50 Words and Phrases to Use in Resumes

Customers look for candidates, who understand their work, and possess the skills to help them achieve their objectives and overcome challenges. Customers also look for candidates, who have achieved recognition from their customers and industry and who show thought leadership and innovative approaches.

Resumes that merely present a laundry list of tasks the candidate has performed will not score well as compared to resumes that describe how the candidate met and exceeded the customer’s requirements. If evaluators find the technical, management, and past performance scores are tight between competitors, resumes can often become the deciding factor for the win.  Using words or phrases that persuade evaluators that your candidate is best placed to perform the work and implement your solution can increase your proposal score.

The next time you want to write a resume consider using one of the following 50 words and phrases to highlight your candidate’s qualifications and help increase your score.

Words

1. Accomplished (or achieved)
2. Acquired
3. Advanced
4. Awarded
5. Benefit (or benefitted)
6. Changed
7. Controlled
8. Converted
9. Coordinated
10. Corrected
11. Developed
12. Decreased
13. Earned
14. Enhanced
15. Exceeded
16. Fixed
17. Gained
18. Improved
19. Increased
20. Innovated
21. Led (or spearheaded)
22. Mitigated
23. Minimized
24. Modernized
25. More/more than
26. Optimized
27. Procured (or produced)
28. Reduced
29. Released
30. Recognized
31. Regulated
32. Reorganized or Restructured
33. Saved
34. Solved
35. Skilled
36. Transferred
37. Transformed
38. Transitioned
39. Updated
40. Upgraded

Phrases

Pair the words listed in the table with a quantitative or qualitative metric that explains how the candidate benefitted customer operations and met or exceeded a customer requirement.

By Brenda Crist, Vice President at Lohfeld Consulting Group, MPA, CPP APMP Fellow

Lohfeld Consulting Group has proven results specializing in helping companies create winning captures and proposals.
As the premier capture and proposal services consulting firm focused exclusively on government markets, we provide expert assistance to government contractors in Go-to-Market Strategy, Capture Planning and Strategy, Proposal Management and Writing, Capture and Proposal Process and Infrastructure, and Training. In the last 3 years, we’ve supported over 550 proposals winning more than $170B for our clients—including the Top 10 government contractors. Lohfeld Consulting Group is your “go-to” capture and proposal source! Start winning by contacting us at www.lohfeldconsulting.com and join us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.