30+ Action Words for Your Resume

Resume action words, otherwise known as power words, help make a resume more engaging. Their proper application conveys active action and power, and using them in your resume can make your skills, experiences, and accomplishments appear more polished, while also giving your document a confident tone that can easily make you a standout candidate among a sea of applicants.

Why use action words in your resume?

Since your resume practically demands you to fit all your qualifications down to one page, you have to make the most of the space available to you. Resume action words make your descriptions easy to read and tell your story in a powerful way. Ultimately, they elevate your resume deliver the biggest impact, and ultimately sway the reader to the idea that you are the best candidate for the job.

The best action words for resume

Here’s a list of some of the best action words for resume, along with some examples on how to use them. Always begin your sentences with action words to maximize their effect.

1. Chaired team to encourage better involvement in department projects.

2. Spearheaded improvements to internal systems for increased productivity and efficiency.

3. Coordinated transition to modern and improved workflow process.

4. Operated research instruments to measure professional conduct across diverse workplace populations.

5. Orchestrated plan to save time and boost productivity for departments across the board.

6. Organized database to improve customer contact information listing for better client retention.

7. Oversaw daily warehouse operations, achieving high efficiency with zero incident track record over the course of three years.

8. Activated emergency program in response to a customer crisis.

9. Planned activities designed to enhance employee and workforce experience.

10. Produced monthly financial reports in an accurate and timely manner.

11. Counseled colleagues to help them overcome professional issues affecting work.

12. Programmed algorithm that improved workflow and saved company millions.

13. Dispatched drivers efficiently to meet deliveries on time and maximize backhauls.

14. Enabled colleagues to complete respective tasks and sustain themselves through downtimes.

15. Engineered solution to organize a crowd of employees leaving for lunch each day.

16. Transformed the company’s purchase-to-pay process into a more efficient and streamlined system.

17. Expedited manufacturing process while maintaining high quality that made the brand a popular choice among consumers.

18. Undertook productive brainstorming session that yielded multiple workflow solutions for the company and its processes.

19. Forecasted increase and decrease in seasonal demand to ensure supply is always adequate.

20. United department heads and ensured communication lines between them are always open.

Here are other high-quality resume action words for you to apply. Feel free to search for synonyms to ensure your action words are the best fit for your position and industry.

21. Accelerated

22. Formalized

23. Advocated

24. Generated

25. Amplified

26. Investigated

27. Authored

28. Mentored

29. Centralized

30. Mobilized

31. Charted

32. Negotiated

33. Outpaced

34. Utilized

35. Commenced

36. Initiated

37. Initialized

38. Led

39. Commanded

40. Collaborated

Ready to level up your resume?

Resume action words aren’t the only consideration in writing a resume. In fact, there are tons more. The good news is you don’t have to take on the daunting task of writing your resume all alone. Our expert resume writers at Resumeble can work with you to develop your resume into an application that recruiters and hiring managers will notice, while using the best techniques and strategies such as leadership adjectives, adverbs for resumes, action words that start with A, and more. Send us your resume today for a free, no-obligation evaluation to see how to make it more competitive for the market.

Frequently asked questions about resume writing

Aside from using action words, what are other ways to improve my resume?

The company people responsible for hiring employees like you are very much partial to seeing real, solid numbers on a resume, so complement your action words for resumes with quantifiable and measurable results whenever you can. Other ways to improve your resume action words include limiting your use of articles (a, an, the), and avoiding tired and overused resume buzz words such as hard worker, go-getter, team player, etc. You’ll need to think of fresher words to use if you want your resume to instantly grab the reader’s attention, so for instance, another word for team player would be a collaborator.

Should I write my resume myself or hire a professional to do it?

While you can always write your resume on your own, when you want something done right, it’s best to hire a professional. The benefits of working with an expert resume writer to develop your resume include less stress, a more competitive resume, and a guaranteed job interview, such as Resumeble’s 60-day interview guarantee.

How much does it cost to have my resume professionally written?

Resumeble offers three main service packages to suit different career levels. Choose from Career Pro (USD 149.00), Professional (USD 229.00), or Premium (USD 339.00). Each comes with Resume and Cover Letter writing, plus additional services depending on the package you choose.

{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","mainEntity"... from using action words, what are other ways to improve my resume?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"The company people responsible for hiring employees like you are very much partial to seeing real, solid numbers on a resume, so complement your action words for resumes with quantifiable and measurable results whenever you can. Other ways to improve your resume action words include limiting your use of articles (a, an, the), and avoiding tired and overused resume buzz words such as hard worker, go-getter, team player, etc. You’ll need to think of fresher words to use if you want your resume to instantly grab the reader’s attention, so for instance, another word for team player would be a collaborator."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Should I write my resume myself or hire a professional to do it?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"While you can always write your resume on your own, when you want something done right, it’s best to hire a professional. The benefits of working with an expert resume writer to develop your resume include less stress, a more competitive resume, and a guaranteed job interview, such as Resumeble’s 60-day interview guarantee."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How much does it cost to have my resume professionally written?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Resumeble offers three main service packages to suit different career levels. Choose from Career Pro (USD 149.00), Professional (USD 229.00), or Premium (USD 339.00). Each comes with Resume and Cover Letter writing, plus additional services depending on the package you choose."}}]}