A Is for Action: Incorporate Action Words Into a Resume

Nancy Anderson
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Action words are the foundation of a quality resume. Carefully chosen verbs show prospective employers exactly what it is you have accomplished to paint them a good picture of your experience. They also help seed ideas about what you might accomplish in a new position if you were to actually get hired. Build a great resume by incorporating action verbs to show off your past achievements and level of experience.

Focus on the Specifics

Start your search for action words by thinking of the specific things you have accomplished on your career journey. Don't forget to include tasks done as a volunteer or as part of your education, especially if you don't have much work experience. Make a list of your top accomplishments, starting each one with an action verb that targets exactly what you did.

Depending on your industry, specific action words such as "altered," "boosted," "concluded," "informed" and "engineered" can pinpoint your exact contribution in a way that highlights your value as an employee. General phrases, such as "handled multiple responsibilities" or "worked as a part of a team," incorporate action verbs but are too general to provide much information to a hiring manager. Choosing precise words shows your worth more directly.

Accomplishments Over Character Traits

All job applicants like to think about themselves as go-getters, team players and innovators. Words like these might describe you, but they add little value to your resume. Instead, substitute action words about your actual job experiences. Translate "go-getter" into "initiated project that increased profits by 12 percent." Likewise, "innovator" becomes "developed new training materials to reduce orientation time for new hires."

Don't Forget to Include the Results

When writing your resume, action words need to be paired with results. Analyzing data is not a noteworthy accomplishment. On the other hand, saying that you analyzed sales data to better target advertising for increased sales shows that your analyzing achieved positive results for the company. Think about how you have led projects, initiated actions, saved money, gained clients or improved a process. To make your resume pop, add those items to your skills or experience sections, starting each bullet with an action verb and ending with a result.

Action Verbs as Keywords

The right action verbs are keywords that can get your resume noticed by both hiring managers and automated tracking systems. Look to job descriptions to find the exact verbs to use as keywords. If the job description states that a company needs someone with experience planning events, make sure to use the verb "planned" when talking about your event experience as opposed to "organized" or "designed." Likewise, if the job advertisement says that the ideal candidate has experience building Web applications, say that you "built" Web applications rather than "created" them.

Provide prospective employers with an accurate picture of your job skills and experience by using precise action words in your resume to tell them about your past accomplishments. Action words not only let the company know more about you; they also make your resume more exciting and fun to read. The longer the hiring manager spends on your resume, the more likely he is to call you in for an interview. Up the action words in your resume to give your job hunt a boost.

Resources:

http://time.com/3648812/verbs-resume-awesome/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/03/17/the-best-and-worst-words-to-use-on-your-resume/#978accb33e45

https://www.acui.org/Career_Center/Career_Resources/Resumes/7288/

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4777-action-words-for-resume.html

Photo Courtesy of Ploymint HQ at Flickr.Com

 

 

 
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  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson •

    @Sylvia thanks for your comment. The best way to accomplish this is to keep a live journal. Remember back in high school when you were required to keep a daily journal. What a hassle. But, if you look back it, through the journal, you might be amazed at what you accomplished throughout the year. Things that you would have totally forgotten if it hadn't been for that journal. The same is true on the job. When asked to do something new, jot it down in your work journal. This way, when you have to write a new resume or you are up for review, you can pull your journal out and see everything that you did and can truly show your value to the company.

  • Sylvia L.
    Sylvia L. •

    These tips are truly invaluable. Although it has been a struggle to quantify all of my previous work, even being able to highlight one or two accomplishments is helpful. For instance, how did I aid to a decrease in school absences or an increase in participation for students? Did customer reviews suggest that the atmosphere was better once I started working? Did we pass an inspection that I helped contribute to? Even if you are a "cog in the wheel," there are ways you can show how you added value. Thanks for these ideas!

  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson •

    Thanks for the comments. @Abbey so very true. It's sometimes comical to read a resume that contains "thesaurus" type wording. When a job seeker does that, it's patently obvious! I remember an episode of Friends where Monica and Chandler were applying to adopt a child. They needed some character references so Joey offered to write one up for them. Ross showed Joey how to use the thesaurus and the results were disastrous - funny but still disastrous. Every other word came from a thesaurus. I always think about that when I am using a thesaurus to find a different word. @Hema please don't use the word "cog" in your resume. You weren't a cog but part of a team. That's how you describe yourself. Best of luck in your job search.

  • Abbey Boyd
    Abbey Boyd •

    Using the right action verbs in the right places is priceless. As stated in the comments, a thesaurus is a great way to find words that are not quite so cliche and overused, but sometimes people get carried away. Use a word that you know, and make sure you understand it's meaning thoroughly. I have seen many resumes over the years where people have used synonyms that just weren't quite synonymous enough for the context. Either way, using actions verbs will certainly boost your resume over one that does not.

  • Hema Zahid
    Hema Zahid •

    In some of my past jobs I was just a cog in a wheel and it’s hard to quantify any accomplishments I had in those positions. But I can see how searching for action keywords may help. Some employers might actually be looking for someone who has experience in being a cog. After reading this, I have a better chance of finding such employers since I now know how to search for them.

  • Tara Avery
    Tara Avery •

    This makes so much sense. As a writer and editor, I am constantly urging myself and others to use more active voice, so why wouldn't that also translate into making a resume and cover letter more active? Action is always so much more engaging to read than dry nouns and repetitive text.

  • William Browning
    William Browning •

    Action words in a resume help tell a hiring manager your story. It's the "action-result" portion of a situation you experienced with a previous employer. When you convey how you accomplished a result, your resume becomes that much more effective without a lot of extra words. That's why action-based keywords are vitally important.

  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson •

    Thanks again for the comments. Thanks Leigh for your insight. We are always asked about HR's viewpoint. @Jacob - a thesaurus is a wonderful tool as long as it is used correctly. Some of the resumes I have read would make you laugh. You can tell that the writer used a thesaurus but didn't take the time to really dig in and find out what the words mean! If we can tell that the person just threw words in to make themselves sound more intelligent, what do you think hiring managers do when they get a resume like that?

  • Jacob T.
    Jacob T. •

    Who knew how handy a thesaurus could be to a job search? I suppose there is probably an app for that now anyway, but it fantastic to know that articulation and messaging can play such a huge role in a job search. The process of writing bullets with action points really forces you to think about your accomplishments, which is kind of like interview prep anyway.

  • Leigh Morgan
    Leigh Morgan •

    @Nancy

    As a former hiring manager, I appreciate this article. Not only do action verbs make a resume or cover letter more interesting to read, but they also make it easier for applicants to describe their achievements. Even entry-level employees can almost always find one or two achievements to list in terms of improved efficiency or cost savings. Using action verbs makes the recruiter's job easier, and it makes it easier for an applicant to make it to the next stage of the hiring process.

  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson •

    Thanks again for the comments. Action verbs truly are important. Make sure that they are the right tense also and try to never use the word "I" to lead off any bullet. Quantifiable and measurable are the words that you need to keep in mind when you are listing down the tasks that perform or have performed. This is what hiring managers are looking for. Sure it might be great that you have 20 tasks to list down for a position but that is not what hiring managers want. They want short, simple, to the point type resumes showing how you helped the company move forward. Bear in mind that not everyone will be able to state, for instance, that they created a process to do X and saved the company $X per year in materials and manpower. But, if you can measure your accomplishments, by all means do so.

  • Lorri Cotton
    Lorri Cotton •

    I think that another problem that I was having with my resumes was that I didn't pair my actions with the result of them. Another thing is that I didn't know that you could also use action verbs as keywords in your job search. This is a great article with so much information, it's going to require me to read it again just to get all of the information contained herein.

  • CATHERINE S.
    CATHERINE S. •

    For my latest resume, I focused on demonstrating the measurable results that I achieved in past positions. Simply having a description of a past work experience does not tell employers how I specifically contributed to the position and obtained positive, quantifiable results for the company. In order to make these descriptions pop in the eyes of employers, action words are definitely key. Sometimes the only changes that need to be made to make a resume great is simple rewording.

  • Shannon Philpott
    Shannon Philpott •

    Great advice! This makes a lot of sense. I have read through too many resumes that are full of fluff and filler and honestly, this is easily apparent to hiring managers. Adding action words that are backed by concrete examples definitely makes you stand out to employers and stand apart from the other candidates.

  • Nancy Anderson
    Nancy Anderson •

    Thanks @Katharine and @Jay for your comments. Action verbs are the best way to state your accomplishments. I can remember writing up a resume years ago and everyone used "responsible for" or "accountable for", etc. Now we are told not to use those verbs as they don't really express anything. @Jay always remember, when writing a cover letter, that it's not about you - it's all about them. It's all about how hiring you will benefit their bottom line. Thanks again.

  • Jay Bowyer
    Jay Bowyer •

    Verbs are "doing" words, so it's only natural that I should be putting them into application for "doing" jobs. By demonstrating myself a person of action, I could end up on a potential employer's hiring radar. It's so easy to focus on character traits when I write cover letters, but if I shift over and concentrate on accomplishments instead, I make myself a more desirable hire.

  • Katharine M.
    Katharine M. •

    This reminds me of a law professor I had who always said "Words have meaning." Makes sense; action verbs have clear meanings that translate to specific tasks and outcomes. It can be tempting to use more vague language if you don't quite have the credentials a job description requires, but it's better to try to find a way to express your qualifications in action words.

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