Pongo Resume

You don't have a lot of time to grab a hiring manager's attention when he or she begins looking at your resume. Get your resume noticed by using action words that carry more impact than their milder alternatives. Here are five examples of resume power words that outshine their blander cousins.

SPEARHEADED

Meaning: To spearhead means to be the leader of something. But more important is the word's connotation. This word just oozes leadership, taking charge, and being a self-starter. And employers like any or all of those qualities in an employee. This word is especially helpful if you took charge of a project that delivered noticeable results.

Example: Spearheaded development of new distribution scheduling system that saved 25% in labor costs in first year after deployment.

Milder Alternatives to Avoid: Led or Played a Key Role. The first is just bland when compared with "Spearheaded"; the second doesn't say anything about how you were a key player.

CREATED

Meaning: To create means to cause or bring something into being. As for the connotation, there's nothing ambiguous about this word. It says action and tells the hiring manager that the potential employee "may have some creativity that we could use in this role."

Example: Created new e-commerce functionality that helped increase page views 30% and drove 10% increase in Internet sales in first three months of operation.

Milder Alternatives to Avoid: Helped make or Facilitated. The first downplays a potentially critical accomplishment if, in fact, you were out in front doing the creating and not taking a back seat, supporting role. The second conjures up images of someone leading a group discussion or moderating a dispute. You don't want to confuse that with "creating."

INITIATED

Meaning: To initiate means to start, launch, or ignite. But again, it carries that sound of action, which translates into, "Here's someone who can make things happen, and we need someone like that in this middle management role."

Example: Initiated follow-up campaign to discover why former customers turned to competitors' products. Effort led to reorganization of customer service function and 20% increase in customer retention within one year.

Milder Alternatives to Avoid: Started (duh) or began. Slightly less mild but still on the avoid list: proposed.

ACCELERATED

Meaning: To accelerate means to cause faster or greater activity, the same as stepping on the accelerator in your car. So, what's not to like about this word? It connotes speed, action, making something happen, or making a difference.

Example: Accelerated development of new line of power tools in response to market trends, securing company's first-to-market position with new offerings.

Milder Alternative to Avoid: Sped up. It's OK but just doesn't carry the vigor that "accelerated" does.

CONSOLIDATED

Meaning: To consolidate means to bring together into a single or unified whole. The word is especially eye-catching when employers are looking for people who can help control costs by finding more efficient ways to get work done; anything that makes a process faster, better, or cheaper.

Example: Consolidated functions while maintaining efficiency levels in Finance Department by identifying redundancies, reassigning staff, and reorganizing workloads.

Milder Alternatives to Avoid: Brought together, Merged, Combined, United. Of these four, "merged" is only slightly better than the rest, but not as strong and impactful as consolidated.

Got some words you like to use on your resume? Or do you want our advice on a certain word or two? Please drop in a comment to this post.

Also, good advice showing the weaker versions of these action verbs. Thanks Rick.

Think about this another way: You're trying to "sell" a prospective employer on what YOU can do for THEM, rather than the other way around. If you think about the resume that way, that's a big reason why you shouldn't use "I."

I do believe there are exceptions to the rules.

I agree that some hiring managers could care less whether the resume is written in the first or third person. The reason I advocate the third-person approach is that the hiring manager has one big question in mind when he or she begins reading a resume: "What benefit do I get by hiring this person?" In the Objective or Summary section, the job seeker needs to "sell" himself as if he were selling a product or service. The third-person approach, IMHO, is more direct. I find the first-person approach more appropriate in the interview, when the job seeker and hiring manager are face to face.

Best, ~ Rick

I'm a environmental Technician/Scientist so I tend to use the words "performed", "prepared","assisted", "conducted" and "compiled" repeatedly throughout my resume. Any other suggestions? Thanking you in advance.

EXECUTED or INITIATED -- I like these in place of "performed," maybe even "conducted." They connote more action and they're more riveting verbs.

CONSOLIDATED or ASSEMBLED -- Depending on the context, this could substitute for "compiled." Another idea, again depending on context: "organized."

PRODUCED or FORMULATED -- These are decent alternatives to "prepared."

"Assisted" is a bit tough to gauge since it could mean any one of several things. Bottom line is you want the reader to focus on what YOU did. If you were part of a group accomplishment, try to sift out the role you played and address that.

Please let me know if you need more help. Thanks for your question!

~ Rick