Transforming Your Resume with Dynamic Power Verbs
17 March 2023
When crafting your resume, it is crucial to use strong action verbs to capture the attention of potential employers and showcase your unique skills and experience.
However, too often, resumes feature the same old descriptive words, with a focus on key responsibilities rather than highlights and achievements. Verbs like “Assisted,” “Helped,” “Supported,” and “Provided” may be common, but they don’t always demonstrate your most effective contributions with captivating language.
To help your resume stand out, consider using powerful action verbs; within your bullet points under your employment history and skills sections. Try to provide real-life metrics to support your accomplishments and highlight their impact.
Here are some of our favourite action verbs you can use, along with suggestions for how to use them most effectively, and an example:
Achieved:
- Detail specific goals or targets that you accomplished and how they positively impacted the organization,
- Example: “Achieved internal sales targets exceeding indicators by over 25% in a twelve month period.”
Delivered:
- Describe how you successfully completed or produced something on time, on budget, or to a high standard
- Example: “Delivered four major projects on time and within budget over the past twelve month period”
Directed:
- Explain how you led or managed a team, department, or project, resulting in improved performance.
- Example: “Directed the internal communications department, updating four internal processes and resulting in more consistent outcomes, reducing administration burden by 20%”
Enhanced:
- Demonstrate how you improved a process, product, or service, resulting in increased productivity, sales, or customer satisfaction. “
- Example: “Enhanced user experience across three applications, improving customer experience by 25% at annual survey”
Accelerated:
- Detail how you implemented, carried out a plan or strategy, resulting in success.
- Example: “Accelerated in role as junior team member and within six months was promoted to supervisor, supporting all new hires within electronics department.”
You get the idea! Here are some other great action verbs with ideas for how you might build your own unique examples into your current resume.
Facilitated: Show how you streamlined or simplified a process, resulting in increased efficiency or cost savings
Generated: Explain how you created or developed something, such as a new product, process, or idea, resulting in positive outcomes.
Implemented: Describe how you put a plan or strategy into action, resulting in successful outcomes.
Innovated: Demonstrate how you created or introduced something new, leading to positive change or growth.
Maximized: Emphasize how you optimized or utilized resources to their fullest potential, resulting in increased revenue or performance.
Mentored: Detail how you coached or guided others, leading to their personal or professional growth.
Negotiated: Show how you successfully negotiated a deal, contract, or agreement, resulting in positive outcomes.
Optimised: Explain how you improved or optimized a system, process, or strategy, leading to increased efficiency or cost savings.
Spearheaded: Detail how you initiated or led a project, program, or initiative, resulting in positive outcomes.
Strengthened: Demonstrate how you improved or enhanced something, such as a team, relationship, or process, resulting in positive outcomes.
Transformed: Show how you significantly changed or improved something, resulting in positive growth or development.
Unified: Detail how you brought together or united people, teams, or organisations, resulting in positive outcomes.
By using these, or other similar strong action verbs, along with providing specific metrics, you can create a compelling resume that showcases your unique skills and accomplishments.
Grab the attention of potential employers and get that interview offer!
