Skills and Action Verbs for a Resume: 200+ Examples by Category
200+ resume skills and action verbs by category, what UK employers report they are short of (DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024, WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025), how to list skills and languages on a CV, and one bullet rewritten from weak to strong.
You have the job advert in one window and your CV in the other, and the skills section is either empty or full of words like "communication" and "hardworking". This page covers what goes in that section and how to lay it out, with lists by category, and then the verbs that turn those skills into evidence in your experience bullets.
What employers say they are short of
Two large surveys are worth knowing about, less for the words to copy than for what they suggest you need to prove.
The Department for Education's Employer Skills Survey 2024 interviewed 22,712 employers across the UK. Just over a quarter (27%) of vacancies were what the survey calls skill-shortage vacancies. The full UK report breaks down what applicants for those vacancies lacked:
- Specialist skills or knowledge: a factor in 66% of skill-shortage vacancies
- Managing their own time and prioritising tasks: 48%
- Solving complex problems: 45%, up from 36% in 2022
- Knowledge of the organisation's products and services: 45%
- Customer handling: 36%; team working: 35%
- Advanced or specialist IT skills: 25%, up from 17% in 2022
Overall, 87% of skill-shortage vacancies were caused at least in part by a lack of technical and practical skills, and 69% by a lack of people and personal skills.
The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 takes a global view, from a survey of over 1,000 employers representing more than 14 million workers in 55 economies. Analytical thinking was the top core skill, "with seven out of 10 companies considering it as essential", followed by resilience, flexibility and agility, and then leadership and social influence. AI and big data top its list of fastest-growing skills, followed by networks and cybersecurity and technological literacy. The AI skills guide covers how to show those honestly.
What I take from both: the skills employers find hardest to hire are the ones a single word in a list cannot prove. Nobody believes "problem solving" or "time management" because it appears in a skills section. They believe a bullet in which you solved something, with a date and a result. So use the skills section for things that can be named, such as tools, methods, qualifications and languages, and put everything else into your experience.
How to list skills on a CV
Give skills their own short section, grouped under category labels, with the most relevant category first. I would keep it to 8 to 15 items that match the job. Use the advert's exact wording where it is true of you: if it says "Power BI", write "Power BI", not "data visualisation tools". Leave out anything you could not talk about for five minutes. As Prospects puts it, "Don't exaggerate your abilities, as you'll need to back up your claims at interview."
Skills Data and analytics: SQL, Python (pandas), Power BI, Google Analytics 4 Project management: Agile (Scrum), Jira, stakeholder management Qualifications: PRINCE2 Foundation Languages: English (native), German (B2), French (B1)
Then name the same skills again inside your experience bullets, where they come with context. A skill that appears only in the list is a claim; one that appears in a bullet about a project is evidence. The ATS keywords guide covers which terms to pull from an advert, certifications on a resume covers qualifications, and the guide to writing a resume shows a complete CV with the skills section in place.
Hard skills by category
These are starting points to compare against an advert, not a menu to copy from.
Data and analytics
- Microsoft Excel (PivotTables, XLOOKUP, Power Query)
- Google Sheets
- SQL (MySQL, PostgreSQL, BigQuery)
- Python (pandas, NumPy, Matplotlib)
- R
- Tableau, Power BI, Looker Studio
- Google Analytics 4
- A/B testing
- Statistical analysis
- Data visualisation
Software engineering
- Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, C#, Go, Kotlin, Swift
- React, Vue.js, Angular, Next.js
- Node.js, Django, Spring Boot, Ruby on Rails
- REST API design, GraphQL
- Git (GitHub, GitLab)
- Docker, Kubernetes
- AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure
- CI/CD (GitHub Actions, Jenkins)
- PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis
- Test-driven development (TDD)
Design and creative
- Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects
- Figma
- UI/UX design
- Wireframing and prototyping
- Brand identity design
- Typography and layout
- Video editing and motion graphics
Marketing and digital
- Search engine optimisation (SEO): technical, on-page, link building
- Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads
- Email marketing (Mailchimp, Klaviyo)
- CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive)
- Content marketing and copywriting
- Social media management
- Conversion rate optimisation (CRO)
- Marketing automation
- Google Tag Manager
- Campaign management
Finance and accounting
- Financial modelling (DCF, three-statement)
- Budgeting and forecasting
- Variance analysis
- Management accounts
- SAP, Oracle NetSuite, Xero, QuickBooks, Sage
- IFRS and UK GAAP
- Accounts payable and receivable
- Payroll
- Due diligence
- FP&A
Project management
- Project planning and scheduling
- Risk management
- Stakeholder management
- Agile, Scrum, Kanban
- PRINCE2, PMP
- Jira, Asana, Monday.com, Trello
- Microsoft Project
- Budget management and resource allocation
- Change management
Operations and logistics
- Supply chain management
- Inventory and warehouse management
- Process improvement
- Lean, Six Sigma
- Procurement and vendor management
- ERP systems
- Quality assurance (QA)
- Health and safety compliance
Sales and business development
- B2B and B2C sales
- Account management
- Lead generation and cold outreach
- Contract negotiation
- Pipeline management
- Upselling and cross-selling
- Tender and proposal writing
- Revenue forecasting
Human resources
- Recruitment and onboarding
- Performance management
- Employee relations
- Learning and development (L&D)
- HRIS (Workday, BambooHR, SAP SuccessFactors)
- UK employment law
- Compensation and benefits
- Organisational design
Soft skills: show them, do not list them
Prospects advises avoiding "generic, over-used phrases such as 'team player', 'hardworking' and 'multitasker'" and giving real-life examples instead. The table shows where each common soft skill tends to show up in a bullet.
| Soft skill | How it appears in an experience bullet |
|---|---|
| Leadership | "Managed a team of [N]", "led the project", "mentored two junior analysts" |
| Communication | "Presented to", "wrote", "trained", "ran workshops for" |
| Problem-solving | "Traced the cause of", "diagnosed", "reduced X from Y to Z by" |
| Time management and prioritisation | "Ran [N] projects at once", "met every month-end deadline across [N] entities" |
| Customer handling | "Resolved escalated complaints", "kept [account] through a contract renewal" |
| Adaptability | "Led the move from X to Y", "took over [duty] at short notice" |
Language skills
Give each language other than your first a level from the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), which runs from A1 to C2. Europass publishes a self-assessment grid for listening, reading, speaking and writing, so you can check yourself against the descriptions rather than guess. The Swiss CV guide covers how languages are shown on applications there.
| Level | Europass grid, spoken interaction (opening line) | How to list it |
|---|---|---|
| A2 | "I can communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar topics and activities." | German (A2) |
| B1 | "I can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken." | French (B1) |
| B2 | "I can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible." | Spanish (B2) |
| C1 | "I can express myself fluently and spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions." | Italian (C1) |
| C2 | "I can take part effortlessly in any conversation or discussion and have a good familiarity with idiomatic expressions and colloquialisms." | Polish (C2) |
Write your first language as "native", not C2. C2 describes a very high level of a language you have learned; calling it native invites a conversation you may not want to have in the interview.
Action verbs: where skills become evidence
Prospects recommends active verbs "such as 'created', 'analysed' and 'devised'". The verb matters because it states what you did rather than what your job was. A bullet that works has three parts: the verb, what you did, and what came of it.
Worked example: one bullet, from weak to strong
This is an invented example. A customer service team leader is applying for an operations role whose advert asks for "process improvement" and "data analysis". Their current CV says:
Start
"Responsible for handling customer complaints."
Step 1: replace the duty with an action
"Handled customer complaints for a team of eight."
Step 2: say what you did that someone else in the job might not have
"Analysed three months of complaint logs and traced most late-refund complaints to a manual approval step."
Step 3: add what changed, in terms the advert uses
"Analysed three months of complaint logs, traced late refunds to a manual approval step, and redesigned the process with the finance team, cutting average refund time from 11 days to 4."
Why the last version works: it opens with an analysis verb and includes a process verb, so the advert's two requirements appear as things done rather than labels. The result is a count of days, which the applicant can explain and an interviewer can ask about. And every part of it is something they could talk through for ten minutes.
If you do not have a number, use scale instead: team size, volume, frequency, or who used what you built. Never invent a figure. Then do the same for the next bullet, and change the verb, so the section does not read as a column of "Managed". Tailoring your CV to a job description covers matching bullets to each advert, and the same approach works for your professional summary.
Phrases to delete first
- "Responsible for..." says you held a job, not what you did in it
- "Helped with..." and "Assisted in..." hide your part. If it was you, say so; if you supported someone, say what you contributed
- "Worked on..." and "Was involved in..." say nothing about how
- "Duties included..." is job-advert language, not a record of what you achieved
Action verbs by category
Pick the verb that matches the work, not the one that sounds biggest. Each verb appears once, under the kind of work it fits best.
Leadership and management
When you directed people, projects or decisions.
Directed, Led, Managed, Oversaw, Supervised, Headed, Spearheaded, Championed, Steered, Guided, Mentored, Coached, Recruited, Hired, Delegated, Prioritised, Aligned, Unified, Mobilised, Orchestrated, Chaired, Cultivated, Empowered, Motivated
Achievement and results
When the outcome is the point.
Achieved, Delivered, Exceeded, Surpassed, Grew, Increased, Boosted, Expanded, Accelerated, Doubled, Tripled, Generated, Won, Earned, Recovered, Saved, Reduced, Cut, Eliminated, Improved, Maximised, Attained, Captured, Outperformed, Reached, Yielded
Analysis and research
When your contribution was understanding something.
Analysed, Assessed, Evaluated, Investigated, Researched, Identified, Diagnosed, Mapped, Modelled, Measured, Monitored, Reviewed, Synthesised, Interpreted, Benchmarked, Quantified, Scoped, Calculated, Compiled, Estimated, Examined, Explored, Surveyed
Communication and influence
For work done through other people or in writing.
Presented, Pitched, Persuaded, Advised, Consulted, Briefed, Published, Authored, Wrote, Edited, Liaised, Represented, Advocated, Mediated, Collaborated, Partnered, Influenced, Counselled, Documented, Drafted, Proposed, Reported
Technical and building
For engineering, infrastructure and anything you shipped.
Built, Developed, Architected, Engineered, Launched, Deployed, Implemented, Integrated, Migrated, Automated, Programmed, Coded, Configured, Installed, Maintained, Upgraded, Refactored, Troubleshot, Debugged, Scaled, Customised, Enhanced, Modernised, Rebuilt, Released, Tested
Process and operations
For work that made something repeatable or faster.
Standardised, Systematised, Established, Introduced, Consolidated, Centralised, Simplified, Streamlined, Optimised, Defined, Formalised, Enforced, Administered, Processed, Executed, Operated, Coordinated, Expedited, Organised, Planned, Procured, Scheduled, Strengthened, Structured, Tracked
Sales and business development
For revenue-facing work.
Sold, Closed, Converted, Acquired, Retained, Upsold, Cross-sold, Prospected, Sourced, Renewed, Landed, Negotiated, Qualified, Secured, Signed
Creative and design
For design, brand and content work.
Designed, Created, Produced, Crafted, Conceptualised, Illustrated, Art-directed, Storyboarded, Curated, Branded, Rebranded, Refreshed, Prototyped, Iterated, User-tested, Shipped, Refined, Visualised
Customer service and support
For support, hospitality and client-facing roles.
Resolved, Assisted, De-escalated, Addressed, Answered, Engaged, Handled, Informed, Nurtured, Responded, Solved, Supported
Finance and accounting
For finance, accounting, budgeting and FP&A roles.
Reconciled, Forecasted, Projected, Audited, Allocated, Approved, Balanced, Budgeted, Controlled, Filed, Prepared
Data and analytics
For data, business intelligence and research roles.
Aggregated, Cleansed, Correlated, Extracted, Mined, Queried, Segmented, Predicted, Validated, Transformed
Teaching and training
For education, learning and development, and bringing new people up to speed.
Trained, Instructed, Taught, Facilitated, Educated, Onboarded
Sources
- Department for Education: Employer Skills Survey 2024 (release, published 24 July 2025)
- Department for Education: Employer Skills Survey 2024, full UK research report (PDF)
- World Economic Forum: Future of Jobs Report 2025 (PDF)
- Prospects: How to write a CV
- Europass: Common European Framework of Reference for Language skills (self-assessment grid)
Frequently Asked Questions
What skills should I put on my CV?
The skills the job advert asks for that you genuinely have, in the advert's wording. Put tools, technologies, qualifications and specialist knowledge in the skills section, and show people skills through your experience bullets. Leave out anything you could not discuss in detail at interview.
What skills are employers looking for in 2026?
In the Department for Education's Employer Skills Survey 2024, the skill most often lacking among applicants for hard-to-fill UK vacancies was specialist skills or knowledge (66% of skill-shortage vacancies), followed by managing their own time and prioritising tasks (48%) and solving complex problems (45%). Globally, the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 found analytical thinking was the top core skill, with seven out of 10 companies considering it essential, and named AI and big data as the fastest-growing skills.
How many skills should I list on a CV?
I would keep the skills section to roughly 8 to 15 items that match the job. A long list makes the relevant ones harder to find and invites interview questions about skills you barely use. Everything else you can do belongs in your experience bullets, where it comes with evidence.
Where should the skills section go on a CV?
For technical roles, straight after the profile, so a recruiter can confirm the tools at a glance. For most other roles, after work experience, because the experience is the stronger evidence. Either way, the profile at the top should already mention the two or three skills the advert cares about most.
Should I include soft skills on my CV?
Show them rather than list them. Prospects advises avoiding over-used phrases such as 'team player', 'hardworking' and 'multitasker' and giving real-life examples instead. 'Trained 12 new starters and wrote the guide the team still uses' shows communication in a way the word never can.
What are the best action verbs for a CV?
The plain verb that describes what you actually did: built, analysed, reduced, negotiated, trained, redesigned. Prospects suggests active verbs such as 'created', 'analysed' and 'devised'. Pick the verb that matches the work rather than the most impressive-sounding one, and do not start every bullet with the same word.
What should I write instead of 'responsible for' on a CV?
Start with the verb for what you did and follow it with the result: 'Managed a £5 million budget across three departments' rather than 'Responsible for budget management'. The same goes for 'helped with', 'assisted in', 'worked on' and 'duties included', which all hide your contribution.
How do I list language skills on a CV?
Write your first language as native and give other languages a CEFR level from A1 to C2, for example 'German (B2)'. Europass publishes a self-assessment grid describing each level. Do not describe a learned language as native: C2 is the highest level of proficiency, not the same thing as a first language.
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