Most job seekers would be shocked to see just how many resumes a company receives on a regular basis for a available position (and even for ones that aren’t available). While the sheer number of applicants can seem daunting, especially in such a difficult job market, there are fortunately a number of steps you can take to make sure your resume doesn’t get buried with the rest.
Perhaps more remarkable than the volume of resumes submitted, is the number of applications that are poorly written, boring, incorrectly formatted and full of grammatical errors. Your resume is often your potential employer’s first impression of you, and that impression can make or break an application, so you want to make it count.
By taking the time to use action verbs, avoid the passive voice, proofread and tailor your resume to the specific job you are applying for, dramatically increase your chances of getting called in for an interview and ultimately landing the job. You want to use vivid and dynamic language that will engage the reader and clearly shows what you do and why you do it well. Here are some important action verbs to propel your resume to the top of the pile:
- Assist
- Able
- Action
- Analysis
- Accomplished
- Conduct
- Consult
- Committed
- Contributed
- Coordinated
- Delegated
- Develop
- Design
- Diversified
- Devoted
- Earned
- Enhanced
- Evaluated
- Facilitated
- Fulfilled
- Generated
- Headed
- Hosted
- Identified
- Implemented
- Improvised
- Influenced
- Launched
- Lobbied
- Maintained
- Managed
- Marketed
- Maximized
- Mediated
- Modernized
- Motivated
- Negotiated
- Obtained
- Operated
- Organized
- Overhauled
- Oversaw
- Performed
- Pioneered
- Planned
- Prepared
- Published
- Promoted
- Pursued
- Quantified
- Ranked
- Recommended
- Redesigned
- Reorganized
- Restructured
- Revised
- Safeguarded
- Selected
- Spearheaded
- Strengthened
- Structured
- Supervised
- Targeted
- Tested
- Taught
- Trained
- Unified
- Upgraded
- Utilized
- Validated
- Valued
- Wrote
What action verbs do you find to be effective for a memorable resume? Let us know in the comment section and contact us to find out more about how you can help stand out amongst the applicants to Back Office Support Solutions.
