Resume Action Verbs

There's no secret list of verbs that will impress every hiring manager every time. Used in moderation, variety is the spice of a successful resume. However, a few workhorse action words can help get you started thinking about the implications of verbs in your resume.

Professional resume writers Steve Burdan and Mary Schumacher offer the following verbs to get you started:

Steve Burdan's Action Verbs:

• Collaborated: "It implicitly gets across that you work well with other people, and that's crucial in business, where the Lone Ranger approach doesn't work."
• Clarified: "That means you're taking something unclear and making it clear."
• Authored/Generated: Both denote the ability to make something out of nothing.
• Diagnosed: "That obviously means you're good at analysis, at tinkering with things, at unpacking things."

Mary Schumacher's Action Verbs:

• Enrich
• Fortify
• Forge
• Transform
• Galvanize

Other resources to energize your resume verbs

For action verbs that are relevant to your particular work history, Quintessential Careers features a helpful list of verbs categorized by skills.