Resume Verbs That Empower Success
Verbs, like old fence boards, bear their history for all to see. Beneath the flaking paint, the rings on a wood panel tell a story about the age and type of tree that once surrounded them. The gashes, dings, and paint spots reveal the transformations they experienced as they stood between worlds.
Verbs change over time, too. They have an origin, and their current form often reveals the metamorphic processes they underwent as they passed between speakers and writers over time.
The transformations that verbs undergo over time rise to a level of life-sustaining importance when writing a resume. That’s because the words that resume writers select make all the difference between landing an interview or a rejection email.
The most critical words on a resume are arguably the verbs because a verb stands at the start of each bullet, expressing the action, tasks, and contributions you made at each stage in your career. A dull, repetitive, or wordy verbal phrase can leave a hiring manager not just snoozing but lacking a clear definition of what you did on the job.
To understand what separates weaker verbs from strong ones, I’m sorry to say that we have to revisit some high school English.
There are four key principles to consider when selecting optimal verbs: aim for action, brevity, clarity, and precision.
Action: Favor the Active Voice over the Passive Voice
Remember from 9th-grade English class that there are active and passive verbs? Bear with me.
Active verbs carry the reader directly from the subject (On a resume, the subject is always “I”), to the object (the task you performed).
- Manage a cross-functional team of 89 staff…
In this example, “Manage” is the active verb and the team is the object.
With the passive voice, the verb and the object are switched, rendering the action difficult to picture:
- Was assigned by supervisor to lead a team of 89 staff…
The passive phrase “was assigned by supervisor” is confusing and overly complicated for busy HR managers. To translate this content into the active voice, simply begin with the action you performed:
- Led a team…
Here’s another one:
- Was responsible for designing and implementing… [Writing nerds, I know this is the stative voice, but we only have so much time for pedantic diatribes.]
Let’s make it active.
- Designed and implemented…
Beginning with a sharp and clear active verb draws the reader’s attention to the accomplishment you achieved.
Okay, that foray back to high-school wasn’t so bad, right? Let’s try it again.
Brevity: Favor Single-Word Resume Verbs over Verbal Phrases
Resume real estate is precious, so long verbal strings reduce the amount of space available to describe your incredible accomplishments.
What do I mean by a verbal phrase? A verbal phrase is a string of words that includes a verb and a preposition (on, up, under). Verbal phrases are almost always unnecessary since a clean single verb can convey much more power.
Here’s an example:
- Brought together > Marshaled
- Carried out > Executed
- Conceived of > Invented
- Expounded upon > Detailed
In each case, a single active verb replaces a dull and wordy phrase.
You passed 12th-grade English; it’s time for college.
Clarity: Translate Jargon Back into Verbs
Ok, some jargon is necessary on a resume to match keywords to job descriptions and demonstrate that you understand the important terms in your field. That jargon is best siphoned into a keyword repository on your resume that feeds into Applicant Tracking Systems without muddying your experiences.
When describing the tasks you performed, one way to describe those actions clearly is by transforming jargon into verbs. Here’s where it helps to delve back to college English class.
The linguistic term for jargon is “nominalization,” which basically means that a well-meaning corporate communications strategist turned a sharp active verb into an unclear muddied noun.
For instance, the verb “manage” originally meant “to handle.”
This verb became a person: “Manager.” The person who manages morphed into the abstract idea (the nominalization): “Management.”
People tend to have a difficult time understanding vague concepts like “management.” This isn’t because they lack imagination, but because this concept is divorced from the fundamental origin of the sentence: a person performing an action: “I manage…”
When we shift nominalizations back into their original verb forms, the picture that the words reference sharpens into focus.
Let’s try some other examples:
- Budget Ownership > Owned Budet
- Communications Strategy > Strategized with communications team
- Mentorship > Mentored team
- Product Development > Developed products…
In each case, the writer is changing the abstract nouns “ownership, strategy, mentorship,” back into action verbs.
Precision: Remain Attuned to Subtle Differences in Meaning
The internet abounds with lengthy lists of verbs to use on a resume. It’s fairly easy to excavate synonyms for “lead” or “manage” in a thesaurus to diversify your language. But the thesaurus doesn’t fully explain key differences between words and how subtle changes in meaning impact the way they land.
Instead of reviewing 907 words to use on a resume, let’s take a deeper look at a few words to understand their subtle differences. The definitions below come from the Merriam-Webster dictionary, which is accessible to all online for free. Much more robust histories of each word can be found in the holy grail of dictionaries: The Oxford English Dictionary.
Typically, the most important actions to convey on your resume are your capacities to move a company into new territory by leading the team, taking initiative, or creating something new. As such, I’m going to focus on some key synonyms for those actions.
Synonyms for “Lead” 
Lead – Originates from “leader,” a hollow conduit for carrying a liquid great distances. To lead is to convey your team from origin to destination.
Manage – Stemming from the Latin word “hand,” a manager “handles” something, originally horses, but now teams or projects with skill and efficiency.
Orchestrate – Deriving from “orchestra,” the word “orchestrate” refers to arranging or combining elements to achieve a synchronized outcome.
Steer – Originally a noun that referred to a male horse, “to steer” means to direct the course of another’s action.
Direct – A verb that first meant “to write a letter,” the term now means “to move others, to take a new course, supervise, or regulate staff.” This word can carry the negative connotation of being overly authoritarian or domineering.
Guide – If you want to present as more collaborative, “guide” means “to look after.” This word involves leading or directing others while explaining useful information along the way.
Supervise – Of Latin origins, this word means to “see more.” A supervisor oversees staff or activities and may also see the bigger picture.
Oversee – To “survey” or “watch,” to “oversee” involves inspecting and examining the actions of others.
Marshal – Originally a noun meaning a “high official in charge of the cavalry,” the word carries martial connotations but can be effective for describing an action that brings teams together and arranges them in the proper position.
Drive – This modern term bears the image of a person leading from the front seat but originally meant “to prod cattle in a certain direction.”
Synonyms for “Taking Initiative” (better yet, “Initiate”) 
The following near synonyms describe times when you opened new avenues for advancement at your company.
Pilot – Originally the person steering a ship, “to pilot” means to set the course, act as a guide, or take the group into new territory.
Pioneer – The noun form originally referred to members of the military who engineered new constructions. The word “pioneer” also conjures the image of settlers traveling to new territory. “To pioneer” is to open new lines of thought, programs, or processes.
Found – The verb “found” means “to set up the foundation of.” Perfect for when you build a new company or service from scratch.
Launch – Originally meaning “to wield a lance,” this word conveys the image of throwing something forward, releasing a product or new store into the marketplace.
Establish – Another word meaning “to institute something new,” this verb conveys the idea of bringing something into existence.
Synonyms for “Create”
Create – To bring into being. This word is rather tired, so it’s best to select a synonym like “compose,” “draft,” “author,” “pen,” or “design.”
Design – Originally meaning “to outline,” to design often involves the physical look or shape of an artistic plan.
Define – Meaning “to mark the limits of something,” this word is ideal when you set the original boundaries, strategy, parameters, or processes of something.
Devise – “To form in the mind,” this verb could describe a time when you conceived of new strategies or goals.
Engineer – “To devise or construct,” this word carries the connotation of a scientific process to create something or overcome difficulties.
If you don’t have time to sift through a thesaurus, let Red Pen Wench do the work for you. Our team creates exceptionally crafted resumes that present your contributions in the most accurate, clear, and precise way possible.
-Dena Marks, PhD, CPRW, Resume Writer at Red Pen Wench