Setting the Right Tone:  Action Verbs that Count

(compiled by Laura Gassner Otting for http://www.ExecSearches.com)

     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

Laura Gassner Otting is founder and president of Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group, a niche consulting firm dedicated to strengthening the capacity of nonprofits and their staff, and is available to discuss individual resumes, cover letters, and job search strategies.

Increasing the capacity of nonprofits and their staff.