Action Verbs for Effective Resume Bullet Points

Job Search Handbook Editorial Committee

Realizing that the administrator reading your resume will spend only 20-30 seconds on the first read-though puts pressure on you to write a resume that has a solid order. The reader will initially skim the resume; it needs to be strong enough to make the reader want to re-read it.

The reader will expect to see your range of experience in the classroom, focusing on whom you taught, what you taught, and how you taught it. Develop the entries in an order that lays out the most important tasks. Activity that is ongoing should be in present tense; activity that has been completed should be in past tense.

Here are some examples:

• Initiated Pen Pal unit with students in Sweden as part of writing curriculum

• Created, planned, and implemented units using GeoGebra and Geometrix

• Developed interactive chart about kings listed in Macbeth

• Aided classroom teacher with language-literacy issues with five bilingual students

Listed below are action verbs by category to help in creating a strong resume as well as avoiding using the same verbs over and over.

Instruction: Adapt; Analyze; Apply; Assess; Assign; Clarify; Coordinate; Define; Demonstrate; Develop; Direct; Emphasize; Enable; Establish; Evaluate; Explain; Facilitate; Focus; Generate; Guide; Identify; Implement; Incorporate; Inform; Initiate; Instruct; Integrate; Mentor; Model, Modify; Motivate, Organize; Reinforce; Teach; Train, Tutor

Communication: Address; Clarify; Communicate, Compose; Contact; Contribute; Correspond; Describe; Document; Edit; Express; Facilitate; Inform; Illustrate; Interpret; Interview; Investigate; Mediate; Moderate; Negotiate; Persuade; Present; Report; Review; Revise; Summarize; Translate, Write

Interpersonal: Accommodate; Adapt; Answer; Anticipate; Assist; Assure; Coach; Collaborate; Confront; Consult; Critique; Develop; Encourage; Exchange; Familiarize; Form; Foster; Gain; Implement; Inform; Interact; Intervene; Join; Listen; Mediate; Model; Motivate; Negotiate; Participate; Provide; Recommend; Represent; Resolve; Share; Suggest; Treat; Understand

Results: Accomplish; Achieve; Attain; Benchmark; Complete; Contribute; Decrease; Eliminate; Enforce; Establish; Evaluate; Expand; Improve; Improvise; Increase; Initiate; Institute; Lead; Prioritize; Produce; Reduce; Resolve, Simplify; Strengthen