Why Your Resume Needs Awesome Action Verbs

One simple trick to give your resume more life is to use action verbs to describe your past responsibilities and achievements.

Words like “assisted” or “evaluated” are action verbs that get straight to the point in telling the reader you “assisted supervisors with training of new employees” or “evaluated standard procedures for inefficiencies.”

Action verbs have a particular energy to them that other words do not, and the longer you take figuring out which verbs are the best to use, the greater your chances of making a fantastic impression on hiring managers.

Better readability

Using action words has the cumulative effect of making your resume easy for a hiring manager to read quickly. Most managers spend a minute or so on each resume before moving on if they don’t see what they want.

Action verbs offer instant details and are usually the first words that hiring personnel see after your name. Use action verbs specific to your industry to make it easy for hiring decision makers to see what they need to on your resume and compel them to take more time looking at your skills and achievements.

Action verbs also begin each sentence with excitement. Writing out complete sentences, like ‘I worked on…’, can get repetitive and boring to read. Beautiful, long descriptive sentences are pointless if you haven’t captured your reader’s attention or interest. Strong action words do just that by being brief and impactful.

Lastly, action verbs make it easier to go from one point to the next without having to use connectors like “also” or “in addition.” The objective of every resume is to make sure every single item is read and relates nicely to one another.

A more effective sales pitch

Rather than thinking of your resume as a personal profile, think of it as a marketing tool, and action words help you make your sales pitch to a hiring manager.

The action words should be carefully selected for both precision and influence. If at all possible, choose the best and most specific expressions you can come up with, and make certain you have used the terms properly. When you select great action verbs that show off your abilities and accomplishments, you immediately set yourself apart from other candidates.

The words you choose should make the employer visualize you in the role. Try to essentially paint a picture with your words. For instance, if you are applying for a quality control technician, words like ‘analyzed’ or ‘evaluated’ help the employer picture you doing the work.

At Career Concepts, we work with all of our job candidates to make their resume as effective as possible. If you would like to have your resume reviewed or need help with another part of the hiring process, please contact us today.