Want another word for Help 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, "Help".
When a recruiter sees the word 'help' in your resume, it indicates that you are willing to take on more responsibility and make yourself useful. Hiring managers know that someone who can help them out is going to be an incredible asset to their team. It shows that you are willing to go above and beyond for others in the workplace.
Still, the word help is not specific enough. When you write your resume, you want it to be as descriptive and detailed as possible. The purpose of your resume is to convince hiring managers that you are the best person for the job, so you need to make sure that it speaks directly to their needs and interests.
If you want to describe what kind of work experience you have, try using other action verbs like 'refined,' 'perfected,' and 'rectified.' This will make your resume more descriptive and engaging.
Improving your resume by using descriptive action verbs in place of generic ones can help showcase your achievements more effectively, making it easier for hiring managers to see how your experience will benefit the company.
I've compiled some synonyms you can use instead of Help 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, Help, with a stronger synonym and alternative that is more effective at highlighting your achievements.
Before: Weak example using Help• Help to reduce manufacturing costs by advising on strategy changes like eliminating packaging
After: Using a stronger synonym • Proposed and implemented major strategy change to eliminate packaging, passing savings to our producers and customers and saving 55% on manufacturing costs.
• Helped improve company's website
After: Enhanced • Enhanced the company’s website by conducting in-depth user experience analyses, optimizing page load time by 47% and boosting the overall user engagement by 75%.
This change adds critical specificity to your accomplishments. 'Helped' gets replaced with 'Enhanced', directly stating the action you performed. 'conducted in-depth user experience analyses' shows your method, and quantitative results hammer home the impact.
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.
• Helped launch a new product line
After: Implemented • Implemented the launch of a key new product line, driving a sales increase of 30% within a quarter of its release.
As a recruiter, it's great to replace vague 'help' with 'Implemented', suggesting your role in the accomplishment. Including precise details such as the time frame and measurable increase in sales gives a clear scope of achievement.
• Helped with customer complaints
After: Resolved • Resolved customer complaints by implementing a new system, reducing repeat issues by 40% and increasing customer satisfaction by 20%.
Although 'Helped with' is not incorrect, it lacks precision and fails to provide a picture of your active role. 'Resolved' tackles the problem head-on. You should include a problem, a solution, and a measurable result for maximum impact.
• Helped to grow affiliate program
After: Increased • Increased the affiliate program participants by 50% within six months by revitalizing outreach methodologies, resulting in a 25% boost to overall revenue.
Replacing 'helped' with 'increased' provides a concrete metric of success. It states a very impressive achievement directly attributable to you, lending more weight to your contribution.
• Helped improve the company newsletter
After: Revamped • Revamped the company newsletter by overseeing a complete redesign, which led to a 70% increase in Click-Through Rates.
'Helped improve' is a vague phrase that doesn't indicate action. Changing it to 'Revamped' not only conveys initiative but also leaves no ambiguity about the primary responsibility. I then added a metric to indicate the scale of improvement.
• Help to organize annual conference
After: Spearheaded • Spearheaded the organization of the annual conference, attracting a record 2,000 attendees and securing sponsorship deals worth $150,000.
Instead of the vague 'help', this edit shows you took initiative with 'Spearheaded'. Providing numbers like attendee counts and dollar figures immediately demonstrate the scale of your accomplishment.
• Help to update project management processes
After: Transformed • Transformed project management processes, reducing project duration by 25% and saving an estimated 100 hours per project.
With 'Transformed', we're replacing the vague 'help' and showing you were instrumental to change. Your specific contributions are then backed with solid metrics, providing a clearer picture of your impact.
• Help in the preparation of the annual budget
After: Led • Led in the preparation of the $2 million annual budget, identifying and implementing cost-saving measures that saved the company 15% in operational expenses.
I used 'Led' in replacement of 'help' to emphasize your role in the accomplishment. It’s important to quantify results—it immediately shows the impact of your work.
• Help improve sales team training
After: Overhauled • Overhauled the sales team training process, increasing sales productivity by 35% and decreasing new-hire ramp-up time by 30%.
As a hiring manager, 'Overhauled' replaces the vague 'help', signifying a larger role. By including the increase in productivity and decrease in ramp-up time, we see the scale of your achievement.
• Help streamline operational procedures
After: Optimized • Optimized operational processes, resulting in a 15% decrease in operation cost and a 30% increase in operational efficiency within two quarters.
By changing 'help' to 'Optimized', your principal role is emphasized, and the multiple metrics used convey the significance of the improvements you ushered in.
• Help to renew customer loyalty program
After: Invigorated • Invigorated the customer loyalty program by introducing targeted reward schemes, leading to a 60% increase in active members and a 25% surge in overall sales.
This edit takes away the bland 'help' and replaces it with a dynamic 'Invigorated'. It now highlights the cause and effect of your efforts by emphasizing the actions and the subsequent positive results.
• Help to upgrade the customer service department
After: Elevated • Elevated the customer service department by introducing an enhanced ticketing system that reduced response times by 40%, boosting customer satisfaction by 30%.
The term 'elevated' portrays your proactive involvement better than the passive 'help'. Detailing out the action you took and backing it up with metrics paints a vivid picture of the results you delivered.
• Help in driving product sales
After: Boosted • Boosted product sales by 45% over a year by pioneering and executing aggressive sales strategies in combination with robust marketing efforts.
'Boosted' replaces the vague 'help' and clearly states the improvements made. Further, describing how it was achieved provides more insight into your skills and experiences.
• Help to arrange charity fundraising events
After: Organized • Organized charity fundraising events that increased annual donations by a record 200%, reaching a total of $500k in a single year.
The before statement gives no clear understanding of your contributions. 'Organized' replaces 'Help' to imply leading role in operations, and specific details provide a tangible sense of your accomplishments.
• Help speed up customer onboarding process
After: Expedited • Expedited the customer onboarding process, reducing the average time spent by 55%, resulting in a 75% increase in signups.
'Expedited' is a power verb that shows how you brought about efficient change in the onboarding process. Including metrics provides a concrete measure of your success.
• Help bring changes to the production process
After: Revolutionized • Revolutionized the production process by integrating Lean methodologies, resulting in a 30% reduction in waste and boosting production efficiency by 40%.
I replaced 'help' with 'revolutionized' to indicate your instrumental role in the accomplishment. The use of specific methodologies and metrics brings weightage to your contribution.
• Help to improve logistics operations
After: Streamlined • Streamlined logistics operations through the application of advanced analytics, reducing freight costs by 25% while maintaining delivery timeframes.
'Streamlined' indicates a higher level of participation than 'help'. It’s crucial to specify the changes that were made and associate them with real, quantifiable benefits.
• Help in developing a new marketing channel
After: Pioneered • Pioneered a new marketing channel, driving an additional $200k in annual sales and expanding the company's user base by 15%.
Changing 'help' to 'pioneered' makes your action sound innovative and proactive. Quantifying the result with a dollar figure and increased user base provides an immediate understanding of your initiative's impact.
• Help to meet sales targets
After: Achieved • Achieved 120% of annual sales targets, leading to a $200k increase in revenue by successfully upselling to existing clients.
The word 'Achieved' holds more weight than 'help' and showcases your ultimate accomplishment. It’s always beneficial to include how you managed to achieve these goals.
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 Help.
• Assessed the product portfolio and created a brand turnaround strategy for a global fashion company; conducted qualitative interviews with industry experts and quantitative analysis to determine barriers to purchasing and distribution.
• Formulated implementation plans for transactions in collaboration with senior members of trading, sales, compliance and legal teams; generated annual profits of $10+ million.
• Analyzed 50+ companies to identify potential investments, built valuation models, and visited 90+ members of senior management in Germany, Nigeria, Indonesia and Singapore to evaluate companies' growth outlook.
• Developed strategies to trade and manage risk on the trading book comprising 30+ indices; 2016 P&L: $8M.
• 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.
• Launched an e-commerce website which sold t-shirts themed on the 2016 Presidential Election; successfully processed 800+ online transactions from 600+ unique users.
