While you’re revamping your resume or cover letter or constructing your proof-by-example stories for interviews, you’ll find you need to watch your word choice. Why? Communication is powerful if the words we use to communicate are powerful. That’s not all it takes, but the right words make for a good beginning.
So as you craft achievement statements or write paragraphs that sell your skills or draft interview responses to knock the employers’ socks off, consider these suggestions:
- Use verbs in active tense, not passive tense.
- Use verbs that convey power and action.
- Use verbs that claim the highest level of skill or achievement you can legitimately claim.
- Use verbs to accurately describe what you have done on the job.
- Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly, but when you use them, use them well.
- Use nouns that are as specific and as descriptive as possible.
- Use numbers whenever possible.
- Use the most impressive (and still honest) form of the number you use.
- Never lie! It IS NOT worth it. It WILL catch up with you.
- Proofread all your verbs and nouns for agreement, tense and appropriateness.
Here, then, are 175 powerful verbs and phrases to make use of in resumes, cover letters and interviews:
- abated
- abolished
- accelerated
- accomplished
- achieved
- actively participated
- administered
- advanced
- advised
- aggressively analyzed
- applied
- assumed a key role
- authored
- automated
- built
- hired
- closed
- coached
- co-developed
- codirected
- co-founded
- cold called
- collected
- co-managed
- communicated
- completed
- computerized
- conceptualized
- conducted
- consolidated
- contained
- contracted
- contributed
- controlled
- convinced
- coordinated
- cost effectively created
- critiqued
- cut
- dealt effectively
- decreased
- defined
- delivered
- designed
- developed
- developed and applied
- directed
- doubled
- earned
- eliminated
- emphasized
- enforced
- established
- evaluated
- exceeded
- executed
- exercised
- expanded
- expedited
- facilitated
- filled
- focused
- formulated
- fostered
- founded
- gained
- generated
- ground-breaking
- headed up
- helped
- identified
- implemented
- improved
- increased
- initiated
- innovated
- instituted
- instructed
- integrated
- interviewed
- introduced
- investigated
- lectured
- led
- leveraged
- maintained
- managed
- marketed
- motivated
- negotiated
- orchestrated
- organized
- outmaneuvered
- overcame
- oversaw
- penetrated
- performed
- permitted
- persuaded
- planned
- played a key role
- positioned
- prepared
- presented
- prevented
- produced
- profitably
- project managed
- promoted
- proposed
- prospected
- protected
- provided
- published
- quadrupled
- ranked
- received
- recommended
- recruited
- reduced
- removed
- renegotiated
- replaced
- researched
- resolved
- restored
- restructured
- reversed
- satisfied
- saved
- scheduled
- scoped out
- selected
- self-financed
- set up
- sold
- solved
- staffed
- started
- stopped
- streamlined
- substituted
- supervised
- taught
- tightened
- took the lead in
- trained
- trimmed
- tripled
- troubleshooted
- turned around
- upgraded
- yielded
While you certainly can use the list anytime you’re looking to say something in a more powerful way, you can also use it to help jog your memory about accomplishments on present and past jobs that you might otherwise overlook. Also, consider using the list to help you refine your resumes and cover letters to be more powerful in their presentation and communication.
