Power Up Your Resume with Action Verbs

Words have power. The difference between a "good" resume and a "great" resume often comes down to verb choice. Passive language puts the reader to sleep; action verbs wake them up.

The "Responsible For" Trap

Thousands of resumes start every bullet point with "Responsible for..."

• Responsible for sales team.
• Responsible for filing reports.

This describes your duties, not your achievements. Anyone can be responsible for something and still do a bad job at it.

Switch to Action Verbs

Action verbs imply success. They show that you took initiative. Here is a cheat sheet for common scenarios:

Before vs. After

Before: "Responsible for handling customer complaints."

After: "Resolved 50+ customer escalations weekly, improving satisfaction scores by 15%."

See the difference? Grab a thesaurus and give your resume a facelift.