When you're writing a resume, the way you write should not be the same as your style when composing a white paper, report or email.  Action words, or power words, should be used in an active voice to describe your accomplishments. The impact of your resume will get an extra boost if you make sure you use plenty of power words.

You want to keep in mind that your resume serves as your personal advertisement. If you want to get noticed, then you need to make sure you've got enough power words to separate your resume from the rest of the pack. And rest assured, the rest of the pack is huge. Currently a small advertisement in a major metropolitan newspaper for a mid-level, non-technical professional is likely to garner 500 responses or more. Responses to a posting on major web sites such as CareerBuilder or Hot Jobs can easily number more than 1,000. So standing out from the crowd is essential; if you don't get through the first sorting, you’re not going to get an interview.

Resume Power Words Defined

So what exactly is a resume power word and how are they used?  In simple terms, they are "buzz" words. They are marketing words because a resume is nothing more or less than a marketing tool for you. Usually verbs or adjectives, they describe actions you’ve taken or accomplishments you’ve achieved.

In this electronic era, be aware that most resumes, particularly those submitted to large human resources departments or online job sites, are scanned for key words – words that help to match individuals to a job description or requirements. For example, the phrase “Assembled a team of five auditors that conducted a Sarbanes Oxley audit of financial operations in less than three weeks” – key words include assembled, team, Sarbanes Oxley (often abbreviated as SOX), audit, financial, operations.

Power words