The essentials in 30 seconds
- 01A past-tense verb opens the line, a figure closes it.
- 02Delete “responsible for”, “involved in”, “helped with”.
- 03A different verb per achievement, strongest first.
01
Why the verb comes first
An achievement that opens with the verb reads in a second and credits the action to you. “Was responsible for coordinating the team” becomes “coordinated a team of 12 across three shifts”.
02
Verbs to delete
“Responsible for”, “involved in”, “helped with”, “assisted in”, “part of”. They dilute ownership and eat space. If it genuinely was shared work, say exactly what your part was.
03
For results and improvement
Cut, increased, optimised, accelerated, recovered, saved, doubled, stabilised. Always with the figure attached: cut overdue debt from 90 to 38 days.
04
For management and teams
Coordinated, led, trained, supervised, planned, delegated, mentored. Add the headcount and scope: trained 9 new staff on floor protocol.
05
For building and projects
Implemented, designed, developed, automated, migrated, documented, launched. Close with the impact: automated bank reconciliation, saving 20 hours a month.
06
Don't repeat the same verb
Three consecutive achievements starting with “managed” read as one. Vary the verb on every line and save the strongest for the first achievement of each role — that's the one always read.
07
The verb + action + figure structure
An achievement reads in a second when it opens with a past-tense verb, continues with what you did and closes with a number. “Was responsible for coordinating the floor team” becomes “coordinated a team of 12 across three shifts, cutting waiting times by 25%”. The same information, credited to you and measurable.
Order matters because the eye scans the start of each line. If they all open with “responsible for” or the employer's name, the block reads as grey prose; if they open with different verbs and close with figures, it reads as a list of results.
- Past-tense verb at the start of the line.
- What you did, concrete and free of adjectives.
- Scope: people, volume, budget or deadline.
- Result as a figure, percentage or time saved.
08
A dictionary by type of achievement
You don't need a hundred verbs: you need the exact verb for what happened. Pick by family and vary each line, saving the strongest for the first achievement of every role — that's the one always read.
And avoid the ones that dilute ownership: “responsible for”, “involved in”, “helped with”, “assisted in”, “part of”. If the work genuinely was shared, say which part was yours, because that's what's being assessed.
- Results: cut, increased, optimised, accelerated, recovered, saved, doubled.
- Teams: coordinated, led, trained, supervised, delegated, mentored.
- Projects: implemented, designed, developed, automated, migrated, documented, launched.
- Customers: handled, resolved, retained, negotiated, advised, recovered.
- Control: audited, verified, reconciled, inventoried, standardised.
09
Three real rewrites
Hospitality: “responsible for the bar and closing” becomes “ran the bar across 120-cover shifts and closed the till with 18 months of daily reconciliation and no discrepancies”. Administration: “responsible for invoicing” becomes “processed 400 invoices a month at under 0.5% error and cut overdue debt from 90 to 38 days”.
Technology: “involved in developing an app” becomes “developed the payments module of an app with 40,000 users, reducing charge failures by 60%”. In all three cases nothing was invented: the right verb was chosen and the figure that already existed was added.
Check this before you send it
- Every experience line opens with a past-tense verb.
- No achievement starts with “responsible for” or “involved in”.
- The same verb never repeats on consecutive lines.
- The strongest verb opens each role's first achievement.
- Every line ends in a figure, percentage or timeframe.
- Only the current role is in present tense.
Mistakes that cost you the interview
Opening with “responsible for”
It describes a duty, not an action of yours, and wastes the start of the most-read line.
Repeating “managed” on every line
Three achievements with the same verb read as one, and the experience looks flat.
Strong verbs with no data behind them
“Optimised processes” without a figure reads as filler and undermines the next achievement.
Mixing tenses at random
Only the current role belongs in the present; everything else in the past, or the timeline turns confusing.
Frequently asked
Questions we get asked most
- Which verbs should I avoid on a CV?
- “Responsible for”, “involved in”, “helped with”, “assisted in” and “part of”: they dilute ownership and eat space. If the work was shared, say exactly what your part was.
- Which tense should a CV use?
- Past tense for finished roles, present for your current one, never mixed inside the same job. The verb opens the line and the figure closes it.
- Can I repeat the same verb across achievements?
- Better not: three consecutive lines opening with “managed” read as one. Vary the verb and save the strongest for the first achievement of each role, the one always read.