96 Adjectives For Your Resume to Increase its Quality

Professionals use adjectives on their resumes to describe their skills, experience and interests. Adjectives can help professionals clarify their employment history and add personality to their application. If you're applying for jobs, it's beneficial to understand how to use adjectives in your application materials. In this article, we explain why you might use adjectives for your resume and share a list of 96 words you may use to describe certain professional skills, with tips for how to use them on your resume.

Why use adjectives for your resume?

You can use adjectives for your resume to highlight your key qualifications, skills and experience. Using effective adjectives can enhance your CV in a variety of ways, including the following:

Allows for better communication

Adjectives allow to you be more specific in your communication. They can help you use stronger language for your resume, which may make it more influential. Using adjectives also allows you to be more intentional about how you describe your previous duties. This way you can depict your skills and experience more accurately.

Helps you be creative

Using adjectives can help you express your creativity when writing a resume. While it's important to use words appropriately for your industry, the adjectives you use on your resume can differentiate you from other candidates. It can also allow you to express your professional personality with more accuracy.

Read more: What Is Creativity? (With Definition, Examples and Tips)

Keeps hiring managers engaged

Adjectives make your resume appear more unique. This can help the professional who views your resume become more engaged in your work, which can help influence their hiring decision. Using effective adjectives can allow you to make a better impression on hiring managers, allowing your resume to be more memorable than others.

96 adjectives for your resume

You can use adjectives in your resume to make its language more meaningful and allude to important industry skills. Here's a list of adjectives you can use to describe important skills:

8 adjectives for creativity

Displaying your creativity on your resume is helpful in distinguishing you from other candidates. This can be especially important if you're applying for a position in a creative industry, such as art, publishing or marketing. Consider these adjectives below when describing your skills and previous job duties:

• unique

• progressive

• innovative

• productive

• expressive

• prolific

• unconventional

• clever

8 adjectives for problem-solving

Problem-solving skills are very important to many industries, as they can help professionals become more flexible in their work. Problem-solving skills can also help improve daily operations, as they help you find quality solutions quickly. To describe your problem-solving skills, consider using the following adjectives:

• perceptive

• collaborative

• insightful

• systematic

• analytical

• investigative

• flexible

• innovative

Related: Problem-Solving Skills: Definition, How To Learn and Example

8 adjectives for efficacy

Efficacy describes your ability to complete work according to set standards and deadlines. Being efficient in completing job duties is important in any industry and mentioning your effectiveness in a role can help persuade an employer of the value you bring to an organisation. Here are adjectives to describe efficacy:

• fluent

• influential

• advanced

• significant

• profitable

• successful

• skilled

• cost-effective

8 adjectives for positive attitude

Employers may seek to hire job candidates with a positive attitude because this may affect the work environment. Positivity can also help you become more productive. In industries such as sales, health care and food service where you may interact regularly with guests and consumers, a positive attitude may be invaluable to employers. Here are eight adjectives to describe your positivity:

• optimistic

• cheerful

• supportive

• friendly

• hopeful

• enthusiastic

• amicable

• positive

8 adjectives for work ethic

Having a strong work ethic means you can accept additional responsibilities, meet deadlines and produce high-quality work. Work ethic is important for manual labour and corporate careers. You can demonstrate your strong work ethic by describing yourself with these adjectives:

• attentive

• persistent

• responsible

• hard-working

• dedicated

• productive

• thorough

• focused

8 adjectives for organisation

Organisation is a skill that involves timeliness, cleanliness and preparedness. When you're organised, you may be more productive and successful in your role. There are careers, such as an administrative assistant, nurse or engineer, in which being organised is essential. Consider these eight adjectives when describing your skills or job duties from previous roles:

• detail-oriented

• strategic

• methodical

• precise

• accurate

• structured

• thorough

• orderly

8 adjectives for discipline

Having discipline means that others can rely on you. It's useful to ensure that you use effective adjectives when mentioning your discipline, because this is an important quality to employers. It's applicable to all industries and can indicate you can perform well in the role. Here are eight adjectives you can use to describe your discipline skills on a CV:

• reliable

• consistent

• honest

• diligent

• accurate

• professional

• punctual

• loyal

8 adjectives for communication

Communication skills, such as listening and sharing ideas, are essential in the workplace. It's helpful to highlight your communication abilities on your resume with adjectives that engage the employer with your job application. Using the right adjectives can also make these skills more memorable. Here are eight adjectives to use when mentioning your communication skills:

• attentive

• persuasive

• flexible

• diplomatic

• positive

• informative

• exact

• respectful

Related: What Is Communication? (And its Importance in the Workplace)

8 adjectives for teamwork

Teamwork is your ability to work well with other people. For careers where you may often work in teams or closely with your coworkers, it's a good idea to share that you have teamwork skills on your resume. You can also highlight your ability to work with a team by sharing specific job duties that involve teamwork, such as completing projects or helping to treat a patient. Here are positive adjectives that show you have teamwork skills and may help highlight these abilities on your resume:

• collaborative

• supportive

• communicative

• personable

• positive

• constructive

• cooperative

• empathetic

8 adjectives for leadership

Leadership is a skill that many employers seek in job candidates because it's an ability that enables you to be independent, reliable and provide support to other professionals. Effective leaders in the workplace help ensure that the company can meet its goals and leaders also contribute to the talent of the company by helping train employees. You may describe your past job duties involving leadership abilities or list leadership as a skill on your resume. Here are eight excellent adjectives you may use to describe leadership skills:

• adaptable

• effective

• pro-active

• strategic

• creative

• independent

• accountable

• influential

8 adjectives for flexibility

Flexibility means you can adapt to your work environment and make proper accommodations for coworkers and tasks. Flexibility can help you become a great leader and team member. Many hiring managers may look for this skill on your resume, so it's helpful to highlight this ability. Consider these eight adjectives to describe flexibility:

• adaptable

• resourceful

• versatile

• accommodating

• understanding

• responsive

• fluid

• dependable

8 adjectives for efficiency

Efficiency is the ability to be productive and complete tasks on time. Efficient professionals help companies accomplish and exceed goals. You may use one of these eight adjectives to describe how efficient you are on your resume:

• quick

• productive

• proficient

• competent

• profitable

• useful

• successful

• impactful

Tips for using adjectives for your resume

When writing your resume, consider these tips to help you include adjectives:

Consider the employer's needs

When choosing adjectives, consider what the employer highlights in the original job posting. This can help you discover which qualities they want most in a candidate. Then, you can use an adjective that reflects this skill or competency. For example, if an employer highlights time management skills in the job posting, you might write that you kept an organised schedule in one of your previous positions.

Use an appropriate number of adjectives

It's important to consider the number of adjectives you use. Including too many in your resume may lessen its effect. You might also want to ensure that you don't reuse the same adjective multiple times in your resume. Research different adjectives to find the right ones for your intentions, as this can help you use more meaningful and impactful language.

Related: 212 Resume Action Verbs (With Tips and Examples)

Express your personality

The adjectives you choose can also help express your professional personality. For example, if you have patient care experience, you might write practised empathetic and active listening to understand patient concerns to show your passion for your patients. When writing adjectives to describe your previous job duties, it's important to consider what the skill may demonstrate along with how you handled the task. This allows you to include accurate, effective and expressive adjectives in your resume.