When applying for a job, the way in which you present your skills and accomplishments in your resume is as important as the amount of experience you have. A clearly-written resume can impress the recruiters and give you an edge over other applicants. However, in most cases, applicants like you still include the same old overused action words like led, assisted, oversaw and more, to highlight your skills and other information. Recruiters go through hundreds of resumes everyday and it could get incredibly monotonous for them to appreciate the quality of the work and effort put in the resume if they’re reading it in the same format over and over again. For this reason, it is necessary for you to use creative action words, ones that stand out, to catch a recruiter’s eye. Furthermore, the usage of a power word over a normal action word can also amplify the impact of your work.
For example, imagine you’ve written you were “responsible for the execution of a task” on your resume. Now, if you simply rephrase that to “spearheaded the execution of the task”, this will instantly make your resume more impactful. This article will serve as a readily available guide to impactful action words that can be used in your resume to create such an impact. You can easily rephrase your already existing resume using these words and make it more noticeable .
| 1. Cultivated | 51. Acted |
| 2. Authorized | 52. Formulated |
| 3. Administered | 53. Applied |
| 4. Coordinated | 54. Built |
| 5. Corresponded | 55. Supervised |
| 6. Facilitated | 56. United |
| 7. Collaborated | 57. Instructed |
| 8. Encouraged | 58. Performed |
| 9. Established | 59. Influenced |
| 10. Spearheaded | 60. Mediated |
| 11. Adviced | 61. Moderated |
| 12. Guided | 62. Addressed |
| 13. Orchestrated | 63. Arbitrated |
| 14. Contributed | 64. Proposed |
| 15. Clarified | 65. Publicised |
| 16. Harmonized | 66. Reconciled |
| 17. Ignited | 67. Persuaded |
| 18. Moderated | 68. Negotiated |
| 19. Fostered | 69. Mediated |
| 20. Supported | 70. Enlivened |
| 21. Enabled | 71. Conveyed |
| 22. Mobilized | 72. Critiqued |
| 23. Partnered | 73. Lobbied |
| 24. Participated | 74. Counseled |
| 25. Volunteered | 75. Forecasted |
| 26. Accomplished | 76. Reviewed |
| 27. Navigated | 77. Accelerated |
| 28. Negotiated | 78. Generated |
| 29. Undertook | 79. Improved |
| 30. Launched | 80. Expedited |
| 31. Mentored | 81. Stimulated |
| 32. Strengthened | 82. Outpaced |
| 33. Streamlined | 83. Trained |
| 34. Handled | 84. Evaluated |
| 35. Instituted | 85. Solved |
| 36. Implemented | 86. Proved |
| 37. Monitored | 87. Referred |
| 38. Yielded | 88. Motivated |
| 39. Maximized | 89. Dynamic |
| 40. Inspected | 90. Determined |
| 41. Designed | 91. Devoted |
| 42. Illustrated | 92. Genuine |
| 43. Invented | 93. Meticulous |
| 44. Resolved | 94. Ingenuous |
| 45. Pioneered | 95. Persistent |
| 46. Established | 96. Sincere |
| 47. Drafted | 97. Honest |
| 48. Enhanced | 98. Curious |
| 49. Conceptualized | 99. Insightful |
| 50. Directed | 100. Competent |
Now that you have a list of these action words, it’s time to compare your old resume to your newly edited one and add some of these words at relevant places to make your resume standout.