These 10 action words make your resume stand out

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Finding a job has often been described as a job in itself. In some cases, that may be because your resume isn’t working as hard as it should.

The resume often makes the first — and biggest — impression with a potential employer. So, it’s essential that it have strong action words to grab the reader’s attention.

These action words make the biggest impression on your resume

Some job candidates can come with all the qualifications in the world but if their resume doesn’t have words that align with the job listing, the phone may never ring and the inbox may stay empty.

For job hunters looking for a leg up, Flexjobs.com suggests some action words as the perfect way to improve your resume and separate it from the pack.

Here are 10 action words that will help your resume

Don’t Say: Say: Why use this action verb
Held Championed Gives the impression of a strong leader
Talked to Instructed Shows that you were trusted
Did or Met Exceeded Indicates you did more than the minimum
Duties Included Improved Shows you made brought value to a task
Came Up With Conceptualized Conveys a more professional tone
Increased Maximized Expresses that you made something better
Supervised Directed Implies that you provided direction
Worked on Upgraded Indicates you took something to the next level
Responsible For Accomplished Suggests that you completed the task
Spoke Collaborated Signals that you know how to involve others

Brie Reynolds, Flexjobs’ senior career specialist and career coach, says that action verbs on your resume can signal to the employer what you deem important.

“I really like to see resumes where each bullet starts with an action verb,” she tells Team Clark. “Starting each line that way makes their information much easier for readers to scan and digest quickly because it flows well from one point to the next.”

Before you overhaul your resume, Reynolds has some words of caution: You can overdo it when it comes to action verbs.

“Yes, there can be action verb overload, and it really comes down to how many bullet points you’ve written for each job,” she says.

“While there are exceptions, I like the general rule of sticking to five or fewer bullet points for each job on your resume.”

Reynolds says that the main thing to remember is that you want your resume easy to read.

“You may need to change your bullets for each job application to make sure the most applicable ones are on your resume, but that’s a much better way to organize your job search than listing 10 or 15 bullets and hoping the reader will be able to figure out which ones are the most important for them to know.”

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Give your resume a makeover

To advance to the interview stage, you need to have a resume that hiring managers will notice! If you haven’t updated your resume in the past year, dust it off and update it so that you’re ready when the perfect job opportunity comes along.

Does your resume look anything like the one on the left? Follow Team Clark’s step-by-step guide to resume success in 2019!

More Clark.com job search resources:

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