The opening word of a bullet decides whether a recruiter reads the rest of it — the eye-tracking research behind the seven-second scan makes that plain. “Responsible for” and “helped with” signal a passenger. A sharp verb signals a driver. Swapping the first word is the cheapest upgrade your CV will ever get.
The verbs that pull the eye
Pick the one that is true, not the flashiest. Each of these implies ownership and a result:
- Launched: you took something from nothing to live.
- Cut: you reduced cost, time, or waste (pair it with a number).
- Grew: you moved a metric up and can name it.
- Led: you owned people or a decision, not just a task.
- Rebuilt: you fixed something broken.
- Automated: you removed manual work.
- Negotiated: you changed terms in your favour.
- Shipped: you finished and released, not just started.
- Won: you competed and came out ahead.
- Simplified: you made something complex usable.
Verbs need numbers to land
“Grew the newsletter” is a claim. “Grew the newsletter from 400 to 6,000 in eight months” is evidence. The verb opens the door, the number walks through it. If you have no metric, describe scope: the team size, the budget, the audience.
Match the verb to the truth — and the job
A strong verb only helps if it’s accurate. “Led” a project you contributed to, and a single interview question unravels it. Choose the verb that honestly describes your role: contributed to, supported, and coordinated are legitimate when they’re true, and far better than an inflated led you can’t defend.
It also pays to echo the job’s own language. If the posting talks about “delivering” or “driving” outcomes, a CV that uses those verbs reads as a match to both the recruiter and the applicant tracking system — without stuffing or stretching the truth.
Don’t open every bullet the same way
Ten identical Managed… Managed… Managed… openings blur together. Vary the verb to the actual action, front-load your strongest, most quantified bullet in each role, and let the mix carry a sense of range — building, fixing, growing, leading.
Read what recruiters actually see in 7 seconds for the research behind this, then let the bullet point writer rewrite your lines verb-first, and check your CV against a job post to confirm the wording matches.