Strong action verbs for your CV

The verb at the start of a bullet point sets the tone for the whole line. A weak verb undersells a strong result; a specific one makes the reader trust the rest of the sentence.

How to use this list

Pick the verb that most precisely matches what you did - not the most impressive-sounding one. "Coordinated a handover" and "led a handover" describe different levels of responsibility, and an experienced reader can tell the difference. Vary the verb across your bullet points rather than starting every line under a role with the same word, and always follow it with a specific result - see describe results, not duties for the pattern.

By what you did

Led or managed

led, managed, directed, oversaw, supervised, coordinated, chaired, mentored, coached

Built or created

built, developed, designed, created, established, launched, founded, produced, implemented

Improved or fixed

improved, streamlined, optimised, resolved, reduced, simplified, upgraded, modernised, overhauled

Grew or increased

grew, increased, expanded, scaled, accelerated, boosted, generated, secured, won

Analysed or planned

analysed, evaluated, forecast, researched, audited, assessed, modelled, identified, diagnosed

Saved or cut

reduced, cut, saved, eliminated, consolidated, negotiated, trimmed, automated

Communicated or influenced

presented, negotiated, persuaded, trained, wrote, published, represented, liaised, advocated

Delivered or completed

delivered, completed, achieved, executed, deployed, shipped, finalised, rolled out

Weak verb, stronger swap

Weak	Stronger, more specific
Responsible for the monthly reports	Produced the monthly finance reports for a 40-person division
Helped with the website redesign	Redesigned the checkout flow, cutting cart abandonment by 18%
Worked on customer complaints	Resolved an average of 25 escalated customer complaints a week
Was involved in the hiring process	Screened and interviewed candidates for 12 roles over six months
Did training for new staff	Trained 15 new hires on the point-of-sale system each quarter

Notice the pattern: "responsible for", "helped with", "worked on" and "was involved in" describe your relationship to the task, not what happened. Naming the actual action and the result does more work in the same space.

Verbs to be careful with

"Spearheaded", "orchestrated", "championed". Not wrong, but they read as trying hard to sound senior. Use them only where the scale genuinely matches - leading something large, cross-team, or high-stakes.
Vague verbs like "handled" or "dealt with". They can describe almost anything, which means they tell the reader almost nothing. Replace with the specific action: processed, resolved, negotiated, escalated.
Passive constructions. "Sales were increased by 20%" hides who did it. "Increased sales by 20%" gives you the credit and reads more directly.

Put these to work. Open the editor and tighten your bullet points one section at a time, or read the full guide on how to write a CV.