Setting
the Right Tone: Action Verbs that Count
Verbs may take one of three
distinct forms: occurrences (become, happen), states of
being (are, seem, be) or actions (accomplish, strategize,
bungee jump). Action verbs frame your experiences in terms
of the movement towards a goal. Without action verbs, your
resume reads flat, and without a variety of them, your
writing reads even flatter. The following is a
non-exhaustive list of action verbs relevant to describing
most middle to senior level management jobs:
A
absorbed, accelerated, accessed, accompanied, accomplished,
achieved, acquainted, acquired, acted, activated, actuated,
adapted, added, addressed, adhered, adjusted, administered,
admitted, adopted, advanced, advertised, advised, advocated,
affected, aided, aired, allocated, altered, amended,
amplified, analyzed, answered, anticipated, applied,
appointed, appointed, appraised, apprise, approached,
approved, arbitrated, arranged, ascertained, asked,
assembled, assessed, assigned, assisted, assumed, attained,
attended, attracted, audited, augmented, authored,
authorized, automated, availed, averted, awarded
B
balanced, bargained, began, boosted, borrowed, bought,
briefed, brought, broadened, budgeted, built
C
calculated, called, calmed, canvassed, capitalized,
captured, carried, cast, catalogued, catapulted,
categorized, catered, centralized, chaired, challenged,
changed, channeled, charted, chartered, checked,
choreographed, chose, circulated, clarified, classified,
cleared, closed, coached, co-authored, collaborated,
collected, combined, comforted, commissioned, committed,
communicated, compared, competed, compiled, completed,
complied, composed, compounded, computed, conceived,
conceptualized, concluded, condensed, conducted, conferred,
conserved, considered, consolidated, constructed, consulted,
contacted, contracted, contrasted, contributed, contrived,
controlled, converted, conveyed, convinced, cooperated,
coordinated, copied, corrected, correlated, corresponded,
counseled, counted, crafted, created, criticized, critiqued,
cultivated, customized, cut
D
debated, debugged, decentralized, decided, decreased,
deduced, deferred, defined, defused, delegated, delighted,
delivered, demonstrated, depreciated, described, designated,
designed, detailed, detected, determined, developed,
devised, devoted, diagnosed, diagrammed, directed,
disciplined, disclosed, discounted, discovered, dispatched,
dispensed, displayed, disproved, dissembled, disseminated,
dissuaded, distinguished, distributed, diversified,
divested, documented, doubled, drafted, drew, drove,
duplicated
E
earned, eased, edited, educated, effected, elaborated,
elected, elevated, elicited, eliminated, emphasized,
employed, enabled, encouraged, endorsed, enforced, engaged,
engineered, enhanced, enlarged, enlisted, enriched, ensured,
entered, entertained, established, estimated, evaluated,
examined, exceeded, excelled, exchanged, excited, executed,
exempted, exercised, exhibited, expanded, expedited,
experimented, explained, exploited, explored, exposed,
extended, extracted, extrapolated
F
fabricated, facilitated, familiarized, fashioned, fielded,
figured, finalized, financed, fit, focused, followed,
forecasted, formalized, formed, formulated, fortified,
fostered, found, founded, framed, fulfilled, functioned,
furnished
G
gained, gathered, gauged, gave, generated, governed, graded,
granted, greeted, grossed, grouped, guaranteed, guarded,
guided
H
handled, harnessed, headed, heightened, helped, highlighted,
hired, honed, hosted, hypothesized
I
identified, illuminated, illustrated, imagined, implemented,
improved, improvised, inaugurated, incorporated, increased,
incurred, indexed, indoctrinated, induced, inferred,
influenced, informed, initiated, innovated, inquired,
inspected, inspired, installed, instigated, instilled,
instituted, instructed, insured, integrated, interested,
interfaced, interpreted, interviewed, introduced, invented,
inventoried, invested, investigated, invited, involved,
isolated, issued
J
joined, judged, juggled, justified
K
kept, kindled
L
launched, lead, lectured, led, leveraged, licensed,
lightened, linked, liquidated, listened, litigated, lobbied,
localized, located, logged
M
maintained, managed, mapped, marketed, mastered, maximized,
measured, mediated, mentored, merchandised, merged, met,
minimized, mobilized, modeled, moderated, modernized,
modified, monitored, motivated, moved, multiplied
N
named, narrated, navigated, negotiated, netted, noticed,
nurtured
O
observed, obtained, offered, offset, opened, operated,
operationalized, orchestrated, ordered, organized, oriented,
originated, outlined, overcame, overhauled, oversaw
P
paid, participate, participated, passed, patterned,
penalized, perceived, performed, permitted, persuaded,
phased, photographed, phrased, pinpointed, pioneered,
placed, planned, played, polled, practiced, praised,
predicted, prepared, prescribed, presented, preserved,
presided, prevailed, prevented, priced, printed,
prioritized, probed, processed, procured, produced,
profiled, programmed, projected, promoted, prompted,
proposed, protected, proved, provided, provoked, publicized,
published, purchased, pursued
Q
quadrupled, qualified, quantified, queried, questioned,
quoted
R
raised, ran, ranked, rated, reached, reacted, read,
realized, received, recognized, recommended, reconciled,
recorded, recovered, recruited, rectified, redesigned,
reduced, reengineered, referred, refined, regained,
registered, regulated, rehabilitated, reinforced,
reinstated, rejected, related, remedied, remodeled,
rendered, renegotiated, reorganized, repaired, replaced,
reported, represented, requested, researched, reshaped,
resolved, responded, restored, restructured, resulted,
restored, retained, retrieved, revamped, revealed, reversed,
reviewed, revised, revitalized, revolutionized, rewarded,
routed
S
safeguarded, salvaged, saved, scheduled, screened, searched,
secured, segmented, selected, sent, separated, served,
serviced, settled, shaped, shopped, shortened, showed,
shrank, signed, simplified, simulated, sold, solicited,
solved, sparked, spearheaded, specialized, specified,
speculated, spoke, sponsored, spread, stabilized, staffed,
staged, standardized, started, steered, stimulated,
strategized, streamlined, strengthened, stressed, stretched,
structured, studied, submitted, substantiated, substituted,
succeeded, suggested, summarized, superseded, supervised,
supplemented, supplied, supported, surpassed, surveyed,
sustained, synchronized, synthesized, systematized
T
tabulated, tailored, targeted, taught, tended, terminated,
tested, testified, thanked, thrived, tightened, took,
traced, tracked, traded, trained, transacted, transferred,
transformed, translated, transmitted, transported, traveled,
treated, trimmed, tripled, troubleshot, turned, tutored
U
uncovered, undertook, unified, united, unraveled, updated,
upgraded, used, utilized
V
validated, valued, verbalized, verified, viewed, visited,
vitalized, volunteered
W
weighed, welcomed, widened, witnessed, won, worked, wrote
