Your resume's bullet points should start with strong action verbs. Action verbs, like "Created" or "Implemented", immediately tell a recruiter your involvement in your accomplishments. Strong, unique action verbs show hiring managers that you have held different roles and skill sets, and makes your resume more impactful.
Choose a category to see relevant action verbs
We've worked with 20+ hiring managers to curate 200+ effective action verbs. Just choose a category that best matches the kind of experience you're trying to convey, we'll show you the verbs you should use.
Strong Accomplishment-driven Action Verbs
Action verbs to demonstrate communication skills
Action verbs to describe your entrepreneurial experiences
Action verbs that are well-suited for Executives and Management-related skills
Action verbs and words for leadership and mentorship experiences
Action verbs to demonstrate your research & analysis skills
Action verbs that show how you solved problems
Action verbs which demonstrate how you improved existing processes
Action verbs that are effective for financial or numeric-heavy roles
Action verbs for design and creative professions
Action verbs for all kinds of administrative or detail-oriented roles
Action verbs that are great for technical or engineering experiences
How to structure your resume bullet points
Here are two frameworks to keep in mind when writing your bullet points. Notice how we start with an Action Verb, briefly describe the task and finish with the impact we had.
Here's another similar framework. The different here is we start with the impact we had - in this case, it's a reduction in customer support calls. Both frameworks are equally effective.
Sample bullet points that use Action Verbs
All your resume's bullet points should start with Action Verbs. If you're stuck writing your bullet points, here are some sample bullet points you can use as inspiration.
Created a performance reporting template, achieving an 80% reduction in the preparation time of standard client materials
Led full redesign of website with findings from customer segmentation and competitive research, increasing website leads by 200%
Organized and advertised quarterly networking events with 500+ participants in six cities across California
Promoted within 12 months due to strong performance and organizational impact - ahead of schedule by 12 months
Led the transition to a paperless practice by implementing an electronic booking system and a faster, safer and more accurate business system; reduced cost of labor by 30% and office overhead by 10%
FAQs
What are weak action verbs in a resume?
Weak action verbs are those that are generic and don't effectively describe your role. Common examples of such words include 'Assisted' and 'Worked with'. Words like these are too generic and often make genuine achievements sound insignificant. After all, recruiters want to know what you actually did, and weak verbs like 'Assisted' tell recruiters you did not take an active role in the work - you just 'assisted' or 'worked with' people, without any real accomplishment.
Stronger words like 'Developed' and 'Implemented' are more descriptive and effectively demonstrate your contribution in your achievements.
What are some good action verbs?
- Accelerated
- Overhauled
- Created
- Spearheaded
- Initiated
- Awarded
- Conceptualized
- Directed
What are some strong action verbs?
- Overcame
- Tripled
- Pioneered
- Launched
- Increased
- Introduced
- Attained
- Promoted
Top 200+ Action Verbs
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