Business Writing: Power Up Your Resume

Learning objectives

In this article, you will

• learn how to make your resume (and other forms of business writing) sound more powerful
• meet lots of key power verbs.

Newsmart Level 3 (B1+, TOEIC 389–550, TOEFL iBT 41–52, IELTS 4.5–5)

Your resume is one of the most important bits of business writing you’ll do. It’s your chance to tell future employers why they should choose YOU … and not one of the other 500 candidates who also applied for the same job. You have to show that you have the experience and skills that they need. And you have to stand out from the crowd. In other words, you need power verbs.

Let’s look at a few extracts from weak resumes.

- I was involved in our website upgrade project.

- I was responsible for customer service.

- I was a member of the sales team.

- I took part in negotiations with clients.

- I gave presentations at conferences.

What do you think? They don’t sound very powerful, do they? Why? Because the verbs are all weak: was, took, gave. The verbs don’t mean anything by themselves. They leave all the work to the adjectives and nouns. And they don’t really say what you actually did.

Now look at these improved versions of the same experiences.

- I upgraded our website.

- I oversaw customer service.

- I identified sales leads and converted them into sales.

- I negotiated strategic deals with clients.

- I presented our offer to large audiences.

Why do they sound better? It’s mainly because of the verbs: upgraded, oversaw, identified, converted, negotiated, and presented. They sound powerful because they describe specific actions: not who you were, but what you did. This is important in business writing.

Here are some of the most powerful power verbs:

- Communication: I liaised with …; I negotiated …; I persuaded …; I presented …

- Change: I converted …; I enhanced …; I improved …; I strengthened …; I transformed …; I upgraded …

- Creativity: I built …; I designed …; I developed …; I invented …; I produced …; I wrote …

- Help: I advised …; I briefed …; I supported …; I trained …

- Leadership: I led …; I managed …; I oversaw …

- Research: I analyzed …; I discovered …; I identified …; I investigated …; I learned that …; I researched …

- Results: I reached …; I sold …; I solved …

- Success: I accomplished …; I achieved …; I managed to …; I succeeded in …

As you can see, you don’t need to be a powerful businessperson to use power verbs. Even if you were the least experienced trainee deputy assistant in a large project team, you can still talk about who you liaised with, what you researched, who you supported, and what you achieved.

Never use weak structures like “I was involved in … .” Tell the world what specific actions you took and what you accomplished. And always use power verbs.

Photo credit: sturti for iStock

Originally published at www.getnewsmart.com.