The words you choose matter. Starting each bullet point with a strong action verb immediately shows hiring managers what you DID, not just what you were responsible for. This simple change can transform your resume from forgettable to impressive.
Why Action Verbs Work
Recruiters spend just 7.4 seconds scanning your resume. Action verbs grab attention immediately and paint a picture of you as a doer, not just a position-holder. They're essential for writing a strong work experience section and help with ATS systems that scan for active language.
Leadership & Management (25 Verbs)
Use these when highlighting leadership experience, team management, or supervisory roles:
Example Usage:
- • Directed a cross-functional team of 15 engineers through a 12-month product launch
- • Mentored 8 junior developers, with 3 earning promotions within 18 months
- • Spearheaded company-wide digital transformation initiative impacting 500+ employees
- • Orchestrated merger integration of two 50-person teams with zero productivity loss
Achievement & Results (25 Verbs)
Perfect for quantifiable accomplishments and demonstrating impact:
Example Usage:
- • Exceeded quarterly sales targets by 145% for 6 consecutive quarters
- • Generated $2.3M in new revenue through strategic account expansion
- • Doubled customer retention rate from 45% to 90% within one year
- • Accelerated time-to-market by 40% through process improvements
Communication & Influence (25 Verbs)
Highlight your communication skills, writing, and ability to influence:
Example Usage:
- • Presented quarterly results to C-suite executives and board of directors
- • Negotiated vendor contracts saving $500K annually
- • Authored technical documentation used by 10,000+ developers globally
- • Persuaded stakeholders to adopt new methodology, reducing errors by 60%
Put These Action Verbs to Work
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Create Your Resume FreeAnalytical & Research (25 Verbs)
Showcase your analytical thinking, research skills, and data-driven approach:
Example Usage:
- • Analyzed customer behavior data to identify $1.2M upsell opportunity
- • Forecasted market trends with 94% accuracy using ML models
- • Investigated security breach and implemented fixes within 24 hours
- • Diagnosed system bottlenecks causing 30% performance degradation
Creative & Innovation (25 Verbs)
Ideal for designers, marketers, product developers, and anyone showcasing creativity:
Example Usage:
- • Designed award-winning brand identity adopted by Fortune 500 client
- • Launched innovative loyalty program generating 50K new sign-ups
- • Pioneered company's first mobile app, reaching 100K downloads
- • Crafted content strategy that increased organic traffic by 300%
Technical & Engineering (25 Verbs)
Perfect for developers, engineers, IT professionals, and technical roles:
Example Usage:
- • Engineered microservices architecture handling 1M+ daily requests
- • Automated deployment pipeline reducing release time from days to hours
- • Migrated legacy system to cloud, cutting infrastructure costs by 60%
- • Debugged critical production issue saving $50K in potential downtime
Efficiency & Process Improvement (25 Verbs)
Highlight your ability to improve processes, save time, and increase efficiency:
Example Usage:
- • Streamlined onboarding process reducing time-to-productivity by 40%
- • Eliminated manual data entry saving 20 hours weekly
- • Consolidated 5 vendor relationships into 2, saving $150K annually
- • Reengineered workflow reducing customer wait time from 48 to 4 hours
Support & Service (25 Verbs)
Great for customer service, administrative, and support roles:
Example Usage:
- • Resolved 50+ customer inquiries daily while maintaining 98% satisfaction rating
- • Facilitated smooth office relocation for 200-person team with zero downtime
- • Supported executive team through acquisition, managing calendars for 5 VPs
- • Ensured 99.9% uptime for critical business systems through proactive monitoring
Before & After Transformations
See how action verbs transform weak bullets into powerful achievements:
❌ Before (Weak):
"Was responsible for managing social media"
✓ After (Strong):
"Orchestrated social media strategy across 4 platforms, growing following from 5K to 50K in 12 months"
❌ Before (Weak):
"Helped with customer service"
✓ After (Strong):
"Resolved 75+ daily customer inquiries, maintaining 4.9/5 satisfaction rating"
❌ Before (Weak):
"In charge of the sales team"
✓ After (Strong):
"Led 12-person sales team to exceed quota by 135%, generating $4.2M in annual revenue"
❌ Before (Weak):
"Worked on making things run better"
✓ After (Strong):
"Streamlined order fulfillment process, reducing delivery time by 40% and saving $200K annually"
❌ Before (Weak):
"Did coding for the website"
✓ After (Strong):
"Engineered responsive e-commerce platform using React, boosting mobile conversions by 65%"
Quick Reference: Verbs to Avoid
Stay away from these weak, passive, or overused phrases:
❌ Avoid These:
- • "Responsible for..."
- • "Helped with..."
- • "Worked on..."
- • "Duties included..."
- • "Was in charge of..."
- • "Assisted in..."
- • "Participated in..."
✓ Use These Instead:
- • "Managed / Led / Directed"
- • "Supported / Enabled / Facilitated"
- • "Developed / Created / Built"
- • "Delivered / Produced / Executed"
- • "Oversaw / Supervised / Coordinated"
- • "Collaborated / Partnered / Contributed"
- • "Drove / Spearheaded / Championed"
The Bottom Line
Strong action verbs are one of the simplest ways to improve your resume. They shift your bullets from passive descriptions to active demonstrations of value. Every bullet point is an opportunity to show – not just tell – what you can do.
Use this guide as a reference when writing or updating your work experience section. Pick verbs that accurately reflect your contributions, pair them with specific metrics, and watch your resume transform from average to outstanding. For more tips, check out our comprehensive resume writing tips guide.
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