175 Power Verbs and Phrases for Resumes, Cover Letters, and Interviews

While you're revamping your resume or cover letter or constructing your proof-by-example stories for interviews, you'll find you need to watch your word choice. Why? Communication is powerful if the words we use to communicate are powerful. That's not all it takes, but the right words make for a good beginning. So as you craft achievement statements or write paragraphs that sell your skills or draft interview responses to knock the employers' socks off, consider these suggestions:

Use verbs in active tense, not passive tense. Use verbs that convey power and action. Use verbs that claim the highest level of skill or achievement you can legitimately claim. Use verbs to accurately describe what you have done on the job. Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly, but when you use them, use them well. Use nouns that are as specific and as descriptive as possible. Use numbers whenever possible. Use the most impressive (and still honest) form of the number you use. Never lie! It IS NOT worth it. It WILL catch up with you. Proofread all your verbs and nouns for agreement, tense and appropriateness. Here, then, are 175 powerful verbs and phrases to make use of in resumes, cover letters and interviews: abated abolished accelerated accomplished achieved actively participated administered advanced advised aggressively analyzed applied assumed a key role authored automated built hired closed coached co-developed codirected co-founded cold called collected co-managed communicated completed computerized conceptualized conducted consolidated contained contracted contributed controlled convinced coordinated cost effectively created critiqued cut dealt effectively decreased defined delivered designed developed developed and applied directed doubled earned eliminated emphasized enforced established evaluated exceeded executed exercised expanded expedited facilitated filled focused formulated fostered founded gained generated ground-breaking headed up helped identified implemented improved increased initiated innovated instituted instructed integrated interviewed introduced investigated lectured led leveraged maintained managed marketed motivated negotiated orchestrated organized outmaneuvered overcame oversaw penetrated performed permitted persuaded planned played a key role positioned prepared presented prevented produced profitably project managed promoted proposed prospected protected provided published quadrupled ranked received recommended recruited reduced removed renegotiated replaced researched resolved restored restructured reversed satisfied saved scheduled scoped out selected self-financed set up sold solved staffed started stopped streamlined substituted supervised taught tightened took the lead in trained trimmed tripled troubleshooted turned around upgraded yielded While you certainly can use the list anytime you're looking to say something in a more powerful way, you can also use it to help jog your memory about accomplishments on present and past jobs that you might otherwise overlook. Also, consider using the list to help you refine your resumes and cover letters to be more powerful in their presentation and communication.