Engineering and technical jobs are highly specialized. If you’re seeking one of these positions, you are best off using specific industry-related vocabulary to describe your skills and underscore your level of experience.

Action Verbs To Show Your Engineering Experience:

We've compiled a lot more action verbs by job titles below.

How To Use Action Verbs On Your Resume

To show you how to use these action verbs in your resume, see this infographic for reference. You'll note that each bullet point uses strong action verbs, with a specific description of the task that was accomplished.

Action Verbs For Engineering Manager Roles

As an engineering manager, you should include action verbs in the bullet points of your work experience section. The stated examples you see are just a few, there are many others that are relevant to engineering managers. 

Note: it is not advisable to repeat an action verb twice for the same work experience. It’s better to use a variety to avoid being monotonous.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Engineering Manager Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Software Engineer Roles

The use of weak action verbs will hurt the overall strength of your resume. You don’t want to use generic verbs. You want to use ones that are complementary to the software skills you’ve used.

Try not to overuse one action verb; variety helps keep your resume unique.

If you’re not sure which action verbs to use, here’s a list of action verbs that are useful for software engineers.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Software Engineer Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Manufacturing Engineer Roles

Once you've selected a basic template to work with based on your experiences and the position you're applying for, think about past employers where you performed responsibilities that are most relevant to being a manufacturing engineer. Use the skills list above to outline those responsibilities, and then select a strong action verb to pair with it. The action verb should lead the bullet point to provide an impactful impression to the hiring manager.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Manufacturing Engineer Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Industrial Engineer Roles

The best way to impress your potential employer is by mentioning your accomplishments and responsibilities in your resume. You can add bullet points which each one and include strong action verbs at the beginning of the phrase. These words will help you describe concisely your achievements. 

The best action verbs for your resume would be those focused on engineering, problem-solving, and research. You’ll be amazed at how these chosen words can help you improve readability and demonstrate your expertise. Based on our research, these are potentially the best action verbs to use on your industrial engineer resume. 

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Industrial Engineer Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Quality Engineer Roles

Quality Engineers need to have experience testing and automating processes, developing procedures, and creating solutions to problems. You can emphasize these skills using your action verbs -examples: use Led and Managed to show your leadership skills.

As you list your bullet points, remember to begin with an action verb. By doing this you are emphasizing what you’ve been able to achieve in other roles. Employers are looking for Quality Assurance Engineers that have proven results so use your action verbs to support this in your resume.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Quality Engineer Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Electrical Engineer Roles

When you’re detailing your work history on your resume, you should always include clear and specific bullet points with examples of what you accomplished at past jobs. For maximum effect, those bullet points should always begin with clear and specific action verbs. You’d be surprised what a difference a handful of carefully-chosen words on your resume can make!

The best action verbs for electrical engineers reflect the mix of communication, problem-solving, technical, and creative skills needed for their jobs. Some of these verbs could include the ones on the left.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Electrical Engineer Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Civil Engineer Roles

Structuring your bullet points doesn’t need to be complicated. There’s actually a pretty simple formula — start with a strong action verb, mention your accomplishment, then follow it up with any applicable metrics.

Why start with an action verb? Action verbs frame your accomplishments in a positive, proactive light. They also help you focus on what matters, which is what you actually achieved, and not simply what duties you were assigned.

You should choose your action verbs according to the type of skill or accomplishment you’re trying to highlight. If a job description mentions creativity a lot, start your bullet points with verbs like Designed and Created. Reviewed and Analyzed show attention to detail, while Implemented and Delivered show you taking a leading role. To highlight civil engineering skill sets, use action verbs like "Conceptualized", "Implemented", "Estimated" or "Designed" which showcase your technical experience.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Civil Engineer Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Network Engineer Roles

When detailing your accomplishments at past jobs, you should always introduce those accomplishments with vivid action verbs. Choose the best, most precise word to describe what you achieved and how you did it -- you’ll convey a strong message to hiring managers, and you’ll save valuable space on your resume by eliminating fluffy, insubstantial language.

If you’re an aspiring network engineer, choose verbs that highlight your communication, problem-solving, and technical skills. Here is a list of verbs that could be helpful as you write your resume.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Network Engineer Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Platform Engineer Roles

Your bullet points on a platform engineering resume should display how you used your technical skills to positively impact the workflow in your company or how you helped create a new system that improved workflow or saved valuable time.  

  

Here is a list of action verbs that are both technical and proactive. They can be used to highlight the progress you have done in your past experiences that can help you land the next job. Make sure not to repeat the same word twice on your resume. 

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Platform Engineer Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Automation Engineer Roles

Strong action verbs help recruiters understand your role in specific tasks. An automation engineer’s resume should use action verbs that are relevant to their tasks. Action verbs like "Automated", "Designed" or “Tested" are examples of strong action verbs for this profession.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Automation Engineer Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Mechanical Engineer Roles

Use your resume’s work history section to show recruiters that you have the skills and experience to succeed in your desired position. Create concise bullet points listing key accomplishments from each job you’ve had, and be sure to lead each bullet point with a bold action verb that describes exactly what you achieved and how.

Mechanical engineers should opt for a blend of verbs that highlight their problem-solving, analytical, creative, and technical abilities. On the left are just a handful of possibilities.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Mechanical Engineer Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Project Engineer Roles

The purpose of using action verbs is to help your future employer get a better idea of your responsibilities in previous roles. They can add value to your resume and improve readability. However, you must use them wisely. You should stick to those that are highly related to the project engineering position, such as the ones we mention below.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Project Engineer Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For System Engineer Roles

Action verbs make you accountable for the tasks you performed in previous jobs. If you use the right action verbs in your resume, you’ll look more reliable and efficient. In addition to this, action verbs also improve readability. You are more precise when you use them, which makes your entire resume easier to understand.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full System Engineer Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For IT Specialist Roles

The I.T. specialist position is an interesting blend of I.T. functions and customer service/support functions. The action verbs used, should reflect this blend. There should be technical action verbs used, like ‘designed’ and ‘installed’, as well as support action verbs, like ‘supported’ and ‘served’. 

Here is a list of action verbs you can use to create a balanced resume.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full IT Specialist Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Packaging Engineer Roles

Technical writing is one of the packaging engineers’ main skills. You must convert highly technical concepts into digestible information that every team member can understand regardless of their field. Now, you should use the same technique for your resume. 

This is a highly technical profession, but it doesn’t mean you can clearly describe your responsibilities in previous roles. Action verbs can help you do that by providing descriptive and precise words. Instead of using vague phrases, try using words like “designed”, “develop”, or “researched”. This is more explanatory than saying “I was responsible for”. We included some strong action verbs below that you can use in your packaging engineering resume.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Packaging Engineer Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Oracle Roles

Oracle careers are highly technical, so it can be challenging to explain your role in previous jobs. In an attempt to simplify your message, you may include general or too vague phrases. This will only make recruiters ignore your resume. You should go the opposite way, without being extremely complex. 

You can enhance your resume by using bullet points with accurate action verbs such as “developed”, “organized”, “troubleshooted”, etc. This will help you be more precise and write a streamlined resume that is both descriptive and easy to understand.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Oracle Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Planning Engineer Roles

As a planning engineer, you are the bridge between the engineering team and stakeholders, so you must have excellent communication skills to translate complex requirements. Communication plays a huge role in the engineering team, so it is crucial to demonstrate this in your resume. The best way to do it is by developing a clear structure. 

If you want to streamline your resume and look more reliable, you should use bullet points with strong action verbs to describe your previous roles. You will be more precise and accurately explain your responsibilities.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Planning Engineer Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Audio Engineer Roles

Action verbs help us understand the functions of your job, the successes you have had, and the tasks you have completed. Strong action verbs can elevate your resume and help you stand out from the crowd. For an audio engineer, your action verbs should highlight experience in all the stages of audio engineering as well as highlight your experience working with multiple teams.

We have compiled some useful action verbs for you to use.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Audio Engineer Resume Guide.

Get a free resume review: Find out if your action verbs are strong enough.

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