6 Keywords, Action Verbs, and Scope and Accomplishment Statements

Use Keywords

For your resume to be effective in clearly demonstrating that you have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform the essential duties of the role, it must be targeted to each job by including keywords from the job posting.

Keywords are terms that describe the type of person and skillset/education/experience that the employer requires.

Omitting keywords from your resume and cover letter may result in your documents getting discarded before anyone reads them.

Examples of soft skills keywords: work ethic, dependability, willingness to learn, teamwork, self-motivated, ability to work with little or no supervision, critical thinking, creativity/innovation, verbal and written communication, organization, flexibility, time management, calm and compassionate, accurate, attention to detail, multitasking, positive, cheerful, outgoing, friendly, helpful, professional, courteous
Examples of hard skills keywords: typing, speaking another language, MS Office, clinical information software/EMR, transcription, billing (OHIP/private), payroll, financial reports, accounting, medical terminology
Examples of knowledge keywords: Health Office Administration diploma, medical terminology course, or equivalent experience preferred
  1. Look up job postings you are interested in applying for and examine the qualifications/duties listed. Next, make a match between your skills, knowledge, and experience and the job requirements. Looking at job postings that reflect your job goal will provide you with a sense of the common requirements that an employer might be looking for and assist you in tailoring your resume to those jobs in the future.
  2. Use labour market information resources such as the Job Bank – Explore Careers website to review various career and occupational profiles and understand the required duties and responsibilities. You could also use National Occupation Classification Codes, a government website that provides Canadian occupational information and organizes occupational titles according to skill levels and skill types. This can be used as a guide to inform you of all the various tasks and duties that are associated with different jobs.
  3. Refer to your program learning outcomes – For each program at Conestoga College, learning outcomes are identified in order for you as a student to understand what abilities you will reliably be able to demonstrate upon graduation. The learning outcomes were developed by employers and industry professionals prior to the creation of your course and offer industry-specific language that you can apply to your resume.

Prepare

  1. Find a job posting that interests you and identify all the keywords.
  2. List the keywords from the posting that match your own skills and use these in your resume and cover letter for that job.

Use Action Verbs

We know that employers and hiring managers are bombarded with applications; therefore, you are not doing yourself any favours by using all the same, old, tired words that everyone else is using. Starting each sentence with a strong action verb will capture the attention of the employer and provide a clearer, more interesting picture of what you have done.

Review your resume, go back and look at each word and ask yourself, is it powerful, appropriate, and exciting? Avoid using the same word more than once. 

COMMUNICATION

Arranged
Authored
Collaborated
Communicated
Consulted
Corresponded
Debated
Defined
Discussed
Drafted
Edited
Explained
Interacted
Interpreted
Interviewed
Joined
Listened
Marketed
Mediated
Moderated
Negotiated
Observed
Participated
Persuaded
Presented
Publicized
Reported
Responded
Translated
Wrote

MANAGEMENT

Administered
Analyzed
Appointed
Approved
Assigned
Attained
Authorized
Chaired
Coordinated
Designed
Delegated
Directed
Established
Executed
Led
Managed
Motivated
Organized
Oversaw
Planned
Prioritized
Reviewed
Scheduled
Supervised

TEACHING/HELPING

Advised
Aided
Answered
Assisted
Clarified
Coached
Contributed
Demonstrated
Educated
Encouraged
Evaluated
Explained
Facilitated
Guided
Helped
Individualized
Informed
Instilled
Instructed
Motivated
Persuaded
Resolved
Simplified
Supported
Taught
Trained
Tutored
Volunteered

FINANCIAL

Administered
Adjusted
Allocated
Appraised
Audited
Balanced
Budgeted
Calculated
Estimated
Forecasted
Netted
Projected
Purchased
Qualified
Reconciled
Reduced

CLERICAL

Arranged
Catalogued
Classified
Collected
Compiled
Filed
Organized
Prepared
Processed
Recorded
Scheduled

RESEARCH

Analyzed
Collected
Compiled
Filed
Organized
Prepared
Processed
Recorded
Scheduled

CREATIVE

Arranged
Acted
Composed
Created
Customized
Designed
Developed
Directed
Established
Fashioned
Founded
Illustrated
Invented
Modeled
Originated
Performed
Shaped
Solved

TECHNICAL

Adapted
Applied
Assembled
Built
Computed
Debugged
Designed
Developed
Engineered
Installed
Maintained
Operated
Programmed
Remodeled
Solved
Standardized
Tested
Upgraded

Scope Statements

When developing your resume, you can really set yourself apart from others by writing strong summaries of your duties at past and current employment or volunteer positions. Use scope statements to describe what you did at each job or volunteer position. You may feel that your experience is limited or unrelated and that it’s not worth describing your tasks in detail; however, oftentimes we are actually gaining and using transferable skills without even realizing it.

Focus on including the following components in your descriptions:

  1. Task: Identify the day-to-day activities you were expected to complete.
  2. Skill: Decide which transferable skills you used to perform the tasks.
  3. Outcome: State the outcome of the task.

Even in your part-time and volunteer jobs, you’ve gained many applicable transferable skills, take a look:

  • Interacted with customers (Task) by listening carefully (Skill) to answer questions about store products (Outcome).
  • Sold store merchandise (Task) by upselling product benefits (Skill) to meet daily sales goals (Outcome).
  • Handled cash (Task) accurately in a busy environment (Skill) to ensure store till was balanced before closing (Outcome).

Accomplishment Statements

Accomplishment statements are highly favoured by employers because they provide tangible evidence as to what you can bring to the workplace and substantiate the skills or competencies you present on your resume. Accomplishment statements also demonstrate why you would be the best candidate for the position and can be used by employers to help differentiate you when compared to other applicants who have may have had similar experiences.

Start by brainstorming the tasks and activities you performed well in your past or current experience. Typically, these are characterized by occasions where you recognized a problem or a situation that could have been improved, you acted or responded to it, and it resulted in recognition or a positive outcome. When thinking about each experience, ask yourself the following question: How was my performance measured in this position and what value did I bring to this workplace or organization?

It can be helpful to list your experiences to date (work, volunteer, education, academic projects, assignments, and presentations) and identify achievements for each of these. Think of significant contributions, individual or group projects, recognition received from a formal performance review, or informally from coworkers, team members, customers, professors, and supervisors. Accomplishments can also include awards or any contributions you made that had a positive impact on your workplace.

Reflection Questions

What are your accomplishments? Ask yourself these questions:

  • Have you received praise from managers, supervisors, instructors, or clients?
  • Have you ever been assigned a task that you could do better than others
  • Have you ever been asked to train anyone?
    How did you distinguish yourself or set yourself apart in your last job? What did you do to show your initiative?
  • When did you go above and beyond your job duties to complete a task and/or satisfy a customer?
  • Have you ever been promoted, recognized, awarded, or thanked by your coworkers?
  • How did your work affect the strategic business operations?

To craft your own accomplishment statements, use the information in this video, or follow the STAR method described below the video.

The University of British Columbia. (2012, September 17). Resumes 101: Accomplishment statements [Video]. YouTube.

STAR Method

(S) Situation + (T) Task + (A) Action + (R) Result

Start by describing the Situation or Task followed by the Action you have taken and the Result you have achieved. Use strong action verbs to make the most impact. Don’t forget to quantify the results or actions as much as possible. Be specific, but concise. You can additionally vary the focus of your statement by choosing what actions you highlight.

Take a look at the following example:

Situation/Task: Orient new employees to the job.

Action: Prepared department’s first operations manual; researched and analyzed best practices, and surveyed staff on what they thought should be included.
Result: Orientation went faster, department used fewer staff resources, new staff members remembered more, and both new employees and manager had a record of what was covered for future reference; obtained good feedback from new employees, coworkers, and manager.

Accomplishment Statement (starting with an action):

Created the department’s first operations manual that increased the effectiveness of the new employee training and significantly reduced the expenditure of time and resources.

Accomplishment Statement (starting with a Result):

Increased effectiveness of the new employee training while reducing the expenditure of time and resources by creating the department’s first operations manual.

Accomplishment Statements demonstrate value, provide the “so what” factor, and add credibility and strength to your resume. Including Accomplishment Statements in your resume and cover letter is an effective job search strategy that will make you stand out from other candidates and impress potential employers. Here are a few more examples:

  • Prepared over 10 accurate, well-researched, concisely written, and properly cited reports, 10 + pages long on average, in a two-month period.
  • Led a team of five to deliver a final research project one week ahead of the deadline through careful coordination of tasks and effective resource and time allocation.
  • Consistently achieved daily sales targets by demonstrating interest in customer needs and actively interacting with them in a friendly, non-invasive manner throughout their visit.
Unless otherwise indicated, this chapter is an adaptation of Be the Boss of Your Career: A Complete Guide for Students & Grads by Lindsay Bortot and Employment Support Centre, Algonquin College, and is used under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 International license.
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