Beef Up Your Resume: Mix Keywords and Action Verbs

While creating a fancy layout is certainly a nice touch, the heart of the resume is the information you share. Specifically, the real meat is in the “Work Experience” section, where you share your work history and the things you’ve accomplished in the past. Everything else is just garnish. Side dishes. Tasty, but not filling. Like parsley.

So, let’s talk meat. How, exactly, should the information in the “Work Experience” section of your resume be presented? Ultimately, this is where hiring managers determine if you’re a fit for the position, so it has to be powerful. To really beef up this part of your resume, use a mixture of keywords and action verbs. Here’s how:

Include the following for each position you’ve held:

• Your title
• The dates you worked there
• The name of the company
• Location of the company (optional)
• A short description of the company (optional)

Under each job heading, create a bullet point list of your major accomplishments in that position. Remember to be specific and avoid simply listing job duties. When describing your achievements, include a variety of relevant keywords for the industry and/or position for which you are applying. Use our Keyword Database if you need help.

Start each bullet point with an action word: past-tense for previous positions; present-tense for current positions. This verb is used to indicate the specific action you took. Use dynamic, powerful and attention-grabbing verbs. If you need help, check out Our Big Fat List of Action Verbs.

By combining keywords and action verbs in the meat of your resume, you’ll please computers and people alike. Keywords will help your resume pop-up more often as a relevant match in computer searches and action verbs will help strengthen your descriptions and draw attention to your actions. That’s a recipe for career success!