80+ Powerful Action Verbs for Your CV (With Examples)

Strong CVs describe what you achieved, not just what you were responsible for. Starting each bullet point with an action verb makes your experience clearer and more convincing.

Before and after

• Weak: Responsible for social media accounts.
• Strong: Grew Instagram followers from 2,000 to 18,000 in 12 months.

• Weak: Helped with month-end closing.
• Strong: Streamlined month-end closing, cutting the process from 8 days to 5.

Leadership and management

Led, managed, supervised, directed, coordinated, mentored, coached, delegated, oversaw, recruited, trained, motivated, chaired, headed

Achievement and results

Achieved, exceeded, delivered, increased, improved, boosted, grew, doubled, reduced, cut, saved, won, surpassed, generated

Creating and building

Created, built, designed, developed, launched, established, introduced, founded, produced, set up, wrote, published

Improving and fixing

Streamlined, optimised, upgraded, restructured, simplified, automated, modernised, resolved, fixed, transformed, standardised

Communication

Presented, negotiated, persuaded, advised, consulted, collaborated, liaised, represented, explained, promoted, trained

Analysis and research

Analysed, assessed, evaluated, forecast, investigated, measured, researched, audited, tested, identified, calculated

Organising and planning

Planned, organised, scheduled, prioritised, arranged, prepared, managed, allocated, tracked, maintained, documented

Customer and support

Assisted, supported, served, resolved, handled, answered, guided, welcomed, retained, satisfied

Three rules for using them

1. Start every bullet with a verb in the past tense for past jobs and the present tense for your current job.
2. Add a number wherever you can: money, time, percentage, people or volume.
3. Don't repeat the same verb many times. Mix them up.

Try it now

Open the CV builder and rewrite each line in your work experience with a verb from this list. Write one achievement per line and the builder turns them into neat bullet points.