Resume action verbs and keywords for Canadian jobs

Why do action verbs matter on a resume?

An action verb says what you did, not just what you were in charge of. "Responsible for payroll" describes a job; "Processed payroll for 80 employees with no reported errors" describes a skill and a result. Recruiters read quickly, so the first word of each bullet point has to carry the meaning.

Job Bank recommends that you describe achievements rather than list duties, quantify your results and use verbs such as handled, managed, led, developed and increased (opens in a new tab). It also suggests writing in simple language, since the first reader may be a recruiter or human resources professional who does not know your field.

In Canadian English, bullet points usually start with a past-tense verb ("Coordinated", "Reduced") for previous roles and a present-tense verb ("Coordinate", "Reduce") for your current one. Leave out "I": the resume is about you by definition. Whatever form you choose, keep it consistent throughout the document; consistency signals care before the content is even read.

Which action verbs fit which skill?

Pick the verb that describes your role exactly: did you lead, coordinate or contribute? A verb that is too strong will be contradicted in the interview; one that is too weak undersells you. Group your verbs by skill type, then keep the ones that match the posting’s requirements.

Vary your verbs, but not at the cost of accuracy: "coordinated" three times beats a synonym that distorts what you did. Avoid hollow verbs that tell the reader nothing, such as "performed", "handled various" or "participated in" without saying what your part was.

How do you turn a duty into an achievement?

Use a simple formula: action verb, specific object, then result or scope. The result can be a number, a deadline met, a volume or an observable effect. If you cannot measure anything, describe the scope: for whom, at what scale, and what concretely changed because of your work.

The figures in this table are examples: only include numbers you can explain and, ideally, document. An approximate but honest figure ("about 20 clients") is better than a precise percentage you could not justify in an interview.

What are resume keywords and where do you find them?

Keywords are the terms that name the skills, tools, certifications and job titles an employer is looking for. You find them in the posting itself, especially under "requirements", "responsibilities" and "assets". These are the words both the recruiter and the applicant tracking system look for in your resume.

In many organizations, applications first go through tracking software; our guide to applicant tracking systems (ATS) explains what it reads. To identify a posting’s keywords:

1. Highlight the skills and tools it names, noting those that appear more than once.
2. Note the exact job title: if it matches your role, reuse it in your profile.
3. Separate requirements from assets: requirements belong on your resume if you have them; assets, if you can illustrate them.
4. Note the industry vocabulary: the same tool can go by several names, and the posting tells you which one to use.

To go beyond a single posting, build your occupation’s keyword bank from official sources: our guide to occupation keywords includes a ready-to-fill template.

How do you reuse the posting’s words honestly?

Reuse a keyword only if it describes a skill you have actually used, and place it in a sentence that proves it. Write the term exactly as the posting does rather than a synonym. Never add a skill you do not have: interviews and reference checks will test it.

The line between tailoring and cheating is simple. Tailoring means naming your real experience in the employer’s words; cheating means claiming experience you do not have. If the posting mentions "stakeholder management" and you coordinated suppliers and internal clients, the term is yours. If it requires software you have never used, leave it out.

A few practices to avoid:

• Hidden keyword lists or white text: they show up in plain-text extraction and damage your credibility.
• Mechanical repetition: one mention in a concrete sentence beats five in a list.
• Copying and pasting the posting: recruiters recognize their own sentences.
• Additions from an AI tool: a skill or number suggested by the tool must be checked like everything else; our guide to using AI for your resume includes a checklist.

To apply this method to each application without rewriting everything, see how to tailor your resume to each posting.

Where should keywords go on the resume?

Put them where they are proven: in the profile for the two or three core skills of the role, in your experience bullets to show how you used them, and in the skills section for tools and certifications. A keyword sitting alone in a list, with no example, is not very convincing.

The profile is the most-read part of the page: it should reuse the target job title and the skills the posting emphasizes. Your experience bullets carry the proof. The skills section works as a quick index, useful to both the recruiter and the tracking system. Keep standard section headings so this structure is recognized. For the full layout, see our annotated resume template.

How can Postulio help?

Postulio’s job posting analysis pulls out the skills, requirements and keywords of a posting and compares them with your profile. CV Studio calculates an ATS score using fixed, reproducible rules, including a dimension for the posting’s keywords, and its reading simulation shows which of the posting’s terms are missing from your resume. You decide, term by term, whether your experience supports it. You review and send every application yourself; the score is a readability indicator, not a guarantee of selection.

Sources

• Job Bank, How to write a good resume (opens in a new tab) — action verbs, achievements over duties, quantified results, simple language, tailoring to the job description.
• Guichet-Emplois, Comment rédiger un bon CV (opens in a new tab) — French version, including reusing the posting’s terms (page in French).
• Office québécois de la langue française, resume writing tips (opens in a new tab) — clear, concise style and how to word experience in Quebec French (page in French).