An impressive resume isn’t just about what you say—how you say it matters too. You can have a strong work history, relevant responsibilities, impressive accomplishments, and undeniable expertise under your belt. But none of those matter if you can’t summarize them in a way that captures the attention of potential employers.
That’s why it’s helpful to familiarize yourself with some of the best resume phrases and action words. While your resume content will be as unique as you are, these reliable phrases can give you some new ideas, help you write about your qualifications and abilities, and impress recruiters.
Ready to beat the blank page and put some sentences down on paper? This detailed guide (and long list of resume power phrases) will get you started.
Want to make a free resume with the best phrases that grab attention? Use Teal's free AI Resume Builder to write action-oriented statements showcasing your achievements and aligning with job descriptions.
Resume phrases are specific words or combinations of words used to highlight your skills, abilities, knowledge, and achievements on your resume.
Understanding the job market can help you choose the right phrases that align with industry expectations and employer needs.
It’s tempting to think the language you use on your resume doesn’t carry much weight, but choosing the right phrases and verbs can make or break your resume in the eyes of a potential employer. For example, take a look at this comparison:
It’s not hard to see that the second option is far more impressive. And though there are other creative strategies and resume best practices at play in that example (such as quantifying accomplishments), the resume writing itself also makes a world of difference. The second bullet includes several powerful phrases and action words:
There’s no shortage of ways you can categorize these phrases, but this guide covers three common types of resume phrases:
There’s a lot of overlap between those categories—especially between action phrases and descriptive phrases. The main difference is that action phrases highlight what you actually did while descriptive phrases focus on your responsibilities.
Especially if you opt for using the STAR method on your resume, many of your bullet points will incorporate all three types of phrases at once.
“Led a cross-functional team of 10 to develop and launch a new customer relationship management (CRM) system, resulting in a 30% increase in customer satisfaction and a 20% boost in sales within six months.”
That example illustrates the importance of the right phrases for your resume, but choosing them involves more than opening up a thesaurus while you’re writing. The best resume phrases are:
Wondering where to use these short snippets on your document? Most resume phrases are incorporated in two different sections of your resume:
These phrases can also be effectively used in your LinkedIn profile.
In your summary, these phrases can call attention to your overall career highlights, relevant skills, and the success you’ve achieved. In your job history bullet points, they’ll better describe your contributions and achievements in previous roles.
Now that you have the lay of the land, it’s time to look at some resume power words and phrases you can lean on during your resume writing process to effectively convey the skills, value, and solutions you can bring to a job.
The best resume phrases start with action verbs—words that describe an action while emphasizing your contributions and achievements. Need help coming up with some? Check out this comprehensive guide to resume action verbs before you get started.
Use resume action verbs and phrases to describe the specific actions you took and contributions you made in a previous position.
Use strong power words and phrases in your resume to describe the impact you made and the results you achieved (including specific metrics).
Use these to describe what you were responsible for in a previous position.
The phrases above are flexible enough to be used in a variety of career paths. But it’s helpful to get a little more specific and look at phrases that apply to a certain job. Here are five different types of roles and examples of key phrases to use for each.
Ready to write your own? Check out this guide to resume bullet points to make your snippets short and strong.
The above phrases will get your creative juices flowing as you start writing your resume. But as you continue getting your skills and accomplishments down on paper, here are a few best practices to keep in mind when using common phrases.
Think your next best step is to pick out a few of the above phrases that sound the best to you? Not quite. Your goal is to use phrases that are the most relevant to the role you’re applying for to demonstrate how your qualifications and expertise match the position’s requirements. Understanding the job market can help you select the most relevant phrases.
Return to the job description and stay focused on finding key skills and words. Then, select words and phrases that are the best fit. For example, if the job posting mentions leadership several times, then you’ll choose phrases that use words like “led,” “managed,” “supervised,” “owned,” and “spearheaded.”
Struggling to figure out which words get a lot of importance in the job posting? Attach a job description in Teal’s AI Resume Builder to see your match score and determine how well your resume aligns with the language and skills from the job description.
If you only rely on common phrases, your resume likely won’t stand out from the crowd—after all, everybody will describe themselves as a “go getter” or a “team player” on paper.
Employers want to see proof not only of the work you’ve done, but why it mattered. Adding metrics to your accomplishments and bullet points shows recruiters the results you’ve achieved in your past jobs.
This is another area where Teal can help with its resume bullet point generator. In your resume, click “add an achievement” and then the “write with AI” button. Teal will automatically come up with three options for metric-driven bullet points you can customize and use on your resume.
Reducing costs? That’s impressive. But reducing costs in only three months? That’s sure to get a hiring manager’s attention.
That’s why it’s helpful to use time-based statements that describe a certain period of time (for example, “in five weeks or within six months”). These also count as descriptive phrases on your resume.
In Teal’s AI Resume Builder, use the Analysis Score to see a detailed breakdown of issues on your resume—including where you’re missing time-based statements.
Most of the best phrases start with strong verbs, but don’t get so caught up in the language that you forget about using the right verb tense. On your resume, use:
It’s a small change that can make your resume clearer and more polished.
Even with the best phrases to guide you, developing your resume can still feel daunting. Fortunately, you don’t have to start from scratch.
Use Teal’s AI Resume Builder to get over your fear of a blank page and create your strongest resume yet. It can help you:
Additionally, these tools can also help improve your LinkedIn profile, which complements your resume.
Something as simple as a prompt or an example bullet point can spark your creativity and ease the burden of writing your own resume. With Teal in your corner, you’ll feel more confident throughout the writing process so you can craft a resume that does your experience justice and makes a positive impression on an employer.
Ready to put these phrases and best practices to work on your own resume? Get started with Teal for free today.
Good lines for a resume effectively highlight your skills, achievements, and contributions. Examples include "Implemented a new inventory system, reducing operational costs by 15%" and "Led a cross-functional team to launch a new product, resulting in a 20% increase in sales."
Key phrases in a resume are specific words or combinations of words that highlight your skills, abilities, knowledge, and achievements. They fall into three categories: strong verbs and phrases (e.g., "Implemented a new system"), power phrases (e.g., "Increased revenue by 20%"), and descriptive phrases (e.g., "Managed a team of 10").
Good resume words are strong verbs that demonstrate your contributions and achievements. Action verbs include "Led," "Developed," "Implemented," "Achieved," "Optimized," and "Streamlined." These words help to clearly and concisely communicate your impact in previous roles.
