Original data · 2,902 full-text S&P 500 job postings
Another Word for "Improved" on a Resume: 12 Stronger Verbs
"Improved" promises a result but rarely delivers one: improved how, and by how much? Recruiters skim past it because nearly every resume uses it. A more specific verb names the type of change (faster, cheaper, larger, more accurate) and pushes you to add the number that proves it.
12 alternatives to "improved", by what you mean
Pick the group that matches what you did, then the word that fits. "Postings" is the share of the 2,902 full-text job descriptions that use the word in any form. Example bullets are illustrative, not taken from real resumes.
| Word | Postings | Example bullet |
|---|---|---|
| You made it faster or more efficientUse for speed, throughput and process gains. | ||
| accelerated | 11.1% | Accelerated invoice processing from 5 days to 2 by automating approvals. |
| optimized | 10.9% | Optimized delivery routes for 14 drivers, saving 300 miles of driving a week. |
| streamlined | 3.2% | Streamlined patient intake forms from 6 pages to 2, cutting wait times 10 minutes. |
| You raised a numberUse for revenue, scores, rates and other metrics that went up. | ||
| boosted | 0.3% | Boosted email open rates from 18% to 29% by testing subject lines weekly. |
| raised | 3.3% | Raised customer satisfaction scores from 4.1 to 4.6 in two quarters. |
| elevated | 4.6% | Elevated first-call resolution to 85% by rewriting the agent knowledge base. |
| You made it better in qualityUse for accuracy, reliability and quality gains. | ||
| refined | 5.8% | Refined the demand forecast model, cutting forecast error from 22% to 12%. |
| strengthened | 4.4% | Strengthened vendor vetting, reducing late shipments 40% year over year. |
| upgraded | 1.1% | Upgraded the office network to Wi-Fi 6, eliminating weekly connectivity tickets. |
| revamped | 0% | Revamped the onboarding deck, lifting new-hire survey scores by a full point. |
| You fixed something brokenUse when the starting point was a problem. | ||
| resolved | 22% | Resolved a recurring billing error affecting 1,200 accounts within one release cycle. |
| overhauled | 0.1% | Overhauled a failing reorder process, ending stockouts on top-50 SKUs. |
For comparison, "improved" itself: 27.6% (800 of 2,902 postings).
Before and after: rewriting "improved" bullets
Three example rewrites. They are illustrative, with made-up numbers, to show the pattern: a specific verb, what you acted on, and the result.
BeforeImproved customer service.
AfterRaised CSAT from 78% to 91% by introducing callback scheduling and a shared macro library.
Says which metric moved and why.
BeforeImproved the reporting process.
AfterAccelerated weekly reporting from 6 hours to 45 minutes with a templated SQL pipeline.
Speed verb plus before-and-after time.
BeforeImproved website performance.
AfterOptimized image loading and caching, cutting page load from 4.2s to 1.6s.
Technical method and measured gain.
Which alternatives each role family uses
"Improved" is most common in HR & people postings (53.6%) and least common in Retail & service postings (23.3%). The right-hand column shows the three alternatives from this page that appear most often in each family's postings. Only families with at least 40 full-text postings are shown.
| Role family | "improved" | Most-used alternatives |
|---|---|---|
| Engineering628 postings | 41.6% | resolved (25.2%), accelerated (18.9%), optimized (18%) |
| Sales368 postings | 23.9% | resolved (43.5%), accelerated (12.8%), elevated (9.8%) |
| Retail & service133 postings | 23.3% | accelerated (23.3%), resolved (22.6%), elevated (8.3%) |
| Operations109 postings | 35.8% | resolved (22%), optimized (14.7%), accelerated (11%) |
| Data & science101 postings | 26.7% | optimized (22.8%), resolved (11.9%), accelerated (7.9%) |
| Finance85 postings | 51.8% | strengthened (18.8%), resolved (9.4%), streamlined (7.1%) |
| Marketing84 postings | 25% | accelerated (17.9%), optimized (14.3%), resolved (8.3%) |
| Product72 postings | 36.1% | resolved (30.6%), accelerated (25%), refined (15.3%) |
| HR & people56 postings | 53.6% | resolved (25%), raised (19.6%), optimized (8.9%) |
How to pick the right word: mirror the posting
Postings often say "continuous improvement" or "improve processes," and in operations or quality roles it can be worth keeping that exact phrase once. In other bullets, choose by the kind of change: accelerated or streamlined for speed, boosted or raised for metrics, refined or strengthened for quality. Reuse the posting's own name for the metric, such as "retention," "throughput" or "NPS."
Applicant tracking systems and recruiters search for the posting's own words, so the safest synonym is the one the job description already uses. Paste the posting into the free resume keyword generator to pull out its verbs and skills, then use the table above to replace the "improved" bullets that the posting does not ask for. For a wider list by category, see our resume action verbs guide; the dataset behind these numbers is described in our S&P 500 ATS study.
Frequently asked questions
- Why is 'improved' considered weak on a resume?
- Because it states a result without proving it. 'Improved efficiency' could mean anything. The fix is usually not just a new verb but a number: what changed, from what, to what. Pairing a specific verb such as accelerated or boosted with a before-and-after figure turns a claim into evidence.
- What if I cannot measure the improvement?
- Use a credible proxy: time saved, fewer complaints, fewer steps, a process now used by other teams, or positive feedback from a named group such as 'adopted by all 4 regional offices'. Even a rough, honest estimate framed as 'about' or 'roughly' is better than no scale at all, as long as you can explain it in an interview.
- How often do job postings use "improved"?
- "Improved" (counting "improve", "improves", "improved" or "improving") appears in 27.6% of the 2,902 full-text S&P 500 job postings we analyzed. It is most common in HR & people postings (53.6%) and least common in Retail & service postings (23.3%), among role families with at least 40 postings.
- Which alternative to "improved" do employers use most?
- Of the 12 alternatives on this page, "resolved" appears in the most postings (22%). For the recommended picks: "accelerated" 11.1%, "boosted" 0.3%, "optimized" 10.9%, "strengthened" 4.4%. A word being common in postings means recruiters will recognize it, but the best choice is still the one that matches the posting in front of you and what you actually did.
Related synonyms
Method. Share of 2,902 full-text job postings from S&P 500 careers sites, collected June 2026 (ATS Resume AI study). A posting counts once if any form of the word appears anywhere in its text (for "improved": improve, improves, improved, improving). Equal-opportunity and legal boilerplate is removed first; where a word's noun sense would swamp the verb (for example "process" or "program"), only verb forms are counted. Role families with fewer than 40 postings are not reported. Data generated: 2026-10-29.