Resume Power Words

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Resume Power Words

If you want to give your resume that extra edge then make sure you've got plenty of resume power words appearing in the document. Resume writing is like a personal advertisement and if you want to get noticed then you need to make sure you've got enough power words to separate you resume from the rest of the pack.

Resume Power Words Defined

So what exactly is a resume power word and how are they used? In simple terms, these power words are really resume "buzz" words - popular words that add value to the marketability and appeal of the resume itself. They're commonly called "power words" because they invoke a positive feeling in the reader.

Additional Resources

In more technical terms, resume power words are usually verbs - action words - or adjectives - noun modifiers. They are powerful words that are used to describe the action you took at work or help you to powerfully describe what you accomplished.

In the electronic world of resume writing, these power words might also be referred to as resume key words. Key words are those that the scanning software might be looking for in a resume to provide a better match against a job description or requirements.

Resume Power Word Examples

When you're writing a resume, the way you write is not exactly the same as you'd write when composing a white paper, report or email. The action word, or power word, usually appears right up front to help describe what was accomplished.

The following examples use power words in a way that they might be used on a resume:

Assembled a team of five auditors that conducted a Sarbanes Oxley audit of financial operations in less than three weeks.
Eliminated nearly $5 million in operating expenses by consolidating IT contracts under one vendor.
Launched several new product extensions and offerings resulting in an increase in sales revenue of nearly $15 million over a five year timeline.

Power Word List

Now that you know what a resume power word is and how to use them, it's time to share with you our list of resume power words. We think our list of resume power words is as good as any you'll find. Our resume power word list has over 300 words from which to choose, listed alphabetically. Don't forget to bookmark this page so you'll always have this list handy.

A

Accomplished, achieved, acquired, adapted, addressed, administered, advised, allocated, analyzed, applied, appointed, appraised, approved, arbitrated, assembled, assessed, assigned, assumed, assured, audited, authored, awarded

B

Briefed, broadened, budgeted, built

C

Calculated, chaired, changed ,charted, coached, combined, communicated, compiled, completed, composed, computed, conceived, conceptualized, concluded, conducted, consolidated, constructed, consulted, contracted, controlled, converted, convinced, coordinated, corrected, counseled, created, cultivated, cut

D

Debugged, decreased, defined, delegated, delivered, demonstrated, designated, designed, detected, determined, developed, devised, diagnosed, directed, discovered, dispatched, distributed, doubled, drafted

E

Earned, edited, effected, elicited, eliminated, empowered, endorsed, engineered, enhanced, enlarged, enlisted, ensured, entered, established, estimated, evaluated, examined, exceeded, executed, expanded, expedited, explained, explored, expressed, extended

F

Filed, filled, financed, flagged, focused, forecast, formulated, found, founded

G

Gathered, generated, granted, guided

H

Halved, handled, headed, helped, hired

I

Identified, ignited, implemented, improved, incorporated, increased, indexed, influenced, initiated, innovated, inspected, installed, instituted, instructed, insured, interpreted, interviewed, introduced, invented, inventoried, invested, investigated, issued

J

Joined, justified

K

Kept

L

Launched, learned, leased, lectured, led, licensed, lobbied

M

Maintained, managed, manufactured, matched, measured, mediated, met, modified, monitored, motivated, moved

N

Named, navigated, negotiated

O

Obtained, opened, operated, ordered, organized, overhauled, oversaw

P

Participated, patented, perceived, performed, persuaded, placed, planned, posted, prepared, presented, presided, processed, procured, produced, proficient, programmed, prohibited, projected, promoted, proposed, provided, published, purchased, pursued

Q

Qualified, quantified, questioned

R

Raised, ranked, rated, received, recognized, recommended, reconciled, recorded, recruited, redesigned, reduced, referred, regulated, rehabilitated, reorganized, repaired, replaced, replied, reported, represented, rescued, researched, resolved, responded, restored, revamped, reviewed, revised

S

Saved, scheduled, screened, selected, served, serviced, shaped, shared, showed, simplified, sold, solved, sorted, sought, sparked, spoke, staffed, started, steered, streamlined, strengthened, stressed, stretched, structured, studied, submitted, substituted ,succeeded, suggested, summarized, superseded, supervised, supplied, surveyed, systematized

T

Tackled, targeted, taught, terminated, tested, toured, traced, tracked, traded, trained, transcribed, transferred, transformed, translated, transported, traveled, treated, trimmed, tripled, turned, tutored