Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Sample Resume Action Verbs

When I used to train managers and their staff members on writing performance reviews,  I explained that the wording that they needed to use had to be measurable. A person should never be rated on soft, intangible things such as "attitude" (good or  bad), or "to understand" or "to know". Rather than focusing on words that had no substance, a manager needed to look at activities and results. Questions such as "how many", "how much", "resulting in what", "why", "how", "who", "when"and "where" will help drill down to real activities and results.

Fast forward to the present and I use these same questions when helping someone craft their resume. Why? Because a resume should not read like a job description; it needs measurable results. In addition to asking questions, it is also important to use action verbs to better describe the results. Here is a listing of the very same action verbs that I used in performance management training. They can also be used when trying to find the perfect action verbs for your resume. There are many others verbs but these are a good place to start.


Resume Action Verbs

A-B

accelerated, acclimated, accompanied, accomplished, achieved, acquired, acted, activated, actuated, adapted, added, addressed, adhered, adjusted, administered, admitted, adopted, advanced, advertised, advised, advocated, aided, aired, affected, allocated, altered, amended, amplified, analyzed, answered, anticipated, appointed, appraised, approached, approved, arbitrated, arranged, ascertained, asked, assembled, assigned, assumed, assessed, assisted, attained, attracted, audited, authored, authorized, automated, awarded, avail, balanced, bargained, borrowed, bought, broadened, budgeted, built
C
calculated, canvassed, capitalized, captured, carried, out, cast, cataloged, centralized, challenged, chaired, changed, channeled, charted, checked, chose, circulated, classified, cleared, closed, co-authored, cold, called, collaborated, collected, combined, commissioned, committed, communicated, compared, compiled, complied, completed, composed, computed, conceived, conceptualized, concluded, condensed, conducted, conferred, consolidated, constructed, consulted, contracted, contrasted, contributed, contrived, controlled, converted, convinced, coordinated, corrected, corresponded, counseled, counted, created, critiqued, cultivated
D
debugged, decentralized, decreased, deferred, defined, delegated, delivered, demonstrated, depreciated, described, designated, designed, determined, developed, devised, devoted, diagrammed, directed, disclosed, discounted, discovered, dispatched, displayed, dissembled, distinguished, distributed, diversified, divested, documented, doubled, drafted
E
earned, eased, edited, effected, elected, eliminated, employed, enabled, encouraged, endorsed, enforced, engaged, engineered, enhanced, enlarged, enriched, entered, entertained, established, estimated, evaluated, examined, exceeded, exchanged, executed, exempted, exercised, expanded, expedited, explained, exposed, extended, extracted, extrapolated
F-H
facilitated, familiarized, fashioned, fielded, figured, financed, fit, focused, forecasted, formalized, formed, formulated, fortified, found, founded, framed, functioned, furnished, gained, gathered, gauged, gave, generated, governed, graded, granted, greeted, grouped, guided, handled, headed, hired, hosted
I
identified, illustrated, illuminated, implemented, improved, improvised, inaugurated, indoctrinated, increased, incurred, induced, influenced, informed, initiated, innovated, inquired, inspected, inspired, installed, instigated, instilled, instituted, instructed, insured, interpreted, interviewed, introduced, invented, inventoried, invested, investigated, invited, involved, isolated, issued
J-M
joined, judged, launched, lectured, led, lightened, liquidated, litigated, lobbied, localized, located, maintained, managed, mapped, marketed, maximized, measured, mediated, merchandised, merged, met, minimized, modeled, moderated, modernized, modified, monitored, motivated, moved
N-O
named, narrated, negotiated, nurtured, observed, obtained, offered, offset, opened, operated, orchestrated, ordered, organized, oriented, originated, overhauled, oversaw
P
paid, participated, passed, patterned, penalized, perceived, performed, permitted, persuaded, phased, out, pinpointed, pioneered, placed, planned, polled, prepared, presented, preserved, presided, prevented, priced, printed, prioritized, probed, processed, procured, produced, profiled, programmed, projected, promoted, prompted, proposed, proved, provided, publicized, published, purchased, pursued
Q-R
quantified, quoted, raised, ranked, rated, reacted, read, received, recommended, reconciled, recorded, recovered, recruited, rectified, redesigned, reduced, referred, refined, regained, regulated, rehabilitated, reinforced, reinstated, rejected, related, remedied, remodeled, renegotiated, reorganized, replaced, repaired, reported, represented, requested, researched, resolved, responded, restored, restructured, resulted, retained, retrieved, revamped, revealed, reversed, reviewed, revised, revitalized, rewarded, routed
S
safeguarded, salvaged, saved, scheduled, screened, secured, segmented, selected, sent, separated, served, serviced, settled, shaped, shortened, showed, shrank, signed, simplified, sold, solved, spearheaded, specified, speculated, spoke, spread, stabilized, staffed, staged, standardized, steered, stimulated, strategized, streamlined, strengthened, stressed, structured, studied, submitted, substantiated, substituted, suggested, summarized, superseded, supervised, supplied, supported, surpassed, surveyed, synchronized, synthesized
T-W
tabulated, tailored, targeted, taught, terminated, tested, testified, tightened, traced, traded, trained, transacted, transferred, transformed, translated, transported, traveled, treated, tripled, uncovered, undertook, unified, united, updated, upgraded, used, utilized, validated, valued, verified, viewed, weighed, welcomed, widened, witnessed, won, worked, wrote

No comments:

Please Visit a Dermatologist

Today I had surgery for a Stage 0 Melanoma. It was discovered about a month ago when I went to my dermatologist for my annual skin screening...