Why do you need a brag book for your resume?
A resume is more than a list of tasks that you accomplish every day. It describes your accomplishments—what you achieved with your skills, education, and experience. A brag book is a place to record achievements so that you do not forget them when it comes time to write your resume.
Many people dislike bragging or talking about themselves or feel they have nothing in their career to brag about anyway. A brag book is a way of putting your career in context; as time goes on you will see that you have actually developed knowledge and skills that you did not have at the start of your career.
What should you include in a brag book for your resume?
- Copies or details of any awards, praise, or commendations you receive
- Testimonials from current or former bosses—if you have none, ask for them
- Important numbers you have achieved, such as a decrease in cost or increase in productivity, revenue, or customer satisfaction
- Important numbers about your company, such as its number of employees or yearly revenue
- Names and contact information of customers, colleagues, supervisors, and others who might be good additions to your networking pool
- Descriptions of projects you were involved in and their results, including the number of people on a team and its goals
- Descriptions of challenges you faced at work and what you learned from them
- Copies of your evaluations, especially if the evaluator writes a favorable comment or ranks you high among your peers
- Your old resumes, so that you do not forget dates and titles as time goes on
- Copies of any certificates or other credentials from taking internal or external courses to develop your skills
How will the brag book help your job search?
Share the information in your brag book with your professional resume writer. Look at your brag book whenever you get discouraged by your job search. Read through the brag book before interviews to sharpen your memory about your achievements and prepare to answer questions.
Robin’s Resumes® can help you build a resume that draws on your brag book to convince hiring managers and recruiters that will make a valuable addition to any company.