20 Powerful Action Verbs to Kick Your Resume Up A Notch!
Every resume should have strong action verbs strategically placed throughout—most importantly, at the beginning of the majority of your bullet points and accomplishment-based statements. Please do yourself —and every hiring manager out there—a favor; do not start your sentences with: Responsible for … Worked with … or any other opening that lacks power and punch.
These really do nothing for your resume or experience except hurt it. Hiring managers are not exactly captivated by the phrases, 'responsible for' or 'worked with'. They are just so boring and repetitive—and it's because just about every job seeker out there uses them. Hiring managers want—need—words that jump off the page and captivate them. Here are a few examples of my favorite action words:
Captivated Championed Directed Exceeded Pioneered Formulized (or Formulated) Generated Intensified Leveraged Masterminded Maximized Mentored Optimized Orchestrated
Re-engineered Spearheaded Structured Proliferate Recaptured
Rejuvenated
Truthfully, the list could go on.
Don't believe me? Use the synonym feature in Microsoft Word or go to thesaurus.com. Be creative in your action verb choice, and choose strong words that convey ACTION to begin every sentence.
These words communicate action, results, accomplishments, and contributions — which are all key components in creating a powerful and captivating resume.
Visit our resume samples page to view professionally-written resumes or to request a free resume analysis e-mail your resume to
| About the President and CEO | ||
| Jessica Holbrook is an expert resume writer, career and personal branding strategist, author, and presenter. She has written more than 100 articles that are featured on some of the best career advice Web sites today. In addition, her writing has been included in Launch pad, a career search strategy guide featuring exclusive information by the top career experts in the industry. Published quarterly, Launch pad is the respected guide used by career development centers and MBA programs throughout the country. | |
| As CEO of Great Resumes Fast, Jessica enjoys collaborating with forward-thinking professionals and executives, identifying their personal brand and value proposition and leveraging their unique talent, passion, and vision to position them as a leader in their industry. Her passion is helping professionals and executives uncover what makes them stand out in the crowd.
Great Resumes Fast holds membership with the Association of Online Resume and Career Professionals, Career Directors International and the National Resume Writers Association.
For a free resume analysis, e-mail your resume to info@greatresumesfast.com.
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| About Our Resume Writers: |
| Megan Koehler is an expert certified resume writer, personal branding strategist, social media expert and author. She enjoys working with professional and executive-level job seekers in the development of their personal brand, online image and career marketing documents. She creates customized personally branded resumes, cover letters, and social networking profiles that assist clients in achieving their career goals. | |
| Megan partners with clients throughout the US and Internationally in all industries and career levels to support them on their path to career success. She holds a degree in English and has multiple published articles featured on several top-career sites.
Megan is also a member of Career Directors International and has participated in career training through the highly recognized Resume Writing Academy. In addition, she recently launched Branding Advantage, a career blog focused on personal branding and social networking. |
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