PAR Stories: Make sure you’re up to PAR
[Source: Spherion http://employee.spherionexchange.com]

One approach to creating the work history/accomplishments section of your resume is to communicate your experience in terms of Problem-Action-Results ("PAR") stories.
Throughout your career, you have seen Problems, taken Actions to solve them, and created Results – and this is an effective and compelling way to describe your career history.

The PAR structure

• The Problem or Purpose you encountered 
• The Action(s) you took (alone or with others) to overcome that problem or purpose 
• The Result(s) you achieved, in as concrete terms as possible

 

Examples with bottom-line results

• "Managed the design, equipment selection, installation, and start-up of a four-aisle, operator-aboard storage and order-picking system 35 feet high and 120 feet long, handling 6,000 items. Project was completed on time and within the $400,000 budget." 
• "Analyzed cost effectiveness of internal vs. outside services for various operating functions, i.e., payroll, cash receipts, trust operations. Improved quantity and quality of service while reducing costs by 25%."

 

The following questions can help you select suitable PAR experiences from your professional life:

• What classes have you taken? 
• What research have you conducted? 
• What events have you attended and contributed to? 
• With whom have you worked? 
• What were the problems you tackled? 
• Do you seem to get involved with administering projects? Organizing people? Communicating ideas? 
• Have you been recognized for taking initiative? Pioneering new projects? Taking reasonable risks?