build-an-achievement-inventory

name	build-an-achievement-inventory
category	resume
description	Build a reusable, evidence-linked inventory of projects, responsibilities, outcomes, skills, feedback, and lessons for resumes, reviews, applications, and interviews. Use when someone forgets what they accomplished, needs a brag document, or wants source material before tailoring career documents.

build-an-achievement-inventory

Capture verified work before memory compresses it into vague duties. Keep the inventory broader than a resume so future applications can select evidence without rewriting history.

Inputs

• Choose a private document or sheet the person controls and a time range to cover.
• Gather calendars, project files, commits, tickets, messages, feedback, reports, and prior applications.
• Agree on private or confidential material that may be recorded but never published.

Procedure

1. Create fields for date, situation, goal, contribution, collaborators, decisions, skills, result, evidence link, confidence, confidentiality, and possible resume language.
2. Walk the time range by project, month, or role. Use artifacts to prompt memory rather than relying on unaided recall.
3. Record duties only as context. Break accomplishments into a problem, action, decision, output, and observable result.
4. Distinguish individual contribution from team outcome. Name collaborators and inherited work where relevant.
5. Link evidence such as a commit, document, shipped page, report, feedback message, or direct observation. Store private links without copying sensitive contents.
6. Quantify only from a traceable source. Record the baseline, time window, unit, and calculation beside each number.
7. Capture failures, recoveries, lessons, and work that improved safety, quality, clarity, or team speed, even when it did not produce a public launch.
8. Tag entries by skills demonstrated, target roles, and strongest proof. Mark claims that need confirmation.
9. Review the inventory with the person. Remove duplicates, soften unsupported causality, and identify missing evidence worth collecting.
10. Establish a short recurring update after projects, feedback, or measurable results.

Boundaries

Do not copy private employer, client, student, patient, or customer data into an external service. Never fabricate impact or claim sole credit for team work. Keep the full inventory private unless the person explicitly chooses excerpts to publish.

Done

• The inventory covers the chosen time range and links each strong claim to evidence
• Individual, team, inherited, and confidential contributions are clearly distinguished
• Every number records its source, unit, baseline, window, and calculation or is removed
• Entries are tagged for reuse and the next update date or trigger is recorded

Then use build-resume, write-a-case-study, or interview-prep to turn selected evidence into a specific artifact.