Action Phrases and Power Verbs to Use on a Resume

Your resume is meant to give an overview of your achievements and your abilities and translate them to an employer in the hopes of gaining an interview.  With your past experiences, you had roles and responsibilities so when conveying them you want to be sure that you are using phrases and words that convey action.  You don’t want your resume to read like a job description but to relate your duties to actual actions and outcomes that were achieved.

Here are some samples of action phrases and powerful words that can enhance and emphasize the good work you’ve done:

• Design, develop and deliver
• Implement solutions
• Developed and delivered
• Assessed employee and client training
• Analyzed and evaluated data
• Reduced costs by $_____
• Facilitated problem-solving meetings
• Managed ___ employees
• Created and implemented innovative approaches
• Designed new processes

Some action words to use:

Accomplished                    Achieved                 Adapted                     Adhered                 Administered                Advocated

Budgeted                              Capitalized              Clarified                      Computed              Contributed                   Counseled

Decreased                            Defined                     Demonstrated          Directed                  Discovered                     Documented

Earned                                   Enabled                    Enforced                    Engaged                   Expanded                      Established

Facilitated                           Forecast                   Founded                    Fulfilled                    Generated                      Headed

Identified                            Implemented         Inspected                  Investigated           Joined                              Launched

Marketed                            Maximized               Merged                       Motivated                Negotiated                       Observed

Operated                             Ordered                   Organized                  Participated             Performed                        Pioneered

Planned                               Quantified               Raised                        Recommended        Reduced                             Reviewed

Scheduled                          Secured                    Simplified                 Submitted                 Tailored                              Tested

Trained                               Transformed          Upgraded                 Validated                   Worked                               Wrote

 

What others would you add to this list? Post your comments below!

Is Volunteer Work on your Resume?

If you have done any volunteer work in your lifetime, and you haven’t put it on your resume, you are missing a big opportunity.  This is a great way to showcase your philanthropic personality – that you care about others and want to help or give back, and it can also close a gap in your employment history.  This is particularly vital if you have been out of work for a considerable amount of time.  The thinking now is that if you aren’t working, you must be sitting around and your knowledge base won’t be up to what is needed by an employer.

Through volunteerism, you can learn new skills or strengthen your current ones which could translate well to a job.  It also could get you noticed for the work you are doing and could possibly get you a referral to a hirer or even getting hired by the agency.  I have known countless of people in organizations that I belong to who have volunteered their time and it has led to a new job for them.  If you have done volunteer work, be sure to add it and highlight if you have held any leadership positions.  You can tie your volunteer work with the needed skills for positions you are applying for, all of which can show that you have been honing your skills and doing work, even if for free.

Your Resume: Does it Truly List All Your Accomplishments?

If you’ve been sending out resumes and not receiving any calls, then it’s time to look at what information you’ve been submitting, namely looking to see if your resumes includes all of your accomplishments and skills.   I see if over and over when working with clients – they negate past accomplishments or job skills as minor or unimportant and leave them off.  However, when you look at what they leave on, it is like a story with no ending.  Your resume needs to lay out the pieces of your work experiences, like the pieces of  a puzzle, so that an employer sees the completed picture.  Not doing so leaves them questioning your worth and you risk being put in the “No” pile.  You need to create a picture of your work history – what you’ve done in the past, what skills and abilities you possess, and the outcomes you’ve achieved.  

Here are steps to help you ensure that you are presenting yourself in the best way:

1. Re-assess – go back and re-evaluate yourself and the past work experiences you’ve had; begin by writing down your skills, talents, abilities, values, past outcomes, job titles, management or training experience, or any other skill-sets.  Don’t hold back – just list ALL of them

2. Quantify – with those outcomes, attach numbers to them; for instance, if you managed employees then list how many, of you were responsible for a budget then state the monetary value, i.e. $5million dollars.   If you created a system, if you saved money or made money, list them with numbers.  Employers will be more interested in specific outcomes and want to see what you can do for them

3. Structure – take those new skills and experiences you’ve identified and put them a resume format that will get noticed.  Bullet-point those skills at the top, ensuring that they are desirable for the job you are applying for.  In your work history, be sure to put the outcomes you’ve achieved. 

Add your education, volunteer experience or any professional associations to give a more rounded picture of your capabilities.   Applying for a job these days can feel tedious and nerve-wracking.   But if you are strategic and laser-focused then you will have the advantage over others.  Ensuring that your resume lists all of your accomplishments will leave an employer with no doubt and get you hired.

10 Resume Errors that Spell Check Won’t Catch

I read an article recently about spell check and how it does not always catch every error.  So, I thought I’d pass it on:

• Its versus It’s (or any other apostrophes)         
• Your versus You’re
• Sales verus Sails
• Affect versus Effect
• Would Have not Would of
• Through versus Threw
• Then versus Than
• Supposed To not Suppose To
• Wonder versus Wander
• Their versus There versus They’re
• Farther versus Further

Do not rely solely on spell check when reviewing any documents; use an outside eye to proofread.  Are there any that you have “missed” or have heard of? Would love to hear!