Every bullet on your resume should start with a strong verb — past tense for previous roles, present for current. Weak openers like "responsible for" or "helped with" hide your impact.
The formula
Verb + what you did + result (preferably quantified)
Example: "Reduced customer wait time from 8 minutes to 3 by redesigning the intake workflow."
Leadership & management
- Led
- Directed
- Coached
- Mentored
- Orchestrated
- Spearheaded
- Established
- Scaled
- Aligned
- Delegated
- Championed
- Recruited
- Retained
- Facilitated
Achievement & results
- Increased
- Decreased
- Improved
- Accelerated
- Exceeded
- Delivered
- Generated
- Saved
- Grew
- Reduced
- Optimized
- Streamlined
- Eliminated
- Surpassed
Technical & engineering
- Built
- Architected
- Deployed
- Automated
- Debugged
- Integrated
- Migrated
- Refactored
- Engineered
- Implemented
- Configured
- Maintained
- Tested
- Documented
Analysis & research
- Analyzed
- Modeled
- Forecasted
- Evaluated
- Assessed
- Investigated
- Measured
- Benchmarked
- Identified
- Quantified
- Validated
- Synthesized
Sales & customer-facing
- Closed
- Negotiated
- Upsold
- Retained
- Converted
- Onboarded
- Resolved
- Consulted
- Advised
- Presented
- Demoed
- Sourced
- Prospected
Creative & marketing
- Designed
- Launched
- Produced
- Branded
- Edited
- Curated
- Published
- Campaigned
- Positioned
- Segmented
- A/B tested
Operations & admin
- Coordinated
- Scheduled
- Processed
- Organized
- Standardized
- Audited
- Complied
- Tracked
- Allocated
- Procured
- Shipped
- Reconciled
Verbs to avoid or replace
| Weak | Stronger |
|---|---|
| Responsible for | Led, owned, managed |
| Worked on | Built, delivered, completed |
| Helped | Partnered, supported, enabled |
| Assisted with | Co-authored, executed, processed |
Match verbs to the job description
If the posting says "drive pipeline," use drove or generated — mirror their language naturally. Wizume's ATS score highlights missing terms from the job description.
Let AI tighten your bullets
"Improve with AI" in the Wizume builder suggests stronger verb choices per bullet while keeping your facts intact — you accept or reject each change.
See verbs in context
Browse resume examples by role — from software engineer to project manager — to see how strong verbs pair with metrics in real layouts.