Why Verb Choice Matters More Than You Think
Recruiters spend an average of 7.4 seconds scanning a resume. In that window, the words you choose determine whether someone keeps reading or moves on. The verb at the start of each bullet point is the first thing the eye catches, and weak verbs signal weak impact.
Consider the difference:
Weak: Responsible for managing a team of 12 engineers
Strong: Directed a team of 12 engineers, delivering 3 product launches ahead of schedule
The first version describes a job description. The second describes a result. That distinction is what separates resumes that land interviews from resumes that disappear into applicant tracking systems.
The Problem with Passive Language
Certain phrases have become so overused on resumes that they've lost all meaning. If your bullet points start with any of these, you're blending in rather than standing out:
- "Responsible for..."
- "Helped with..."
- "Assisted in..."
- "Worked on..."
- "Participated in..."
- "Was involved in..."
These phrases share a common flaw: they describe presence, not performance. "Responsible for managing client accounts" tells a hiring manager you had a responsibility. It says nothing about what you actually did or what the outcome was.
Action Verb Categories
Different roles call for different types of impact. Here's a reference table organized by the kind of contribution you want to highlight:
| Category | Verbs | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Leadership | Directed, Spearheaded, Orchestrated, Championed, Mobilized, Steered | Management roles, team leads, project owners |
| Technical | Engineered, Architected, Automated, Debugged, Deployed, Optimized | Software, IT, data, engineering roles |
| Creative | Designed, Conceptualized, Produced, Illustrated, Crafted, Revamped | Marketing, design, content, product roles |
| Analytical | Evaluated, Forecasted, Quantified, Diagnosed, Modeled, Assessed | Finance, analytics, research, consulting |
| Communication | Negotiated, Persuaded, Presented, Authored, Briefed, Advocated | Sales, PR, management, client-facing roles |
| Operational | Streamlined, Consolidated, Standardized, Accelerated, Overhauled, Restructured | Operations, process improvement, logistics |
| Growth | Expanded, Captured, Penetrated, Scaled, Generated, Cultivated | Business development, sales, partnerships |
Weak vs. Strong: Real Examples
The best way to understand the impact of verb choice is side-by-side comparison. Each of these transforms a forgettable bullet point into one that demonstrates clear value.
Leadership example:
Weak: Was in charge of onboarding new employees
Strong: Redesigned the onboarding program for 40+ annual hires, reducing ramp-up time by 30%
Technical example:
Weak: Worked on improving website performance
Strong: Optimized page load times from 4.2s to 1.1s by implementing lazy loading and CDN caching
Creative example:
Weak: Helped create marketing materials for product launches
Strong: Produced a 12-piece campaign suite for 3 product launches, generating 2.4M impressions in Q1
Analytical example:
Weak: Did analysis on customer churn data
Strong: Modeled customer churn patterns across 50K accounts, identifying 3 risk factors that informed a retention strategy reducing churn by 18%
Communication example:
Weak: Talked to clients about project updates
Strong: Presented weekly progress reports to C-suite stakeholders, securing continued funding for a $2M initiative
Notice the pattern: every strong example pairs a specific action verb with a measurable outcome. The verb tells the reader what you did. The number tells them how well you did it.
How to Pick the Right Verb
Choosing the right action verb isn't about finding the most impressive-sounding word. It's about accuracy. Here's a simple decision process:
Step 1: Identify the core action. What did you actually do? Did you build something, improve something, manage something, or communicate something?
Step 2: Match the verb to the scope. "Spearheaded" implies you initiated and led. "Contributed to" implies you were one of several people involved. Don't inflate, but don't undersell either.
Step 3: Test for specificity. Can the reader picture what happened? "Managed" is vague. "Coordinated daily standups for a 9-person cross-functional team" is concrete.
Step 4: Avoid repetition. If every bullet point starts with "Led," your resume reads like a one-note song. Vary your verbs across the categories above.
A practical test: read each bullet point aloud and ask "so what?" If the answer isn't obvious from the bullet itself, the verb (or the whole bullet) needs work.
Verbs to Avoid Entirely
Some verbs are so overused or vague that they actively hurt your resume. Cut these:
- Assisted — implies you were a helper, not a driver
- Utilized — a fancier way of saying "used" that adds no meaning
- Leveraged — corporate jargon that says nothing specific
- Facilitated — could mean anything from running a meeting to sending an email
- Synergized — just don't
Replace each with something that conveys what actually happened. "Facilitated team meetings" becomes "Led weekly strategy sessions for a 15-person sales team." Same activity, completely different impression.
Industry-Specific Verb Lists
Different fields have different expectations. Here are targeted suggestions:
Software Engineering: Architected, Refactored, Deployed, Migrated, Containerized, Instrumented, Benchmarked
Marketing: Launched, Positioned, Segmented, A/B-tested, Amplified, Retargeted, Branded
Finance: Audited, Forecasted, Reconciled, Underwrote, Hedged, Allocated, Liquidated
Healthcare: Diagnosed, Administered, Triaged, Rehabilitated, Prescribed, Monitored, Documented
Education: Developed (curricula), Mentored, Assessed, Differentiated, Scaffolded, Integrated
Using industry-specific verbs signals that you understand the field's language, which matters when a hiring manager or recruiter skims your resume looking for domain expertise.
Sources
- Harvard Business Review: How to Write a Resume That Stands Out — Research-backed advice on resume language and positioning
- Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook — Job descriptions and role expectations useful for matching resume language to industry norms
- SHRM: Resumes, Cover Letters, and Interviews — HR professional perspective on what makes resumes effective
Build a Stronger Resume in Minutes
Choosing the right verbs is one piece of the puzzle. Pairing them with quantified results, proper formatting, and ATS-optimized keywords is what gets you interviews. Superpower Resume analyzes your experience and generates tailored bullet points with strong action verbs matched to each job description. Stop guessing which words work — let AI handle the language while you focus on landing the role.
