Words for a Resume
Strong resumes lead with verbs that show ownership and impact. Replace soft phrases like “responsible for,” “worked on,” and “helped with” with verbs that name what you actually did — and pair them with measurable outcomes whenever possible.
Top action verbs by category
Leadership
leddirectedspearheadedowneddroveoversawheadedchampionedmobilizedrallied
Building & creating
builtdesigneddevelopedarchitectedengineeredshippedlaunchedfoundedestablishedintroduced
Improving
improvedoptimizedstreamlinedacceleratedenhancedmodernizedrefinedelevatedscaledautomated
Quantified impact
grewreducedincreasedsavedgeneratedexpandeddoubleddeliveredexceededoutperformed
Collaboration
partneredcollaboratedcoordinatedmentoredfacilitatednegotiatedadvisedtrainedcoachedaligned
Analysis
analyzeddiagnosedevaluatedassessedauditedinvestigatedmodeledbenchmarkedresearchedquantified
Phrases to replace
“Responsible for…”
Led XOwned XDrove XDirected XOversaw X
“Worked on…”
Built XDesigned XShipped XDelivered XLaunched X
“Helped with…”
Supported X by…Enabled X through…Partnered on X to…Mentored X on…Trained X to…
“Made improvements to…”
Improved X by N%Reduced X by…Accelerated X from… to…Streamlined X by…Optimized X for…
Before & after
Before
Responsible for managing a team of 6 engineers.
After
Led a team of 6 engineers across two product lines.
Before
Worked on improving customer onboarding.
After
Cut customer onboarding from 14 days to 3 by automating the contract step.
Before
Helped with the company's marketing efforts.
After
Partnered with marketing to launch 12 lifecycle campaigns that lifted activation 22%.
Tips
- Lead with a verb. Hiring managers scan the first two words of each bullet.
- Pair each verb with a number. Numbers beat adjectives every time.
- Avoid résumé-cliché verbs you didn't earn (visionary, transformational) — they read as filler.