Employers can sometimes end up sifting through hundreds if not over the thousand resumes for each position that becomes available within the company. Even if this is your regular job, it's going to become tiresome; lists of jobs and education, descriptions of positions and interests. With this type of setup, the probability that some good candidates get passed by is quite high - and you may very well be one of them.
What can you do that can help you to avoid this? The obvious: have a resume that stands out from the crowd. You need impact and one very quick way to deliver impact is to use powerful words and dynamic sentences. The key with resumes is to use action verbs. These are verbs that exude a sense of activity, for example, devised or challenged or cemented.
Action verbs are important for the following reasons:
- They display that you were actively involved in a task; you weren't passively standing by waiting for it all to happen. Employers want to know that you contribute.
- They bring sentences alive. Dull sentences get skimmed over and become lost. Sentences with energy get absorbed; readers want to read further. This is what you want.
- They highlight your achievements, expertise and skills. Lackluster verbs, nouns and even many adjectives can't promote you in the way that action verbs can.
Let's give an example of how activities and verbs can be boosted:
Dull:
Used Access for database design.
Alive:
Generated multi-level databases in Access.
Or,
Dull:
Worked on project to optimize mining methods.
Why it's dull:
Everyone else involved in the project also "worked on it". There is no sign that you took an active role in the project or displayed initiative.
Active:
Contributed to project for optimizing mining methods.
Optimized mining methods.
Now for some resume sentences with oomph:
- Architected and implemented new organizational structure of the company reducing time of business chain by 10%.
- Bolstered efficiency by restructuring supply chain and reduced company expenditure by 20% within one year.
- Championed creating a database to house internal knowledge; cut duplicate work and sharpened access to information.
- Orchestrated change to new processing systems leading to less downtime in workshop; shrunk maintenance costs by 15%.
- Revitalized internal trainings and infused employees with fresh motivation.
And, finally, a list of action verbs for you to inject into your sentences when resume writing:
Note: This is just a selection from the mega-list of over
600 action verbs that is available in
The Resume Workbook.
A
Accelerated
Accomplished
Activated
Adapted
Advanced
Augmented
Authorized
Automated
B
Balanced
Benchmarked
Bolstered
Bridged
Broadened
C
Calculated
Capitalized
Categorized
Cemented
Centralized
D
Debated
Decided
Decreased
Dedicated
Defined
Delineated
E
Earned
Effected
Elaborated
Elected
Elevated
F
Fabricated
Facilitated
Fashioned
Featured
Finalized
G
Gained
Generated
Governed
Graded
Granted
H
Halted
Handled
Held
Highlighted
Honed
I
Identified
Illustrated
Implemented
Incorporated
Influenced
J
Joined
K
Kept
L
Launched
Leveraged
Linked
Listened
Located
M
Maintained
Manufactured
Mapped
Marketed
Maximized
N
Navigated
Negotiated
O
Obtained
Opened
Operated
Orchestrated
Organized
P
Participated
Partnered
Perfected
Performed
Persuaded
Q
Questioned
R
Ranked
Rated
Reasoned
Recruited
Rectified
S
Scheduled
Scoped
Secured
Segmented
Selected
T
Tailored
Targeted
Transferred
Transformed
Turned around
U
Undertook
Unified
Unmasked
V
Validated
Valued
W
Widened
Withstood
Y
Yielded
Purchase
The Resume Workbook and get the mega-list of over
600 action verbs.