Action Words for Resumes and Cover Letters

These powerful action words help to clearly communicate your skills and experience when constructing your resume and cover letter during a job search.

Ability
Able
Academic
Accepted
Accomplished
Accurate
Achieved
Acknowledge
Acquired
Active
Adapt
Added
Administer
Administrative
Advanced
Advertise
Advised
Affect
Affiliate
Analyzed
Applied
Appraised
Approved
Aptitude
Assembled
Assigned
Assist
Attended
Awarded
Balanced
Budget
Building
Built
Capability
Capable
Capacity
Certificates
Certified
Changed
Charged
Closed
Compared
Competence
Competent
Complete
Completely
Composed
Comprehensive
Commanded
Conduct

Consider
Consistent

Consult
Contact
Contributed
Contributions
Controlled
Convinced
Coordinated
Counsel
Corporate
Create
Decision-Making
Delivered
Demonstrate
Designed
Determined
Developed
Diagnosed
Diligent
Direct
Dispatched
Dispersed
Distribute
Edit
Effect
Effective
Effectiveness
Efficient
Elected
Elicit
Eligible
Eliminate
Emphasized
Employed
Engaged
Enlarging
Entire
Equipped
Established
Estimate
Evaluate
Evident
Excellent
Executive
Expanded
Extensive
Facilitate
Finance

Flexible
Fluent
Forecast
Function
Fund Raising
Generate
Govern
Graded
Grantsmanship
Guided
Handed
Held
High
Hire
Honored
Implement
Improved
Indexed
Increased
Initiated
Inspect
Instituted
Instruct
Instrumental
Integrated
Integrity
Intensive
Interact
Interpret
Interviewed
Introduced
Investigated
Knowledgeable
Lease
Led
Locate
Maintained
Major
Managed
Management
Market
Maturity
Mature
Maximize
Merit

Moderated
Monitor
Motivate
Negotiate
Obtain
Offered
Operate
Organize
Participated
Particularly
Performance
Personalized
Personally
Persuaded
Pertinent
Planned
Positive
Potential
Preference
Prepared
Presented
Presided
Produced
Productive
Professional
Proficient
Profitable
Programmed
Promoted
Proven
Provided
Published
Publicized
Qualified
Rated
Received
Recommended

Record
Recruited
Registered
Related
Reorganized
Repeatedly

Requirements
Research
Respond

Responsible
Revised
Sales
Scheduled
Scope
Secured
Select
Served
Significant
Significantly
Sold
Sole
Solved
Sound
Sought
Sorted
Specialist
Specialized
Stable
Started
Studied
Structured
Submitted
Substantial
Substantially
Successful
Supervised
Support
Summarized
Teach
Technical
Thorough
Thoroughly
Train
Tutored
Uphold
Utilized
Versatile
Vigorous
Visit
Volume
Volunteered
Well-Educated
Willing
Won
Wrote