Free Resume Action Words for Your ResumeQ: What are resume action words? A: Resume action words are action-oriented words used in a resume to replace passive statements like "responsible for" or "duties included". Old phrases like these don't suggest any action and make for dull reading. Keeping in mind the fact that a resume my only be looked at for a few seconds the first time it's read, you will increase the chance of getting the resume reader's attention and interest by using action words. Action words highlight your involvement in your accomplishments. Action words encourage the reader to spend more time with your resume. It might help to look at some action word examples to see why action words work. Here is an example of a typical statement you might find on a manager's resume: -Responsible for increased productivity in the engineering group While this statement does show some involvement in the management process, it's passive and really doesn't say much about this candidate's management of the team. Now, let's use an action word to see what it does to this statement. -Led the engineering group to increased productivity Doesn't the use of the action word "led" give this statement more interest and show more participation in the accomplishment? Now, let's try a different word and see what happens. -Drove an engineering group to increased productivity Now, assuming of course that this is a true statement; doesn't this give the statement even more energy and interest? Doesn't the use of the word "drove" imply direct action? Here is another example: -Duties included increasing territory sales by 25% *yawn* That's nice, so what? This is not a very interesting statement is it? Now, compare that statement to this one: -Drove a 25% increase in territory sales This is a more interesting statement isn't it? Wouldn't this version make the interviewer more interested in talking with the candidate to find out how they achieved "drove" such an increase? If the interviewer is interested in increasing their own sales, you can bet they'll want to know how this candidate increased sales by 25%. If you want use action words to give your resume more interest and encourage more interviews, you only need to swap passive statements like "responsible for" and "duties included" with dynamic action words. Below is a link to a list of some common Resume Action Words to help get you started selecting your own. Click here to see our list of common action words you can use for your own resume.
A word to the wise: You should ALWAYS be honest in your resume. While it's important to use action words to catch the reader's interest and attention, you should only select action words that
accurately describe your accomplishment. Creative wording and styling is ok but dishonesty isn't.
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