How to Write Power Words

Adding power words can improve your resume or cover letter.

Job applicants use power words to add excitement and energy to their resumes and cover letters. Power words give the reader positive impressions of the applicant by providing active descriptions that grab the reader's attention. Power words are usually verbs but can also be adjectives. Most people use power words to describe educational and professional tasks or accomplishments. Power words can also help make your resume stand out in electronic searches that look for key power words. According to easyjob.com, more than 95 percent of large companies use computer software to sort their resumes.

Things You'll Need

• Current resume
• Cover letter
• Computer

Instructions

1. Read through the job description for the position you are applying for. Job postings tend to contain the power words that describe what the company is looking for. These are likely the power words that the company would search for if it is using electronic resume search software. Write down the power words you found.

2. Find sentences in your resume and cover letter that sound dull or unimpressive. Sometimes just changing a few words can create a much more powerful sentence and can turn a task that sounds mundane into an impressive accomplishment.

3. Use a list of power words to get ideas. Some websites have extensive lists that you can use as resources for finding power words. As you read the lists, write down words that could replace some of the words in your resume.

4. Restructure your bullet points and sentences for a bigger impact. Many people choose to put their power words at the beginning of the sentences they are in. For example, if you want to improve the bullet point, "I made my own filing system," add power words and restructure it to read, "Designed and implemented a filing system."

5. Check your new resume for errors. Every time the you make changes to your resume, you should read it over to check for mistakes. Sometimes all it takes is one typo to miss out on a potential interview.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure that some of the power words from the job posting make it into your cover letter. Not only does it help for job searches, it shows that you did your research. Also, have a friend read over your resume before sending it in. It is much easier to catch a mistake with two sets of eyes.

References

• Money-zine: Resume Power Words
• Easy Job: Resume Search & "Scannable" Resume

Resources

• Rockport Institute: How To Make a Masterpiece of a Resume