Action Verbs for Resumes and Cover Letters
How to use action verbs in benefit statements
Use action verbs in this format:
Action verb — Tell what you did — State the result (cost savings, increased sales, etc.).
State the result at the end to impress. The last thing read is often remembered.
Examples:
- Reduced expenses by comparative shopping and saved the company $100k over six months
- Applied lean startup principles from product idea to release and grew sales to one million in just one year
Action Verbs by Topic
Clerical or Detail Action Verbs
activated, altered, assembled, approved, arranged, catalogued, classified, collected, compiled, described, dispatched, edited, estimated, executed, gathered, generated, implemented, inspected, listed, maintained, monitored, observed, operated, organized, overhauled, prepared, processed, proofread, published, purchased, recorded, reduced, retrieved, screened, specified, streamlined, systematized
Communication Action Verbs
addressed, arbitrated, arranged, authored, communicated, corresponded, counseled, developed, defined, directed, drafted, edited, enlisted, formulated, influenced, interpreted, lectured, mediated, moderated, motivated, negotiated, persuaded, promoted, publicized, reconciled, reunited, renegotiated, reported, researched, summarized, spoke, translated, wrote
Creative Action Verbs
acted, applied, composed, conceived, conceptualized, created, designed, developed, directed, established, evaluated, fashioned, formed, formulated, founded, illustrated, instituted, integrated, introduced, invented, loaded, molded, originated, perceived, performed, planned, presented, produced, refined, rewrote, updated
Financial Action Verbs
audited, balanced, budgeted, calculated, compared, adjusted, administered, allocated, analyzed, appraised, computed, developed, estimated, forecast, forecasted, managed, marketed, planned, projected, reevaluated, reconciled, researched, sold
Helping Action Verbs
advised, aided, assessed, assisted, brought, clarified, coached, coordinated, counseled, dealt, demonstrated, diagnosed, educated, encouraged, enlisted, expedited, facilitated, familiarized, guided, helped, inspired, maintained, modified, performed, referred, rehabilitated, represented, supported, upheld
Management Action Verbs
achieved, administered, analyzed, assigned, attained, chaired, conceived, contracted, consolidated, coordinated, decided, delegated, developed, directed, encouraged, evaluated, executed, handled, implemented, improved, incorporated, increased, inspired, launched, led, managed, motivated, organized, outlined, oversaw, planned, prioritized, produced, recommended, reevaluated, rejected, reported, reviewed, scheduled, strengthened, supervised, united
Research Action Verbs
clarified, collected, conceived, critiqued, detected, diagnosed, disproved, evaluated, examined, extracted, identified, inspected, interpreted, interviewed, investigated, organized, researched, reported, reviewed, searched, studied, summarized, surveyed, systematized, wrote
Resume Action Verbs
anticipated, arbitrated, ascertained, charted, checked, classified, collected, completed, conducted, conserved, consolidated, constructed, controlled, coordinated, counseled, created, decided, defined, delivered, detailed, detected, determined, devised, diagnosed, directed, discovered, dispensed, displayed, disproved, dissected, distributed, diverted, dramatized, drew, drove, eliminated, empathized, enforced, established, estimated, evaluated, examined, expanded, experimented, explained, expressed, extracted, filed, financed, fixed, followed, formulated, founded, gathered, gave, generated, guided, handled, headed, helped, hypothesized, identified, illustrated, imagined, implemented, improved, improvised, increased, influenced, informed, initiated, innovated, inspected, installed, instituted, instructed, integrated, interpreted, interviewed, invented, inventoried, investigated, judged, kept, led, learned, lectured, lifted, listened, logged, maintained, made, managed, manipulated, mediated, memorized, modeled, monitored, motivated, navigated, negotiated, observed, obtained, offered, operated, ordered, organized, originated, painted, perceived, performed, persuaded, photographed, piloted, planned, played, predicted, prepared, prescribed, presented, printed, processed, produced, programmed, questioned, raised, read, realized, reasoned, received, recommended, reconciled, painted, perceived, performed, persuaded, photographed, piloted, planned, played, predicted, prepared, prescribed, presented, printed, processed, produced, programmed, projected, promoted, proof-read, protected, provided, publicized, purchased, recorded, recruited, reduced, referred, rehabilitated, related, rendered, repaired, reported, represented, researched, resolved, responded, restored, retrieved, reviewed, risked, scheduled, selected, sensed, separated, served, sewed, shaped, shared, showed, sketched, solved, sorted, summarized, supervised, supplied, symbolized, synergized, synthesized, systematized, talked, taught, tended, tested, trained, transcribed, translated, traveled, treated, troubleshot, tutored, typed, unified, united, upgraded, used, utilized, verbalized, warned, washed, weighed, wired, worked
Teaching Action Verbs
adapted, advised, clarified, coached, communicated, coordinated, defined, developed, enabled, encouraged, evaluated, explained, facilitated, guided, informed, initiated, instructed, lectured, persuaded, presented, set goals, stimulated, taught, trained, updated
Technical Action Verbs
analyzed, assembled, built, calculated, computed, designed, devised, engineered, fabricated, inspected, maintained, operated, overhauled, programmed, remodeled, repaired, solved, trained, upgraded