Concept
1. The formula
Action verb + what you did + how (tool/method) + result (number)
"Automated 12 monthly branch reports using Power Query, cutting preparation from 3 days to 2 hours (20 hours saved per month)."
Duties say what you were supposed to do. Impact bullets say what changed because you did it.
2. Before → after
| Weak | Strong |
|---|---|
| Made MIS reports | Built 8 weekly MIS reports for 3 departments using pivots and XLOOKUP, delivered every Monday by 10 AM |
| Responsible for data entry | Designed a data-validation entry sheet that cut entry errors by ~60% across 5 branches |
| Worked on Excel dashboards | Created a sales dashboard (slicers, KPI cards) used by the sales head in weekly reviews of 8 stores |
| Did reconciliation | Reconciled ₹4 cr monthly sales between ERP and accounts, reducing unmatched entries from 120 to 15 |
| Used VBA | Wrote a VBA macro that splits the master file and emails 25 branch reports, saving 6 hours each month |
| Handled inventory data | Built a reorder report for 600 SKUs (ABC + reorder point) that reduced stock-outs on A-items |
| Did a project on HR data | Analysed 650 employee records in Excel; found overtime staff leave at 37.7% vs 22.2% and proposed overtime caps |
3. Where your numbers come from
- Time: how long before vs after (ask yourself, check old emails/calendar).
- Volume: rows, files, reports, branches, SKUs, users.
- Money: amounts reconciled, savings, revenue covered.
- Quality: errors, mismatches, complaints before/after.
- Adoption: who uses it, how often.
Estimates are fine if honest and defensible ("~", "about"). Never invent numbers — interviewers will ask how you measured them.
4. Strong verbs for Excel work
Automated · Built · Designed · Streamlined · Reconciled · Consolidated · Analysed · Modelled · Forecast · Standardised · Reduced · Cut · Improved · Delivered · Trained · Migrated
Avoid: "Responsible for", "Worked on", "Helped with", "Involved in".
5. Bullet hygiene
- 1–2 lines each, start with the verb, past tense for past roles.
- Most impressive bullet first in each role.
- 3–5 bullets per role/project; fewer for old roles.
- Name tools only where they add credibility (Power Query, VBA) — the Skills section carries the rest.
6. Freshers: projects are your experience
"Cleaned and combined 24 monthly CSV files (50,000 rows) with Power Query and built an interactive dashboard; identified West region as the main gap to target (92.4%)." — same formula, project numbers.
7. The same bullets power your interviews
Each bullet is a STAR story waiting to be told (Module 1). If you can't talk for 2 minutes about a bullet, rewrite or remove it.
Common mistakes
Duty lists. Vague words ("various", "multiple"). Inflated or unexplainable numbers. Listing every function used in every bullet.