from UTexas.com

Using verbs and
adjectives
effectively adds impact to your resume. Read this section again
carefully just before you actually begin writing.

DESCRIBING

RESULTS – GOING BEYOND DUTIES

The typical resume
merely lists
duties and does little else to sell the person. One of the best
ways to
sell yourself is to describe accomplishments in terms of
results. Duties
are often covered by “Responsible for …” Results are generally
covered
by using the verb developed, such as “Developed a secretary’s
manual
which explained hundreds of procedures and significantly reduced

clerical errors.” This person’s duties were typing, filing, and
answering phones, so to show that she stood above the rest, she
demonstrated results.

THE
WORDS
TO USE

While develop is an excellent word, when
used
three or four times in a resume it becomes overworked.  You’ll
need
substitutes. The most common are:

                       

Created                                                Instituted

                       
Designed                                              Introduced

                       
Established                                           Set up

                       
Implemented                                        

Other verbs that may be appropriate
substitutes
in certain circumstances would be:

           
Built                                         
Fabricated                                           Originated

           
Composed                              
Fashioned                                            Perfected

           
Constructed                             
Formed                                               Pioneered

           
Coordinated                             
Formulated                                          Planned

           
Cultivated                                 
Generated                                           Prepared

           
Devised                                    
Installed                                              Produced

           
Elaborated                               
Introduced                                           Refined

           
Enhanced                                
Organized                                             Revamped

Developed (devised,
prepared,
produced) a creative financing/purchasing package to obtain 1900
acres
of prime California farmland.

Developed (created,
designed,
introduced) a new concept in women’s athletics and actively
promoted the
program. Participation b women grew from 18% in previous years
to 79%

Pioneered mime program for
gifted
children age 8-12.

Developed (built, created,
established, implemented, instituted) an intern program to allow

students to work in nursing homes and schools for the retarded.

Developed (designed,
established)
training programs for new and experienced employees and
supervised the
new employee orientation program.

Set up apprenticeship
programs for
five skilled trades at the Physical Plant Department.

Developed and implemented

an information and referral service for consumer complaints and
human
rights issues.

Developed and implemented

mail and telephone solicitation programs and word processor
systems.

Coordinated  the company
marketing
effort, including advertising and promotions.

Designed and installed

cash and inventory control systems for various clients.

Developed (created,
designed) a
unique computerized system, which has dramatically increased
service to
customers.

For this small, 29-year-old manufacturer
of toys,
implemented changes in sales, marketing, and
production,
which enabled the company to double sales and profits in a
six-year
period.

Developed and supervised

a medical records internship program.

Created an employee
orientation
program, which increased employee effectiveness and helped
decrease
turnover.

Developed (created, built) a
team
of highly motivated employees.

Established a sales award
program,
which substantially reduced turnover of franchise sales staff.

                       
Foresight                                              
Proficient/proficiently

                       
Functional/functionally                           
Profitable/profitably

                       
Handy/handily                                       
Progressive/progressively

                       
High/highly                                            
Quick/quickly

                       
Highest                                                 
Rare/rarely

                       
High-level                                              Readily

                       
Honest/honestly                                     Record

                       
Imaginative/imaginatively                       
Relentless/relentlessly

                       
Immediate/immediately                          Reliability

                       

Impressive/impressively                         Reliable/reliably

                       
Incisive/incisively                                  
Remarkable/remarkably

                       
In-depth                                               
Responsible/responsibly

                       
Industrious/industriously                        
Rigorous/rigorously

                       
Inherent/inherently                                
Routine/routinely

                       
Innovative/innovatively                          
Secure/securely

                       
Instructive/instructively                          
Sensitive/sensitively

                       
Instrumental/instrumentally                     
Significant/significantly

                       
Integral                                                
Skillful/skillfully

                       
Intensive/intensively                              
Solid/solidly

                       
Intimate/intimately                                 
Sophisticated/sophisticatedly

                       

Leading                                                 Strategic/strategically

                       
Masterful/masterfully                             
Strong/strongly

                       
Meaningful/meaningfully                        
Substantial/substantially

                       

Natural/naturally                                    Successful/successfully

                        New and
improved                                Tactful/tactfully

                       
Notable/notably                                    
Thorough/thoroughly

                       
Objective/objectively                            
Uncommon/uncommonly

                       
Open-minded                                       
Unique/uniquely

                       
Original/originally                                  
Unusual/unusually

                       
Outstanding/outstandingly                      Urgent/urgently

                       
Particularly                                            Varied

                       
Penetrating/penetratingly                       
Vigorous/vigorously

                       

Perceptive/perceptively                          Virtual/virtually

                       
Pioneering                                            
Vital/vitally

                       
Practical/practically                                Wide/widely

                       
Professional/professionally

Significantly/Substantially

“Increased sales substantially through
creative
marketing.”

“Absenteeism was reduced significantly by

instituting a system of flexible work hours.”

 When you have no idea by what percentage
you
increased or decreased something, the words significantly
and
substantially will provide the reader with the feeling you
are
trying to get across. When you use these words, you are saying
that what
you did really had an impact. The word extensive can also be
used in
similar contexts.

Produced an extensive revision of the
company
procedures manual.”

Extensively involved in
staff
education and development.

Significantly improved
communications between nursing administration and staff.

Virtually all apartment
units were
completed ahead of schedule.

Continually streamlined
policies
and procedures to create more reasonable work schedule.

Extremely well-organized
and
efficient.

Exceptionally well-trained
in
theatre, dance, and music.

A list of adverbs and adjectives is given
below.
Review the list and check the ones you feel may be useful to
you. Try to
include them but don’t force it. Don’t use a word or phrase
unless it
really fits your personality and strengthens your resume. After
writing
each draft, go back through the list to see if still another
word or two
might be useful.

                       
Accurate/accurately                              
Decisive/decisively

                       
Active/actively                                       Deep
(insight)

                       
Adept/adeptly                                       Deft/deftly

                       

Advantageously                                     Dependable/dependably

                       
Aggressive/aggressively                          Demonstrably

                       
All-inclusive/all-inclusively                     
Diligent/diligently

                       
Ambitious/ambitiously                           
Diplomatic/diplomatically

                       

Appreciable/appreciably                        Distinctive/distinctively

                       
Astute/astutely                                      
Diverse/diversified

                       
Attractive/attractively                             Driving

                       
Authoritative/authoritatively                    Easily

                       
Avid/avidly                                           
Effective/effectively

                       
Aware                                                  
Effectually

                       
Beneficial/beneficially                            
Efficient/efficiently

                       
Broad/broadly                                      
Effortless/effortlessly

                       
Capable/capably                                  
Enthusiastically

                       
Challenging                                          
Entire/entirely

                       
Cohesive/cohesively                              Especially

                       

Competent/competently                        Exceptional/exceptionally

                       
Complete/completely                           
Exciting/excitingly

                       
Comprehensive/comprehensively           Exhaustive/exhaustively

                       
Conclusive/conclusively                         Experienced

                       
Consistent/consistently                          Expert/expertly

                       

Constructive/constructively                    Extensive/extensively

                       
Contagious                                           Extremely

                       
Continuous/continually                           Familiar with

                        Contributed
toward                               Familiarity with

                       
Decidedly                                            
Firm/firmly

Reduced lost time due to
illness
81% and reduced industrial accidents by 67%.

Negotiated a product
classification
change for California freight, saving $18,000 annually.

Negotiated, awarded, and
administered contracts with vendors for the procurement
of over
65,000 different standard parts.

Continually streamlined
policies to
reduce redundant procedures.

ACTION VERBS

            Accomplished              

Commanded                 Determined                 Fabricated

            Achieved                     

Commended                 Developed                  
Facilitated

           
Acquired                      
Communicated              Devised                      Fashioned

            Acted
as                      
Completed                    Diagnosed                   Filed

           
Activated                     
Compared                   
Directed                       Financed

            Active
in                      
Compiled                      Discovered                  Fixed

            Adapted                      

Composed                   Dispensed                    
Followed up

            Addressed                  
Computed                     Displayed                    
Forged
(ahead)

           
Adjusted                      
Conceived                    Dissected                    
Forecasted

            Administered               
Conceptualized             Distributed                   
Formulated

           
Advised                        Conducted                   
Documented                 Found

           
Allocated                     
Consolidated                Drafted                         
Founded

            Analyzed                     

Constructed                  Dramatized                  
Functioned as

            Approved                    
Conserved                    Earned                        
Gained

           
Arbitrated                     
Consulted                    
Edited                         Gathered

            Arranged                     

Contacted                    
Eliminated                    Generated

            Ascertained                 
Contracted                   
Employed                    Governed

            Assembled                  
Contributed                   Enacted                       
Graduated

            Assessed                    
Controlled                     Encouraged                 
Guided

            Assigned                     

Converted                     Enforced                      
Handled

            Assimilated                  

Cooperated                  Engineered                    Headed

           
Assisted                      
Coordinated                  Enhanced                      Hired

           
Assured                       
Correlated                     Enlisted                        
Identified

           
Attained                       
Corroborated                Ensured                       
Illustrated

           
Attended                      
Counseled                    Equipped                    
Imagined

            Augmented                  
Created                         Established                  
Implemented

            Balanced                     

Culminated in                Estimated                    
Improved

           
Bought                         
Cultivated                      Evaluated                    
Improvised

           
Brought                        
Dealt                             Examined                    
Increased

           
Built                             
Defined                         Expanded                    
Informed

           
Calculated                    
Delegated                     Expedited                    
Initiated

           
Clarified                       
Delivered                      Experimented              
Inspected

           
Classified                     
Demonstrated               Explained                    
Inspired

            Coached                      

Designed                      Expressed                   
Installed

           
Collected                     
Detected                       Extracted                     
Instigated

           
Instilled                        
Ordered                        Received                     
Shaped

           
Instituted                      
Organized                     Recognized                 
Shifted

           
Instructed                     
Originated                     Recommended             Shipped

           
Insured                        
Overcame                     Reconciled                  
Simplified

           
Integrated                    
Oversaw                       Recorded                     Sold

           
Interfaced                     

Participated                  Recruited                     Solidified

           
Interpreted                   
Perceived                     Rectified                      
Solved

            Interviewed                  

Perfected                      Reevaluated                
Sorted

            Introduced                   

Performed                    Referred                      
Spearheaded

           
Invented                      
Persuaded                    Refined                        
Spoke

            Investigated                 

Piloted                          Regulated                    
Staffed

           
Judged                        
Pioneered                    Rehabilitated                
Stimulated

           
Justified       &nb