The words you use on your resume can differentiate you from other candidates and help you stand out. They can also emphasize your strongest qualifications. Words have power, so you want to select words for your resume carefully, keeping your goals in mind. For example, if you’re applying for management jobs, choose four of five words expressing qualities that are important in a management role, and make sure all of those words appear prominently in the experience and summary sections of your resume.

To help you get started, here are groups of words you can use to connote leadership, management, results, and customer service.

Words that show you’re a leader:

• Initiated: Leaders create new products and business practices, so use “initiated” to highlight things you created or a process that began thanks to you.
• Vision: Mention “vision” to demonstrate that you look to the future and plan ahead.
• Empowered: Use “empowered” to illustrate how your leadership benefited other people in your company. Make the case that you were instrumental in helping others achieve more.
• Ideas: Leaders are creative and resourceful. Use “ideas” on your resume to show that you are innovative and that you can inspire new thinking in an organization.
• Transformed: The word “transformed” indicates that you had a significant impact on your workplace and that your leadership made a difference.

Words that show you’re a good manager:

• Guided: Some management buzzwords can paint a picture of a strict taskmaster, so go with a gentle verb like “guided” instead. This word still implies that you gave instructions, but it sounds friendlier and suggests that you’re easy to work with.
• Mentored: Mentoring someone is a sign that you’re an authority in your field and that less experienced employees have a lot to learn from you.
• Collaborated: Managers work with a lot of people both above and below them in the organizational hierarchy. Point to collaborations to prove you’re skilled at interpersonal relationships and that you can get things done in a group.
• Trained: Use “trained” to show that you can convey expectations to the people who report to you and that you give them the support they need to be successful.
• Assessed: Managers need to monitor their team’s performance and make adjustments as needed. Use “assessed” to show that you’re able to evaluate others’ work and take action.

Words that show you get results:

• Metrics: Saying that you get results is much more credible when you provide specific numbers. Talk about how your achievements were evaluated and how your work measured up.
• Value: Use “value” to show that your achievements have worth to your employer. This word shows that you care about the consequences of your work from the company’s point of view.
• Growth: Use “growth” to highlight how revenue, bookings, or other indicators went up as a result of your work.
• Forecast: Talk about predictions to illustrate how your results met or exceeded expectations.
• Optimized: This word suggests confidence and effectiveness. It says that you achieved the best possible outcome.

Words that show you’re great at customer service:

• Resolved: Addressing guest complaints is part of any customer service job. Use “resolved” to emphasize that you can reach a positive conclusion in these situations.
• Anticipated: Use “anticipated” to show that you understand what guests will need in advance and that you work proactively.
• Assisted: Customer service is all about helping people, so use “assisted” or related words like “facilitated” or “supported” that connotes helping. These words show that your focus is on what you can do for others.
• Team: Emphasize that you work cooperatively as a member of a group.
• Communicated: Use “communicated”—or, “wrote,” “emailed,” or other words relevant to your previous positions—to highlight the ways you shared information with guests.