If you've added achievements to your resume, but still feel it doesn’t represent you, it might be time to ratchet things up a notch to get results.

A concept called the S-T-A-R (Situation/Task-Action-Result) strategy is a popular and effective method of eliciting and sharpening the information for a resume. It’s aptly named for a reason – your resume must include a description of the situation or task itself!

Note: there are several variations of S-T-A-R, such as S.M.A.R.T (Situation with Metrics, Actions, Results, and Tie-In) or C-A-R (Challenge, Action, and Result). The theory behind each method is the same, where pulling out the context creates the "meat" of your story.

You’ll know if you need to use one of these strategies if your resume skips over this important fact and simply serves up your end results, as in these examples:

- Exceeded 2008 quotas 140%.

- Built 2 new offshore data centers.

- Staffed Dublin office with 300 team members.

But it COULD provide this type of detail instead:

- Exceeded 2008 quota 140%, despite market entry from 5 new competitors and downward pressure on pricing that impacted revenue.

- Responded to increasing storage and monitoring costs, slashing expenses 30% with design and buildout of 2 offshore data centers.

- Dampened staffing costs for 300-employee Dublin center while bringing in new talent pool, reducing time-to-hire by cultivating relationships and volume contracts with European-based recruiters.

To extract the valuable information needed for a well-rounded resume story, you’ll need to follow these steps:

1 - First, make a list of all career accomplishments you’d like to use as examples of your success. Ask colleagues to help if you can’t recall sufficient high points or projects from years past.

2 - Next, use the S-T-A-R formula to describe what situations you stepped into in each job. What was happening at the company?

Were revenues flat, and you were asked to improve them? Did you inherit a disillusioned team? Was the company experiencing growth so rapid that internal procedures didn’t keep up?

3 - Write a description of the actions you took (such as restructuring a team, adding new cost controls, reworking sales methods, etc.).

4 – Now, list the ultimate outcome for each project, and don’t forget to include metrics. Revenue, profit, productivity, and costs all play an important role in your message.

Tighten your language to make the story fit into 2 or 3 lines, and your S-T-A-R story is done! Repeat as often as needed in order to get more requests for interviews.