Your Entry-Level Guide to Using Impactful Action Verbs for Your Resume
Action verbs are the best way to make your resume stand out. How? They help you tell a story in your resume and give hiring managers a good impression of you. In addition, action verbs make it easier for readers to understand your history better, which explains action verbs for resume must be used correctly.
In addition, a well-written resume—filled with impactful action-oriented verbs—can get you a job interview invite as a result. Recruiters who are impressed by your credentials would want to have you as part of the team. Thus, even if you are a great candidate for the position but your resume doesn’t highlight your accomplishments, you might not get the chance to jockey for the position.
So before we determine the appropriate action verbs for resumes, let’s do a little refresher first.
What are Action Verbs?
An action verb describes an action that a person, animal, object, or a process in nature can do. Action verbs are also called dynamic verbs because they describe actions that can be done by people or things. They can also be a linking verb, which only links the subject to a predicate adjective in order to describe that subject.
As mentioned at the onset, action verbs are essential for your resume to catch the eye of an employer because they draw attention to the information you want to convey. Think about it: They help paint a clearer picture of your relevant experience, skills, and achievements. To write good action words requires some time and thought and there are resume mistakes to avoid. In fact, for hiring managers, action verbs can be the personal deciding factor.
The Importance of Action Verbs for Resumes
In human language, verbs play a very important role. Your actions, plans, or accomplishments are described using them. Therefore, it is clear that verbs also play a crucial role when explaining your skills. If you are applying for the first time or for a new job, you should communicate your experiences and qualifications through action verbs.
Carefully choosing your words demonstrates your capability of delivering work and managing responsibilities. On a resume, different industries have certain buzzwords they want to see. A person in the industry should possess these skills. For instance, tools of the trade such as growing cells and mixing reactants are necessary for a medical researcher. These abilities are described by different words than those used for describing a sales position; which, by contrast, requires handling customer disputes, promoting sales, and interacting with colleagues.
Furthermore, it is important to pay attention to the tenses of your verbs. To make your resume look professional, it is generally best to use a consistent verb tense throughout. Simply put, present tense should be used for statements that continue to happen in the present time; while past tense must be the norm for your earlier work experiences.
Where to Use Action Verbs for Resumes
Action verbs are the most powerful words in a resume. They're also the most common words on resumes, so they're easy to miss because they're not fancy or creative. In line with the resume keywords you can consider using, powerful action words can make your goals and accomplishments stand out from other candidates' resumes. Below are a few sections where you can use action verbs.
Words and Phrases
Action verbs should be used in conjunction with words or phrases that describe what you've done. For example, if you want to highlight your experience as an executive assistant, you can use "spearheaded" or "managed" instead of simply "handled."
Power Verbs
Powerful verbs are often used more than other types of action verbs because they typically describe activities that require more effort than one-word descriptions like "managed." For example, instead of just saying "coordinated," you could say "developed a weekly agenda for clients." These stronger verbs also have more impact than weaker ones like "handled."
Relevant Experience
When writing action sentences that describe your experience, make sure you use the right type of verbs. For example, when describing your work history with an action verb, you could say, “Managed a team of five employees to complete projects on time.”
Another thing: Using action verbs for resumes involves, not only describing your experiences, but also elaborating on them. For example, instead of just saying you have "experience in customer service," you could say "assisted clients with their needs by answering questions about products and services, identifying account-related issues, and recommending solutions."
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Related Article: How Professionally Written Resumes Can Boost Your Chances of Landing Higher Paying Jobs
How to Use Action Verbs for Resumes
Action verbs are a powerful way to convince a hiring manager that you're the right candidate for the job. But how do you use them without sounding artificial? Here's how to use action verbs effectively.
1. Use action verbs at the beginning of sentences.
This will focus attention on what you did and show that you can think quickly on your feet. It also helps make it clear that you know what you want to do in the position.
2. Identify one or two actions each time you use an action verb in a sentence.
For example, if "manage" is one of your strongest action verbs, then identify something about managing an organization during each bullet point in your resume. Doing so makes it clear what kind of work you've done in the past—even if it isn't directly related to the position.
3. Avoid using too many action verbs at once.
Instead, pick just one or two strong ones to describe each accomplishment or skill listed on your resume.
Sample Action Verbs to Use in Your Resume
The resume is a reflection of you, and it’s important that it reflects your best qualities. After all, resumes are used by hiring managers to determine if you have the skills and experience they require from those interested in joining their team.
Depending on the applicability, here's a list of action verbs and power words that you can use in your resume or cover letter:
The first thing you should do when writing a resume is to think of the most important words and phrases that describe your skills, experience, and qualifications. This is what will be used to create a memorable impression with hiring managers. Ultimately, make sure you use these words and phrases correctly.
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