Want another word for Served to use on your resume? Our team's compiled the most effective action verbs and synonyms you can use instead of the overused resume phrase, "Served".
In the workplace, it's essential to be able to perform your duties or services—and a good resume shows that you have experience doing just that. By using the word 'served,' you're indicating that you have a track record of successfully fulfilling the role of whatever position you're applying for.
The action verb shows that you can take on a job and carry it out with excellence and that you can handle responsibility. But, using 'served' in your resume is not a good practice. It implies that you were doing something for someone else instead of actively participating in your professional development.
By using synonyms like 'enacted,' 'administered,' or 'steered,' you can avoid this implication and make your resume more powerful and engaging. These words are all positive ways of describing how you served or contributed to the team or organization without being overly wordy or repetitive.
Synonyms allow you to focus on other aspects of your experience and can help keep your resume fresh and interesting while still conveying important information about what you've done at previous jobs and how it relates to the position you're applying for now.
I've compiled some synonyms you can use instead of Served on your resume, followed by real examples I've written for clients (feel free to use them!).
Let's look at examples of how you can remove and replace the overused phrase, Served, with a stronger synonym and alternative that is more effective at highlighting your achievements.
Before: Weak example using Served• Served as a point of contact for issue resolution and consumer advocacy
After: Using a stronger synonym • Championed efforts to improve issue resolution and consumer advocacy, resulting in a 60% reduction in issues and complaints..
• Served as team lead on several key projects
After: Initiated • Initiated and led multiple key projects, consistently completing them under budget and ahead of schedule by an average of 25%
As a hiring manager, I prefer action verbs that show leadership and proactivity. 'Initiated' gives a stronger sense of your precise role and success in these projects. Including quantifiable results further demonstrates clear value and achievement.
Tip: I've prepared a ton of additional examples for you to give you inspiration. Please click on any of the following to expand and see real examples of how I've rewritten client bullet points.
• Served in a marketing team to improve digital presence
After: Revitalized • Revitalized the company's digital presence, increasing website traffic by 35% and elevating lead generation by 20%
To improve this bullet point, I used the action verb 'Revitalized' indicating significant transformation. The addition of specific metrics clarifies the precise achievement and impact of your work.
• Served as a designer for the company website
After: Redesigned • Redesigned the company's website, boosting user engagement by 50% and reducing bounce rate by 30% over a six-month period
The use of 'Redesigned' emphasizes the role in improving the website. Adding quantifiable metrics reinforces the significance of the transformation and the consequent positive impacts.
• Served as the point of contact for operational improvements
After: Implemented • Implemented vital operational improvements, resulting in a 15% reduction in downtime and savings of $300K annually in operational costs
I replaced 'Served' with 'Implemented' to communicate the action taken. Also, the inclusion of numbers quantifies the impact of the improvements on company operations and financial performance.
• Served as a team member in charge of process changes
After: Transformed • Transformed legacy processes, resulting in a 25% increase in team efficiency and saving an average of 10 hours per week
I switched 'Served' with 'Transformed' to convey a sense of significant change. Quantifying the benefits of this transformation further highlights the tangible value you brought to the team.
• Served as a quality assurance personnel
After: Standardized • Standardized quality control procedures, increasing product quality scores by 30% and reducing return rates by 15%
I replaced 'Served' with 'Standardized' to show decisive action taken. The use of specific numbers gives a clear measure of the improvements made and their impact on performance and costs.
We've put together an infographic to give you more examples of how to put this into practice. Note the use of strong action verbs instead of words like Served.
• Led interview campaign with existing customers (300+ person survey, 40+ face-to-face discussions) to formulate requirements of a new product to help couples manage their expenses; outputs directly impacted product roadmap.
• Enabled integration with existing systems by creating tool that extracts metadata from images and provides metadata to a system-wide search database..
• Built complete investment pitch books for 4 deals at advanced stages and liaised with 12 prospective international co-investors.
• Developed web scraping program in Python to help the firm download public data, including over 10,000 company descriptions and stock quotes, enriching internal data and increasing research efficiency by over 50%.
• Prepared a 100 page pitch book summarizing findings and presented analysis to managing directors.
• Selected as a case interviewer for analyst candidates (usually reserved for Senior Consultant+ level).
