Resume Action Verbs

Writing "responsible for" in front of every bullet is often less convincing than starting with a verb because the verb shows you doing the work. Choosing that verb involves thinking hard about what you actually did and finding a word for it that is sometimes more precise than your job title suggests.

The lists below are grouped by the kind of work, so you can scan for the ones that match your own bullets. Pick only the verbs that are true.

How to build a bullet around a verb

A strong bullet has three parts: the verb, what you did, and what came of it. Put the verb first, then say who or what it touched, then add the result, with a number if you have one you can stand behind.

Use the past tense for past jobs and the present tense for the job you hold now. Try not to open two bullets in a row with the same verb, and avoid stacking two verbs that mean the same thing, as in "managed and oversaw." With practice, this becomes second nature.

Verbs for leading, organizing and improving

These fit supervisors, coordinators and anyone who kept a team or a process running. If you led people, say how many. If you improved a process, say how long it took or what it cost before you changed it.

• Leading people: directed, supervised, coached, trained, mentored, delegated, hired, recruited, motivated
• Organizing work: coordinated, scheduled, planned, prioritized, arranged, assigned, tracked, filed, catalogued
• Improving things: reorganized, simplified, standardized, updated, revised, reduced, cut, saved, rebuilt, automated

Verbs for communicating and helping people

Customer service, healthcare, teaching and office jobs often come down to how you dealt with people. Name the people, such as patients, callers, students or clients, and say what happened for them, since a word like "communicated" on its own tells the reader almost nothing. Results count here too.

• Speaking and writing: presented, explained, wrote, edited, briefed, negotiated, persuaded, translated, interviewed
• Helping and serving: assisted, advised, guided, resolved, answered, welcomed, referred, cared for, counseled
• Teaching and training: taught, tutored, instructed, demonstrated, graded, prepared, lectured, evaluated

Verbs for analysis, numbers and technical work

Technical verbs work best with the tool, machine or system named right after them, so the reader can picture the job. In fact, the object often matters more than the verb: "repaired" gains weight the moment it is followed by hydraulic lifts or a hospital's nurse call system. Numbers help here as well.

• Analyzing: analyzed, assessed, audited, calculated, compared, forecast, measured, researched, reviewed, tested
• Building and fixing: built, installed, configured, repaired, maintained, programmed, designed, debugged, troubleshot
• Handling money: budgeted, reconciled, balanced, billed, invoiced, collected, processed, purchased, recovered

Verbs for sales, growth and creative work

Sales and marketing bullets stand or fall on results, so pair these verbs with the number that changed: accounts, revenue, sign-ups or repeat customers. Creative verbs should point to something finished that a reader could look at, such as a campaign, a set of photographs or a published article. Link to the work if you can.

• Selling and growing: sold, pitched, closed, won, grew, expanded, renewed, opened, secured, launched
• Creating: designed, drafted, illustrated, photographed, produced, composed, filmed, painted, published

Mistakes to avoid

A verb can overstate your part as easily as it can undersell it. If you helped a manager run a project, "led" falls apart the moment an interviewer asks a follow-up question, and "supported" or "coordinated" is the honest word. The opposite slip happens too: people who ran something on their own write "assisted" and sell themselves short.

Watch for vague verbs that could describe any job, such as handled, worked on and dealt with. Swap each one for the verb that names the actual task. Precise verbs are easier to believe.