Using Action Verbs

Ready! Set! Action! Well sort of. Writing a compelling resume that convinces a recruiter or hiring manager that you’re the best fit for their open position takes more than just listing your job responsibilities. Remember, recruiters review hundreds of resumes daily, and the average recruiter scans a resume in approximately 7 seconds. If you want to stand out, you have to up your game. Show some Action. A strong action verb does just that-it shows action, it is not passive.

What Are Action Words

Resume action words pack a powerful punch. Using action verbs demonstrates your specific contributions and can increase your chances of being noticed by recruiters and hiring managers. These power words add a confident tone to your resume while articulating the specific tasks you perform in your role.
To take it even further, using action verbs in conjunction with quantifiable results, creates an even more impactful resume as it not only demonstrates what you did, but also the result of that action.

Deciding on the Best Skills for Your Resume

Example 1: “Responsible for creating marketing strategies for company brand”.
Instead: “Created social media and marketing strategies for company brand that grew client base by 65%”.
Example 2: “In charge of negotiations for assigned client group”.
Instead: Negotiated and saved an at-risk client and successfully signed a 5-year deal that generated $2M”.

Starting a sentence with “responsible for” or “in charge of” when describing your work should be avoided at all costs. Recruiters have seen enough resumes with those phrases, and it doesn’t make you stand out. It just comes across as dull and boring.

With all of that being said, choosing the appropriate action verb could be challenging. We’ve compiled a list of 140+ action verbs to consider when writing your resume.

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