30+ Strong Action Verbs to Spice Up Your Resume

If you don’t use enough action verbs for resume writing, but instead use the phrases, like “responsible for, duties included, or worked with…”, you are undoubtedly selling yourself, your experience and your resume short.

These passive terms do absolutely nothing for communicating the value and benefits you offer an employer. These responsibility-focused phrases are boring and repetitive, because almost every job seeker uses them. Hiring managers need and want to see action verbs for resume writing that jump off the page, captivate them and tell them what you achieved.

Here are a few examples of my favorite action verbs for resume writing:

1. Accelerated
2. Authored 
3. Captivated 
4. Captured
5. Championed 
6. Consolidated 
7. Critiqued 
8. Directed 
9. Diversified 
10. Diverted 
11. Doubled 
12. Enforced 
13. Enhanced 
14. Exceeded 
15. Pioneered 
16. Forged 
17. Formalized 
18. Formulated 
19. Generated 
20. Influenced 
21. Initiated 
22. Integrated 
23. Intensified 
24. Leveraged 
25. Masterminded 
26. Maximized 
27. Mentored 
28. Optimized 
29. Orchestrated 
30. Re-engineered 
31. Spearheaded 
32. Structured 
33. Proliferated 
34. Recaptured 
35. Rejuvenated

…And the list of action verbs for resume bullets and descriptions could go on.

Don’t like these? Use the synonym feature in Microsoft Word or go to thesaurus.com. Be strategic in your word choice and choose strong action verbs for resume writing that truly convey ACTION and RESULTS to begin every sentence. These action verbs are a key component in creating a powerful and captivating resume.