Being a manager or executive requires a specialized skill set and plenty of experience. To show that you’re the right one for the job, choose verbs that showcase abilities such as planning, evaluation, and delegation.

Management and executive roles are often competitive -- having concrete examples to show what you’ve achieved in similar roles could be crucial to getting the job.

Action Verbs To Show Your Management 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 Program Manager Roles

Action verbs are powerful tools at your disposal to demonstrate the significant impacts you had at your previous roles. Your program manager resume should utilize strong action verbs to support and emphasize your accomplishments. Here is a list of action verbs used in excellent program manager resumes.

It is important to make sure not to repeat the same action verb more than twice if you can help it on your resume. The more that you use it, the less impact that the verb has on the reader since you’re just describing the same skill set. For example, if you saw “Researched market shares to increase effectiveness by 15% over one year” and “Researched strategic methods to facilitate meetings, boosting productivity by 60%” on the same resume, it sounds less impressive the second time.

Being creative with your action verbs while keeping them relevant to your program manager resume is key.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

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

Action Verbs For Project Manager Roles

The best project manager resumes discuss specific accomplishments using strong action verbs. Strong verbs convey your role in your achievements; in any resume bullet point, we recommend pairing an action verb with the quantifiable result you achieved to show the impact of what you did.

Project managers may have a diverse set of skills to draw upon, and there are a huge number of verbs you could choose to describe what you’re good at. We have an entire article devoted to action verbs to use in resumes -- in particular, project managers may want to pursue the ones in the accomplishment-driven, communication, management-related, leadership, and problem-solving sections.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

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

Action Verbs For Product Manager Roles

Every accomplishment listed (in a bullet point) should start with an action verb suited to the product manager role. As a manager, this can mean that you “led” or “coached” a team, “developed” strategic insights, or were “promoted” ahead of schedule due to your prowess. As a communicative innovator, you may have “overhauled” an aging system, “aligned” the goals of multiple departments, or “implemented” a new process. Perhaps your product assessing ability led to “reduced” development times or improvements based on the testing you “conducted”.

Emphasizing your ability to lead a team, assess a product or system, reduce costs, or improve customer adoption are all effective strategies for product managers. Always focus on your accomplishments rather than your basic duties, and hiring managers will be more likely to take notice.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

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

Action Verbs For Operations Manager Roles

When you’re applying to become an operations manager, you should always start your bullet points with precise and powerful verbs that tell hiring managers what you accomplished in your prior work experiences.

Operations managers do need a range of skills for their jobs, but as upper-level managers, they especially need to display leadership and management capabilities. Although there are many possible action verbs they could choose from, aspiring operations managers may want to pay special attention to the Executive and Management verbs.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

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

Action Verbs For C-Level and Executive Roles

C-level executives need drive and vision. Your accomplishments should show you as the driving force of change, progress, and results, which means you need to structure your bullet points proactively. The best way to do this is to start each bullet point with a strong action verb.

For each accomplishment, decide what skill you’re trying to emphasize, and choose your action verb accordingly. Are you applying for a role at a company that needs a new strategy to turn around a floundering quarter? Start with verbs like “spearheaded” or “reorganized.” Is the company looking at a major period of expansion? Try “developed,” “expanded,” and “launched” to highlight times you were at the forefront of growth.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full C-Level and Executive Resume Guide.

Action Verbs For Financial Controller Roles

From, budgeting to ensuring compliance to handling payroll, the financial controller position is multifaceted with a range of tasks. Using action verbs that talk about each of these tasks is an easy way to indicate your achievements.

This list of action verbs is focused on the technical tasks of the position as well as the managerial/leadership tasks that you can expect for a financial controller. Using the right action verbs can help showcase your most relevant skills in a few words.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

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

Action Verbs For Purchasing Manager Roles

As we mentioned before, purchasing managers must have excellent interpersonal skills to communicate effectively with team members and suppliers. The right way to demonstrate this trait is by writing clearly and efficiently in your resume. That’s why it is important to use strong action verbs that help you illustrate your responsibilities. 

If you want to streamline your purchasing manager resume, use bullet points to describe your responsibilities and include strong action verbs that explain your role. If you need some help with that, take a look below. Here are some descriptive action verbs you can use for your purchasing manager resume.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

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

Action Verbs For Sales Manager Roles

To get an idea of what action verbs you should be using in general as a sales manager, you can refer to the list on the left. These action verbs have been gleaned from sales manager resumes, and will enable your resume to make an impression on hiring managers while also making it past automatic screening tools.

As noted above, you should tailor your action verbs to specific positions based on your experience.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

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

Action Verbs For Vice President of Operations Roles

If you want to boost your vice president of operations resume, try using bullet points when mentioning your achievements or responsibilities in the work experience section. You can start each bullet point with a strong action verb that accurately describes your duties. This will not only help you improve your readability but also make you seem more accountable. 

Each action verb should be highly related to your work, so you should stay away from vague and less descriptive words. Instead, check out the action verbs we’ve chosen for a vice president of operations resume. This way, you will enrich the vocabulary in your resume.

Relevant Examples Using Action Verbs

If you'd like a deeper dive into this role, read the full Vice President of Operations Resume Guide.

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

If you have a version of your resume ready, remember to get it checked using our free resume scanner below. It will make sure all your action verbs are strong enough, and give you feedback on any mistakes you might have overlooked, so you can fix them before a recruiter sees them.

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