team or conducting data analysis.

Achievements, however, are specific accomplishments or outcomes that resulted from your actions. They highlight the impact you had in a particular role and often involve quantifiable results or how you added value. Achievements focus on the positive results, improvements, or contributions you made beyond your day-to-day responsibilities.

Identify your achievements

Identifying achievements for your CV involves reflecting on your professional experiences and recognising instances where you made a positive impact, exceeded expectations, or contributed significantly to your role or projects.

Look for achievements that can be quantified. Numbers, percentages, and tangible outcomes provide concrete evidence of your contributions. For example, did you increase sales, reduce costs, improve efficiency, or enhance customer satisfaction? Think about specific projects, initiatives, or tasks you were involved in. What were the outcomes? Did you lead a successful project, introduce an innovative solution, or contribute to a team's success?

Utilising AI for Achievement Inspiration

A lot of job seekers suffer from ‘Blank Page Syndrome’ or ‘Writers Block’ and struggle with where to start when it comes to writing or updating their CV.

Chat GPT or Microsoft Co Pilot are several of many AI platforms that can be used for inspiration when putting together content and achievements to include in your CV. For example, you can copy and paste a specific job description with a command; ‘‘What are the key skills required for this this job description’’ The AI will scan the job specification and identify a list of key words it has determined that are important for the role. You can then proceed to ask it a follow up question such as ‘’What achievements would a recruiter expect to see in my CV based on these skills’’ This is ideal if you need a starting point for your CV if you are unsure of what achievements you wish to include. You can then consider your own experiences to create achievement statements. 

Writing achievement statements

Now you have identified and considered what achievements you want to include in your CV, the FAB sentence structure below will help you to turn a good achievement into a great achievement:

(F) Feature: The way you did this. Start the sentence with a power word (e.g. consistently, successfully, actively, continually, efficiently).

A) Action: What you did. Use a verb (e.g. maximised, minimised, exceeded, revitalised, created, launched, coordinated) followed by a few words describing what you did.

(B) Benefit: State the benefit to the company, customer etc. If you can make the benefit quantifiable this will have much more of an impact and show the employer how you can add value.

For example:

“Successfully created and implemented a targeted digital marketing strategy. Conducted comprehensive market analysis, identifying key customer segments, resulting in a 30% increase in online sales within 6 months.”

Including achievements helps you stand out from other applicants who may have similar qualifications or experience. Highlighting specific accomplishments helps recruiters and hiring managers differentiate between candidates and makes your CV more memorable.

Final thoughts

Hiring managers and recruiters receive hundreds of CV’s and are likely to receive similar applications if you use AI for content creation. So, make sure any content AI creates for you is tailored to each application. It needs to include your own skills and achievements that you have considered against the job description to differentiate your application from others. AI will create generic achievements, so you need to ensure you make them your own and feel confident to talk through them. Also be mindful if your CV isn’t written completely by you or if it uses words that aren’t in your vocabulary, you may be caught and not shortlisted.