Members of my career mentoring site will tell you that I’m always looking for great information to post here. Last week I came across a list of 25 action words that work well on resumes. A good resume writer can help you incorporate these words into your resume in a natural sounding way. You can see the article where I found them here.
Here are the action words…
- Advised
- Compiled
- Critiqued
- Coached
- Designed
- Directed
- Established
- Examined
- Generated
- Guided
- Hypothesized
- Illustrated
- Improved
- Influenced
- Invented
- Motivated
- Negotiated
- Ordered
- Oversaw
- Prepared
- Recruited
- Resolved
- Supervised
- Trained
- Upgraded
I’m all for action words on resumes, but action words alone do not make for a compelling resume. Here’s the reason why. Action words tell the reader what you did. Hiring managers are interested in what you’ve accomplished. There is a big difference.
Let me give you some examples…
What you did: Negotiated a new office supplies contract.
What you accomplished: Negotiated a new office supplies contract resulting in a 20% year to year savings.
What you did: Coached new hire mentors.
What you accomplished: Coached new hire mentors resulting in a 30% decrease in first year employee turnover.
What you did: Established an inbound marketing program.
What you accomplished: Established an inbound marketing program that led to a 25% increase in sales.
See what I mean? Use action words – they’re a great way to begin sentences. But show what you accomplished as a result of taking the actions you did. That’s the key to resumes that generate interviews. And that’s all a resume is meant to do — generate interviews.
Your career mentor,
Bud
PS: I write this blog to help people create the life and career success they want and deserve. Now I’m going one step further. I’ve created a membership site in which I’ve pulled together my best thoughts on success. And, as a reader of this blog, you can become a member for free. Just go to https://budbilanich.com/join to claim your free membership. You’ll be joining a vibrant and growing community of success minded professionals. I hope to see you there.
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