Using the Right Words For Your Resume - Verbs vs Adjectives
Posted: Thursday, March 29, 2007
by Ben Jones
Too-Write!
When writing your resume, you will naturally tend to use lots of adjectives, and there are some good ones to be sure. But adjectives, although having a necessary place, can seem forced, artificial, over inflated, or even passive, especially if they're not well used. Too many adjectives, or the wrong choice of adjectives, can make your resume or C.V. seem unprofessional, inexperienced, clumsy and even lazy.
Verbs are powerful, have authenticity and energy about them. Verbs engage the reader in a positive manner. That's what you want. You want the personnel manager, office administrator, boss or whoever is tackling the job of employing new staff members, to feel positive when reading your resume or C.V.
The following sample list of verbs can be used as either present tense or past tense. However, present tense can be difficult to maintain and tends to have less impact on the reader. Therefore, try to use past tense wherever possible with the exception of explaining/demonstrating tasks and abilities which you are currently undertaking.
It is also a good idea to choose verbs which are more specific to the industry in which you have experience and/or are seeking a new position. Most of the words in the following list are suitable across industries and can be applied to almost any resume to make it more impactful. Of course your resume still needs to fit together logically, be well written and will need a thorough proofread.
TIP: To give yourself the best possible opportunity and advantage, what you need are verbs and 'I' statements.
LIST OF ACTIVE VERBS (Sample):
Accentuated, accumulated, achieved, acquired, acted, activated, actuated, adapted, addressed, administered, advertised, advised, affected, affiliated, allotted, altered, answered, anticipated, apprised, approved, arranged, arbitrated, ascertained, assessed, assisted, attained.EXAMPLE:
Neutral: This position involved chairing meetings between clients, the accounting department and advertising executives.
Positive: I regularly scheduled and chaired meetings between clients, the accounting department and advertising executives.
ACTIVE VERBS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH CARE (Sample):
aided, assessed, assisted, calmed, cared, catered, clarified, counselled, cured, detailed, determined, diagnosed, educated, encouraged, expedited, facilitated, helped, maintained, medicated, modified, nursed, quarantined, reassured, referred, rehabilitated, screened, secured, served, stabilised, supported, sustained, trained, treated.* This is a short excerpt from my Too-Write! eBook: "Using the right words for your resume", which includes a more comprehensive list of active verbs, industry specific verbs, further tips and many useful examples for improving your resume or C.V.
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)Thanks, found this useful and well written. :)
A few more examples would have been good, but still useful.
Good article.
Thank you for your reviews! Oh and if you'd like more examples there are plenty in my eBook and it also includes lots more tips and industry/job specific verbs.
Helpful information but I disagree with your statement about past tense vs present tense in a resume. Present tense is an "active" resume that describes your pallet of skills acquired in a career. Also, many employers (government and top level management jobs) "weed out" past tense resumes and search for "buzz words" like teamwork, works well with others, etc. to find a fit within their agency (all present tense not past). I statements should never be used in a resume except in a profile (or objective which for the most part is outdated) where a person describes their "work personality."Thanks for your comment on my article.Firstly, obvioulsly you should never say "worked (past tense) well with others" because this immediately implies that you no longer "work (present tense) well with others". In fact, my article specifically states that when describing your current abilities you should use present tense. No "ifs" or "buts" about it. This also addresses your point about "weeding out" resumes.Secondly "teamwork" is not present tense. For example "I always excelled in relation to teamwork" is past tense while "I always excel in relation to teamwork" is present tense. It's the verbs and adverbs that determine the tense.Thirdly, I disagree about your position in regards to "I" statements."I" statements make your resume a personal document. They make it easier to read (always important), they personalise your skills and they give much greater impact to those same skills by associating them very clearly with the applicant, "you".I've read plenty of resumes over the years and if you pick up two or three in a row which avoid the use of "I" statements then it's like reading a dictionary, dry, lacks impact and does not relate back to the applicant with any authority.
Having said that, I'm not saying that every sentence should include or begin with "I", definetly not.Rather, "I" statements should be used to highlight and add impact to your more important accomplishments. They help to make the point that "you" managed the task, "you" achieved budget, "you" implemented the sweeping changes that turned a declining company into the majestic success that it is today.Without "I" statements "you" get lost in the crowd of "teamwork" and end up sharing success and thus diluting your prospective worth.Regards,Ben.
Learn the difference between the word between and among. Between is two items, among is three items. Should be among clients............Ah to be courteous and grammatically correct. Just two fun things you should try once in awhile. :)In general "between" is intended for 2 items and "among" for 3 or more. However, here's the tricky part (try and stay with me), as with all things in English there are exceptions to the rule:If more than two are involved in a united situation, between is used:'Between the four of us, we raised a thousand dollars.'If a comparison or an opposition is involved, again, between is used:'There was great rivalry between the three colleges. It was difficult to choose between them.'"Souce: (Parle-Craig, Ruth, and Vincent Hooper. Barron's 1001 Pitfalls in English Grammar 70)I hope I have helped you to learn the difference between the two.Regards,Ben.P.S. Thanks for marking my article down because of your poor English skills.
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