Introduction

A CV (or a resume) is one of those things you have to have - unless you’re not a descendant of a billionaire, at some point, you’ll have to look for a job. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, men hold 12.8 jobs and women hold 12.5 jobs in a lifetime. 

While the hiring process may differ from company to company, one thing’s for sure - you need a CV for every application. Once you have it, the career world is yours for the taking. But how to make sure your CV is good enough to help you stand out in the extremely competitive market?
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Join us as we discuss what strong resume words you should use to stand out from the crowd and get the job. 
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‍What’s the difference between a CV and a resume

Both documents tell your professional story, but in a slightly different way.

A resume is a concise document that highlights your education, professional experience and skills. It’s usually tailored to a specific job you’re applying for and emphasizes skills and achievements relevant to that role.

A CV is a comprehensive document that details your entire academic and professional history. It’s longer than a resume and includes a thorough listing of your experiences, publications, certifications, and awards.

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Tips on writing a resume

Did you know that a recruiter usually spends less than 9 seconds looking at your resume? 

You probably know that you need to use a professional email address, list experience in reverse chronological order, put experience before education and highlight your skills. But what else can you do to make your resume stand out? Let’s go through some tips

‍Keep it simple

Keep the design simple and easily scannable. Write the most important parts in bold in order to make sure they’re catching the recruiters’ attention. Add bullet points to make reading easier, use an easy to read font.

A resume like that is ATS friendly. An Applicant Tracking System is what recruiters use to process a large amount of resumes - the system scans the text by converting them to plain text, so make sure to avoid using graphic elements and colors.

‍Add a professional summary

This can be a short and sweet text that sums up your prior experience, qualification, skills and, most importantly, your career goals. This summary provides recruiters with an overview of your career and job readiness.

‍Elaborate on your past responsibilities and accomplishments

When adding a section for a past work experience, make sure to provide insights on what your duties were and what achievements you accomplished. This will for sure make a good impression - it helps recruiters understand how you contributed to the success of your previous employer and demonstrates your effectiveness. 

Include both technical and soft skills

Yes, people are generally hired because of their ability to complete certain tasks, but having a job is so much more than that - you’re about to become a part of a team, work closely with your colleagues and find your place in the company’s unique environment. Recruiters may base their decision on your approach to work, on how well you collaborate with others, whether you’re empathic, adaptive and solution-oriented. 

Both hard and soft skills are required to paint a better picture of who you are.

‍Use action words

Active verbs for resumes are the way to go as they are impactful and leave a long-lasting impression. They help readers better understand your past duties and help them imagine you in the role you’re applying for. Instead of just listing “A successful campaign managed by me.”, you can say “Managed a campaign that increased sales by 45%.” This will for sure make an impression. Action words can also be referred to as resume power words - they are the what you need to grab a recruiter's attention.

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What are resume power words

Resume power words are active, compelling words that bring life to your resume, help you articulate your accomplishments, and demonstrate your value to potential future employers. Adding them to your CV or resume not only helps recruiters get a better idea of your professional profile, but helps ease the initial ATS screening. When an ATS scans your CV, it's looking for relevant keywords and using action verbs increases your chances of matching the criteria.

Resume power words help you:

• Get the reader's attention - recruiters usually scan for key skills and accomplishments.
• Focus on achievements rather than past job duties
• Demonstrate confidence - you'll come off as a proactive and results-oriented person.
• Quantify your achievements and impact - numbers speak for themselves. Strong verbs (like increased, optimized, generated) prompt you to add the specific metrics and prove your value (e.g., percentages, time and money saved, audience reached).

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How to use resume power words to grab a recruiter's attention

To be fair, a few words in bold won't make a big difference - what matters most is how you use them.

• Choose words that are relevant to your contributions and accurately reflect the skill you demonstrated.
• Describe your work duties with said action words and use specific numbers when possible - a power word and a number are a match made in hiring heaven. There's a significant difference between "Responsible for developing marketing campaigns" and "Developed and executed over 40 email marketing campaigns."
• Tailor the action words to the role you're applying for - read the job ad carefully to identify the verbs and keywords used. Mirroring this language helps with ATS alignment and shows you're a good fit for the role.
• Use various action words - this will make your resume engaging. And don't be scared, we're about to share 101 resume power words with you!

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101 resume power words that will help you stand out in 2025

You made it to the fun part! Let’s dive into the list of 101 resume buzzwords that will get recruiters’ attention and help you land your dream job. Feel free to get back to this list every time you want to tailor your resume for a specific role.

⭐  Leadership and management

The words in this list will help you show that you can guide and inspire teams.

Spearheaded

Directed

Oversaw

Orchestrated

Chaired

Executed

Mobilized

Delegated

Facilitated

Supervised

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🥇  Achievements 

Highlight how you've exceeded goals and delivered outstanding results.

Boosted

Accelerated

Outperformed

Surpassed

Expanded

Achieved

Increased

Amplified

Doubled

Maximized

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🛠 Problem-solving 

Use these words to show your ability to find effective solutions and improve processes.

Resolved

Streamlined

Improved

Diagnosed

Transformed

Overhauled

Consolidated

Remediated

Modernized

Troubleshot

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💡 Creativity 

Show everyone how you bring fresh ideas and designs to life.

Conceptualized

Designed

Engineered

Initiated

Innovated

Reimagined

Developed

Devised

Revamped

Launched

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🪴 Growth

Reflect on how you drive expansion and scale operations.

Optimized

Forecasted

Scaled

Pioneered

Identified

Analyzed

Capitalized

Strategized

Targeted

Positioned

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🤝 Teamwork 

Put an emphasis on collaboration and contribution within groups and projects.

Collaborated

Partnered

Unified

Contributed

Engaged

Supported

Co-created

Assisted

Participated

Aligned

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💌  Communication 

Highlight your ability to share ideas clearly, advocate effectively and influence outcomes.

Advocated

Persuaded

Presented

Conveyed

Negotiated

Mediated

Promoted

Reported

Educated

Articulated

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🧠 Analytical 

These words demonstrate critical thinking, technical expertise and problem analysis skills.

Programmed

Debugged

Evaluated

Synthesized

Configured

Monitored

Implemented

Mapped

Audited

Researched

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🔒 Auditing 

These words underline your focus on compliance, security and maintaining high standards.

Secured

Mitigated

Verified

Enforced

Audited

Investigated

Assessed

Validated

Ensured

Complied

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🫶 Customer focus

This list helps you show your commitment to understanding and supporting.

Advised

Resolved

Assisted

Delivered

Informed

Guided

Listened

Responded

Engaged

Anticipated

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Great, we made it to a hundred! Last, but certainly not least, let’s add Sculpted - it can be used for both creative and technical projects and show how you helped shape a whole process.

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Putting resume power words to action - how to use them for different professional occupations

You already know the theory, now let's put the resume action words to action. Let's go through some examples on how you can enhance bullet points in your CV based on the industry you're coming from and the role you're applying for.

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Information technologies

• Before: Wrote code and fixed bugs.
• After: Engineered and implemented a key module for the company's flagship SaaS product using Python and React, enhancing core functionality requested by top-tier clients. Identified and resolved over 50 critical bugs during the pre-launch phase, improving software stability by 40%.

Project management

• Before: Responsible for managing project X. Handled budget, timeline and team member coordination.
• After: Spearheaded Project X from conception to completion, delivering it 2 weeks ahead of schedule and 10% under budget. Coordinated cross-functional teams of 15+ members, ensuring seamless collaboration and milestone achievement.

Marketing

• Before: Worked on social media marketing, created posts and tracked engagement.
• ‍After: Developed and executed data-driven social media campaigns across LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, increasing organic reach by 300% and generating a 25% rise in qualified leads over 6 months. Analyzed performance metrics to optimize content strategy continuously.

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In conclusion

Whatever your professional occupation may be, these action verbs for resumes will help you attract attention and land your dream job in no time. 

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