A resume is supposed to be a career highlight reel, but most sound boring. Inject some life into your resume by peppering it with a variety of active words.
Variety is a key component of dynamic content. Don’t use the same verb more than once to describe your accomplishments. This can be tricky, so for inspiration, here is a list of 100 action words for your resume:
- Accelerated
- Accomplished
- Achieved
- Analyzed
- Attained
- Authored
- Awarded
- Began
- Boosted
- Brokered
- Built
- Cataloged
- Centralized
- Coached
- Composed
- Conducted
- Contracted
- Contributed
- Convinced
- Coordinated
- Corrected
- Counseled
- Created
- Customized
- Delegated
- Demonstrated
- Designed
- Developed
- Distributed
- Drafted
- Earned
- Edited
- Eliminated
- Encouraged
- Engineered
- Established
- Expanded
- Fixed
- Formulated
- Founded
- Generated
- Guided
- Hired
- Implemented
- Improved
- Increased
- Influenced
- Inspired
- Installed
- Instituted
- Invented
- Joined
- Launched
- Learned
- Led
- Made
- Managed
- Marketed
- Measured
- Motivated
- Negotiated
- Netted
- Obtained
- Operated
- Organized
- Oversaw
- Performed
- Persuaded
- Planned
- Presented
- Produced
- Programmed
- Proposed
- Quantified
- Raised
- Recognized
- Recommended
- Redesigned
- Reduced
- Released
- Resolved
- Restructured
- Revised
- Saved
- Served
- Simplified
- Spoke
- Sold
- Solved
- Started
- Supervised
- Surpassed
- Taught
- Trained
- Transformed
- Utilized
- Verified
- Volunteered
- Wrote
- Exceeded
Of course, an exciting resume is more than just action words. You’ll want to include compelling stories, not just facts. Show your personality. Make the most of every inch – especially the Top Third.
For more helpful job search tips, check out: Ultimate Job Search Guide: Recruiter Insider Tips
