Power Words: 100+ Action Verbs to Supercharge Your Resume
Elena Gomez, Professional Resume Writer
Language shapes perception. If your resume is filled with passive phrases like "Responsible for," "Tasked with," or "Helped to," you are subconsciously telling recruiters that you are a passive employee—someone who waits for orders rather than driving results.
To stand out in 2024, you need to use Action Verbs. These are strong, dynamic words that convey leadership, initiative, and impact. This guide provides a categorized list of power words to replace the boring standards.
Management & Leadership
Use these to show you can lead teams and projects.
Before: Led a team of sales associates.
After: Spearheaded a high-performance team of 10 sales associates, resulting in a 15% revenue increase.
Creativity & Innovation
Use these if you built, designed, or improved something.
Before: Created a new marketing campaign.
After: Conceptualized and launched a viral marketing campaign that captured 50k new leads.
Efficiency & Organization
Use these for operations, admin, and process improvement.
Communication & Client Relations
Use these for sales, support, and PR roles.
The "Resume Thesaurus" Strategy
Don't just pick words at random. Match the verb to the level of the role you are applying for.
- Entry Level: Use words like Assisted, Collaborated, Researched, Analyzed. Show you are a good learner and team player.
- Mid-Level: Use words like Managed, Executed, Improved, Enhanced. Show you can own tasks and make them better.
- Senior Level: Use words like Strategized, Directed, Transformed, Visioned. Show you look at the big picture and drive organizational change.
Homework: Open your current resume. Hit Ctrl+F and find every instance of "Responsible for," "Handled," or "Worked on." Replace them all with a word from the lists above. Your resume's impact score will immediately improve.
