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How To Write A Killer Resume

Objective (Examples Included)

Tell Me About Yourself Answers

(Examples Included)

68DynamicActionVerbsTo How To Prepare For A Second

Interview (Questions & Examples

EnhanceYourResume Included)

(ExampleslistIncluded) Behavioral Interview Questions And

Answers 101

ByJeffGillis Find a Job Using These 26 Under

The Radar Job Search Engines
PL EA SE SHA RE T HIS A R TI CL E B Y CL I CKI NG O NE O F T HE BU TT ONS
BE L OW : Job Interview Questions and
Answers 101
Lets be honest here

When And How To Discuss Salary

Who doesnt love the idea of time travel? During The Job Interview Process

So letstake a step back in time and take you on a little trip down
memory lane to a favorite game we all used to play in school.

You remember itthe silly stories where youd have to come up

with a list of words using a form that would ask you for specific
types of word, like noun, or adjective, or even a number?

Then youd take that list of seemingly random words and use them
to fill in the blanks in an otherwise normal story..but because you
had no idea what the words were being used for, youd end up with
wacky stories about things like the time you babysat 200 purple
watermelons, or that time you went to the zoo to see the
dancing pizzas with your crazy rainbow Mohawk wearing
uncle?

You remember those games!

They weremad!

The great thing about these games was it got you thinking of words
in fun and new ways and the more you played, the more
outrageous youd try to make them. If youd just gone straight to
the story and filled it out normally it was pretty much guaranteed
that youd end up with a fairly boring, run of the mill tale.

Okay, so whats the darn point Jeff?

Well in a (perhaps slightly forcedguilty as charged!) roundabout

kind of way, this ties into the language that you use on your
resumes and cover letters.

Now, were not suggesting you start filling out your resumes and
cover letters using this exact technique, but what we want you to
do is start thinking outside the normal box and expanding your
vocabulary using our favorite type of words, action verbs!

UsingActionVerbstoEnhanceYour
Resume&CoverLetter
Verbs are words that help to describe an action, such as ran, threw,
jumped, just to name a few. Go ahead, take out your resume and
cover letter and take a good look at it.

Can you find all the verbs?

I bet its peppered with words like led and organized. You might
even have a spearheaded, or delegated in there.

Now think back to your last job interview.

How many times did you use verbs in your conversation with the
hiring manager? Did you tell them you led your team or that you
improved a method? These are great verbs, but theyre also really
really

Tired.

Why are they tired?

Because odds are, if you asked for the

resume for 50 other job seekers, read the
cover letter for 100 other applicants, or even sat through 200
interviews, youre going to come across these exact same words
over and over again.

Instead of using boring old verbs, try using cover letter and
resumeaction verbs(also known as resume action words) instead.
WhatAreActionVerbs?
What are action verbs? Well, theyre basically verbs on steroids!
Theyre words that arent used as often as the old tried and true
verbs we see in resume after resume and rather than simply
describing an action, theyre a dynamic and powerful way to
describe an otherwise normal activity.

Confused?

Dont be. Here, well play another game to make this a little easier
to understand.

Imagine thispretend theres a hiring manager conference in

town.

Theres a bunch of hiring

managers in a bar pouring over
piles of cover letters and
resumes theyve picked up
from past job applicants.
Theyre so tired from reading
the same stuff over and over
again that they decide to turn it
into a drinking game.

Every time they come across an old and tired verb, the group takes
a shot. Verbs that are particularly overused are verbs like
motivated (take a shot), innovated (take a shot), managed (take a
shot) and organized (take a shot).

Now, go back and look at your resume and cover letter again. How
many shots would our tipsy hiring manager barflies take just
looking at yours alone? Ouch.

Luckily its easy to go through and replace these tired old verbs with
action verbs that will help shake up the status quo (and give our
tipsy barfly hiring managers a break from their drunken shot fest).

ImplementingYourActionWordsCorrectly
Before we go any furthera few words of warning: you have to make
sure youre using words that are appropriate, not just flashy.

You always want to set yourself apart from the rest of the
applicants as long as its for the right reasons.

Remember, you want to make a good impression, and turning in a

resume or cover letter full of insane verbs just because you want to
stand out might get you a job at the silly story factory writing future
scenarios, but not many other opportunities.
Be sure to be thoughtful when you use action verbs. Too many and
youll have a resume that reads like one of those crazy stories we
talked about earlier.

Its okay to leave in a few of the old verbs.

You want to come across as knowledgeable and enthusiasticnot

mad.

So how do you know which action verbs to use and which ones to
save for your story writing class?

Weve put together a list of scenarios where you might be tempted

to use old tired verbs and followed that with some alternative
action verbs.

TheBestScenariosForUsingActionVerbs
Go through these scenarios and action verbs lists and see where
you can kick your own resume and cover letters up a notchand
then take those some powerful action verb phrases in with you
when you sit down face to face for your interview!

Here is aquick list of action verbs for each scenario:

Scenario:Youreamanager.
Tired verbs: led, motivated, managed, enforced, organized

Action verbs: Orchestrated, chaired, programmed, operated,

spear-headed, collaborated, commissioned, advised, headed,
delegated, established

Scenario:Youworkdirectlywithclients.
Tired verbs: talked, supported, dealt

Action verbs: Advocated, fielded, consulted, arbitrated,

mediated, informed, resolved, interfaced, updated, unified,
motivated, explained, guided, facilitated, clarified, enabled

Scenario:Youreacorporatetime/moneysaver.
Tired verbs: saved, improved

Action verbs: Capitalized, enhanced, expedited, stimulated,

maximized , solved, strengthened, settled, reconciled, eased,
elevated, negotiated, standardized, influenced, arbitrated, boosted

Scenario:Youreaninnovator.
Tired verbs: improved, streamlined, organized
 Action verbs: Clarified, integrated, modified, overhauled,
redesigned, restructured, transformed, adapted, debugged,
regulated, restored, fabricated, remodeled

Scenario:Youreacommunicator.
Tired verbs: wrote, spoke, relayed

Action verbs: Composed, corresponded, illustrated,

persuaded, lobbied, defined, formulated, synthesized,
conveyed, disbursed, publicized, discussed, informed

PuttingitAllTogether
See where were going with this?

So, take that old resume and that old cover letter and give thema
good once over, being careful to identify the tired verbs youve
been using.

Pull out those tired and worn verbs and kick it up with a few well
placed action verbs!

PL EA SE SHA RE T HIS A R TI CL E B Y CL I CKI NG O NE O F T HE BU TT ONS

BE L OW :

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