Tools for Writing Position Descriptions:

Action Verb List

Accepts – To receive; to regard as true, proper, normal, inevitable.

Accomplishes – To execute fully; to attain.

Accounts – To give a report on; to furnish a justifying analysis or explanation.

Accumulates – To collect; to gather.

Achieves – To bring a successful conclusion.

Acknowledges – To report the receipt of.

Acquires – To come into possession of.

Acts – To perform a specified function to carry out a purpose; to exert one’s powers in
such a way as to bring about an effect.

Activates – To mobilize; to set into motion.

Adapts – to suit or fit by modification.

Adds – To affix or attach to; to perform mathematical addition of figures.

Adheres – To give support or maintain loyalty; to be consistent; to hold fast or stick; to

bind oneself to observance.

Adjusts – To bring to a more satisfactory state; to bring the parts of something to a true or
more effective position.

Administers – To verify, secure and ensure compliance with policies.

Admits – To permit to enter or to join.

Adopts – To take up and apply or put into practice; to accept, ad a report.

Advances – To bring or move forward to accelerate the growth or progress of; to raise to
a higher rank; to promote; to bring forward for notice, consideration or acceptance; to
make progress; to raise in rate.

Advises – To recommend a course of action (not simply to tell or inform); to offer an

informed opinion based on specialized knowledge.

Advocates – To recommend or speak in favor of.

Affirms – To assert positively; to confirm; to ratify.

Affixes – To secure and object to another; to attach.

Aids – To help or assist; to give help or assistance to.

Aligns – To arrange in a line; to array.

Allots – To assign as a share.

Alters – To make different; to modify.

Amends – To change or modify for the better.

Analyzes – To separate into elements and critically examine to arrive at a conclusion; to

study the factors of a situation or problem in order to determine the solution or outcome.

Answers – To speak or vote in reply.

Anticipates – To foresee events, trends, consequences, or problems and deal with in

advance.

Applies – To put to use for a purpose; to employ diligently or with close attention.

Appoints – To name officially.

Appraises – To give an expert judgment of worth or merit; to evaluate as to quality,

status, or effectiveness.

Appropriates – To take exclusive possession of; to set apart for or assign to a particular
purpose or use; to take without permission

Approves – To accept as satisfactory; to exercise final authority with regard to

commitment of resources; to sanction officially; to ratify (thereby assuming responsibility
for).

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Arranges – To prepare for an event; to put in proper order; to form or fit into a systematic
whole.

Articulates – To pronounce distinctly; to express in coherent verbal form.

Ascertains – To find out or discover through examination; to find out or learn for a
certainty.

Assembles – To collect or gather together in a predetermined order from various sources.

Asserts – To state or declare positively.

Assesses – To determine value of; to evaluate.

Assigns – To specify or designate tasks or duties to be performed by others; legally to

transfer or make over to another.

Assists – To give aid or support.

Assumes – To undertake; to take for granted; to take to or upon oneself.

Assures – To state confidentiality; to make certain of; to confirm.

Attaches – to connect; to bind or affix to; to fasten; to tie.

Attains – To come into possession of; to arrive at.

Attends – To be present for the purpose of making a contribution.

Audits – To examine officially with intent to verify.

Authorizes - -To approve; to empower through vested authority.

Averts – To turn away or aside; to see coming and ward off.

Awards – To confer or bestow.

Balances – To compute the difference between debits and credits of an account; to

reconcile accounts; to arrange or prove so that the sum of one group equals the sum of
another.

Batches – To assemble into a group for one operation.

Budgets – To plan expenditures.

Builds – To construct.
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Calculates – To make a mathematical computation.

Calls – To communicate with by telephone; to summon; to announce.

Cancels – To mark out; to invalidate; to strike out, cross out, revoke.

Capitalizes – To write or print with an initial capital or in capitals; to convert into a

capital; to compute the present value of; to supply capital for.

Carries Out – To put into execution; to bring to a successful issue; to continue to an end
or stopping point.

Certifies – To confirm as accurate or true.

Charts – To draw or plot data (as on a graph); to make a detailed plan.

Checks – To verify; to compare with a source for verification; to examine.

Circulates – To pass from person to person or place to place; to disseminate.

Clarifies – To make easier to understand; to explain.

Classifies – To arrange or organize according to systematic groups, classes or categories.

Closes – To bring to a conclusion; to bar a passage; to shut; to suspend or stop

operations; to end or terminate.

Coaches – To teach or train; to tutor.

Codes – To use symbols or characters (letters or numbers) to represent words or figures.

Collaborates – To work jointly with; to cooperate with others.

Collates – to organize or assemble in a predetermined sequence.

Collects – To gather; to assemble; to accumulate.

Commands – To direct authoritatively; to order or request to be given; to give orders; to

dominate from an elevated

Communicates – To impart a verbal or written message; to transmit information.

Compares – To examine for the purpose of discovering resemblances or differences.

Compiles – to put together information; to collect from other documents.

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Completes – to finish; to fully carry out.

Complies – To act in accordance with rules or requests.

Composes – To make by putting parts together; to create, to write (an original letter,
report, instructions etc.)

Comprehends – to grasp mentally; to understand.

Computes – To determine or calculate mathematically.

Concurs – To agree with a position, statement, action or opinion.

Condenses – To make more compact.

Conducts – To carry on; to direct the execution of.

Confers – To compare views; to consult.

Confirms – To give approval to; to assure the validity of.

Conforms – To bring into harmony or agreement; to adapt oneself to prevailing standards

or customs.

Considers – To think about with care or caution.

Consolidates – To bring together; to combine.

Constructs – To make or form by combining parts; to draw with suitable instruments and
under specified conditions; to arrange or set in order mentally.

Consults – To seek advice of others; to give professional advice or services; to confer.

Contacts – To communicate with.

Continues – To maintain without interruption a condition, course or action; to remain in

existence.

Contracts – To establish or undertake by contract.

Contributes – to supply or give something; to submit for publication.

Controls – To measure, interpret, and evaluate actions for conformance with pans or
desired results; to exercise directly, guiding, or restraining power over.

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Converts – To alter the physical or chemical nature of something, using evidence and/or
argument.

Cooperates – To associate with another or others mutual benefit.

Coordinates – To regulate, adjust, or combine the actions of others to attain harmony; to

bring into common action or condition according to established policies.

Copies – To duplicate an original; to transfer or reproduce information.

Corrects – To make or set right; to alter or adjust to conform to a standard; to rectify.

Correlates – To establish or demonstrate a casual complementary, parallel, or reciprocal

relation.

Corresponds – To communicate with.

Counsels – To give advice or guidance; to consult with.

Creates – To bring into existence; to produce through imaginative skill.

Debugs – To detect, locate, and remove mistakes from a routine of malfunctions from a
computer.

Decides – To arrive at a solution; to bring to a definitive end.

Dedicates – To set apart to a definite use; to become committed to.

Deduces – To derive a conclusion by reasoning (interference in which the conclusion

follows necessarily from the premises); to reach a conclusion by mental deduction.

Delegates – To commission another to perform tasks or duties which may carry specific
degrees of accountability and authority; to entrust to the care or management of another.

Deletes – To strike out or remove.

Delivers – To set free; to convey; to send to an intended destination.

Demonstrates – To illustrate and explain, especially with examples.

Describes – To represent by a figure, model, or picture; to trace the outline of; to give an
account of in words.

Designs – To conceive, create, and execute according to plan.

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Determines – To resolve, to fix conclusively or authoritatively; to decide.

Develops – To disclose, discover, perfect, or unfold a plan or idea.

Devises – To form in the mind by new combinations or applications of ideas or

principles; to invest.

Dictates – To read or speak information to be recorded or written by another.

Directs – To guide work operations through the establishment of objectives, policies,

rules, practices, methods, and standards; to govern or control.

Disassembles – To take apart.

Disciplines – To penalize individuals or groups whose behavior is contrary to established

rules and regulations.

Discusses – To exchange views for the purpose of arriving at a conclusion.

Dispatches – To send off, or forward, to known destination or on a specific business.

Displays – To show; to spread or disperse information or ideas.

Disposes – To sell or get rid of.

Disseminates – To spread or disperse information or ideas.

Distinguishes – To perceive as being separate or different; to separate into kinds, classes,

or categories.

Distributes – to deliver to proper destination; to pass around; to allot.

Diverts – To turn from one course or use to another.

Divides – To separate into classes or parts.

Documents – To provide with factual or substantial support for statements made or a

hypothesis proposed; to equip with exact references to authoritative supporting
references.

Drafts – To prepare papers or documents in a preliminary form.

Draws – To compose or write up, following a set producer or form (as in a contract); to
pull or move something.

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Edits – To revise and prepare material (written, film, tape, soundtrack) for publication or
display.

Effects – To bring about; to accomplish.

Eliminates – To get rid of; to set aside as unimportant.

Emphasizes – To stress.

Employs – To make use of; to use or engage the services of; to provide with a job that
pays wages or a salary.

Encompasses – To form a circle about; to envelope; to include.

Encourages – To inspire with spirit or hope; to give help or patronage to.

Endorses – To support or recommend.

Enforces – To execute vigorously; to exercise executive or police power (refers to laws

and statutes).

Engages – To interlock with; to mesh; to provide occupation for; to arrange to obtain the
use of services of.

Enhances – To increase or make greater.

Enlists – To engage for duty; to secure the support and aid of.

Ensures – To make sure, certain, or safe; to guarantee.

Establishes – To bring into existence; to institute.

Estimates – To forecast future requirements.

Evaluates – To determine or fix the value of; to appraise.

Examines – To inspect closely; to investigate; to scrutinize.

Exchanges – To give or take one thing in return for another.

Excludes – To shut out; to bar from participation, consideration, or inclusion.

Executes – To put into effect; to carry out.

Exercises – To exert influence or authority; to train by drills and maneuvers; to use

repeatedly in order to strengthen and develop.
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Expects – To look forward; to consider probably or certain.

Expedites – To accelerate the process or progress of.

Expresses – To represent in words; to make known one’s feelings or opinions.

Extracts – To draw forth; to withdraw; to separate; to determine by calculation.

Facilitates – TO make easier or less difficult.

Feeds – To move into a machine or opening in order to be used or processed; to furnish

with something essential for growth, sustenance, maintenance, or operation.

Figures – To compute.

Files – To arrange in a methodical manner; to rub smooth or cut away with a tool.

Finalizes – to put in finished form.

Finds – To encounter, to locate or come upon by searching or effort.

Flags – To mark in some distinctive manner.

Follows Up – To pursue closely in order to check progress; to see if results are

satisfactory.

Forecasts – To predict; to estimate in advance.

Formulates – To develop or devise.

Fosters – To promote the growth or development of.

Fulfills – To put into effect; to bring to an end; to measure up to; to develop the full
potentiality of.

Functions – To act or operate as; to serve.

Furnishes – To provide what is needed; to supply.

Gathers – To collect; to harvest; to accumulate and place in order.

Generates – To bring into existence; to cause to be; to produce.

Gives – To grant or bestow; to administer; to make a present of.

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Governs – To exercise continuous sovereign authority over; to control and direct the
making and administration of authority over; to hold in check; to have decisive influence.

Grasps – To make the motion of seizing.

Guarantees – To secure; to answer for the debt, default, or miscarriage of.

Guides – To show or lead the way to; to manage the affairs of; to influence the conduct or
opinions of.

Hires – To engage the services of for a set sum; to employ.

Identifies – To establish the identity of; to associate with some interest.

Implements – To carry out; to execute a plan or program; to give effect to.

Imports – To bring from a foreign or external source.

Improves – To make something better.

Indicates – To show; to demonstrate with precision.

Informs – To communicate information or knowledge; to acquaint.

Initiates – To start; to introduce; to originate.

Innovates – To exercise imagination or creativity in introducing something new or in

making changes that lead to improvement.

Inserts – To put (something) into; between, or among other materials; to introduce, as a

word in a sentence.

Inspects – To examine or determine; to critically analyze for suitability.

Installs – To set in position or adjust use; to settle in a certain place or condition, or

status; to set up for use in office.

Institutes – To organize, establish, and set in operation; to begin.

Instructs – To teach; to coach; to impart or communicate knowledge; to direct or order.

Insures – To cover with insurance; to make certain.

Integrates – To unify; to make whole by putting all parts or elements together.

Interprets – To give the meaning of; to explain to others; to elucidate.

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Interviews – To obtain facts or opinions through inquiry or examination of various
sources.

Invents – To think up or imagine; to create.

Inventories – To catalog or to count and list.

Investigates – To observe or study by close examination and systematic inquiry.

Invests – To spend time or use time, money or effort to achieve a future benefit.

Issues – To put forth or to distribute officially.

Itemizes – To list; to write down in detail.

Judges – To form an authoritative opinion; to determine and pronounce after inquiry and
deliberation.

Justifies – To prove or show to be right or reasonable; to align words such that both left-
and right- hand margins are in line (typing term).

Keeps – To gold or retain; to maintain.

Leads – To guide or direct on a course or in the direction of; to channel; to direct the
operations of.

Learns – To gain knowledge or understanding of.

Lists – To enumerate; to enter into a catalog with a selling price; to itemize.

Loads – To place in or on a means of conveyance; to increase the weight of by adding

something heavy.

Locates – To find, determine, or specify by means of searching, examining, or

experimenting; to seek and find.

Maintains – To continue; to carry on; to keep current or ion an existing state, as records
or files.

Makes – To cause to happen to; to cause to exist, occur, or appear; to create; to bring into
being by forming, shaping, or altering material.

Manages – To direct, control, or make or keep compliant.

Markets – To expose for sale; to sell.

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Matches – To set in competition with; to provide with a worthy competitor; to cause to
correspond.

Measures – To determine length, width, or quantity of.

Mediates – To interpose with parties to reconcile them; to reconcile difference.

Meets – To cope with; to come together from different directions; to provide for.

Mentors – To serve as a mentor or coach for.

Merges – To combine items from two or more similarly ordered sets into one set that is
arranged in the same order.

Mixes – To unite or blend into one group or mass.

Modifies – To make less extreme; to limit or restrict the meaning of; to make minor
changes in.

Monitors – To watch; to observe; to check for a specific purpose.

Motivates – To arouse or stimulate to action.

Moves – To go from one point to another; to begin operating or functioning or working in

a usual way.

Negotiates – To confer with others with a view to reaching an agreement.

Notes – To observe; to recognize.

Notifies – to make known; to inform.

Observes – To see, notice, or watch something or someone.

Obtains – To acquire or gain possession of.

Occupies – To take possession of; to fill.

Omits – To leave out; to disregard.

Opens – To make available for entry or passage; to make accessible; to expose to view; to
disclose.

Opposes – To resist; to withstand; to place opposite or against.

Organizes – To arrange; to systemize or methodize. \

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Orients – To cause to become aware of, familiar with, or adjusted to facts, principles,
procedures, or situations.

Originates – To create; to invent or produce as new.

Outlines – To make a summary of significant features.

Overcomes – TO get the better of; to gain superiority.

Oversees – To watch over and direct; to superintend; to supervise.

Participates – To join or share with others; take part.

Performs – To fulfill or carry out some action; to accomplish; to execute.

Permits – To consent to; to authorize; to make possible.

Persuades – To move by argument or entreaty to a belief, position, or course of action.

Places – To locate and choose positions for.

Plans – To devise or project the realization or achievement of a course of action.

Posts – To record information in ledgers or other forms from another source.

Practices – To perform or work at repeatedly in order to gain proficiency.

Predicts – To declare in advance; to foretell on the basis of observation, experience or

scientific research.

Prepares –To make ready for a particular purpose.

Prescribes – To establish as a rule or guide.

Presents – To introduce; to bestow; to lay as a charge before the court; to offer to view.

Preserves – To keep, guard, or observe; to keep safe, to protect; to keep free from decay;
to maintain.

Prevents – To stop something from occurring; to take advance measures against.

Prices – To fix, establish, or find out the value of.

Proceeds – To begin to carry out an action.

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Processes – To subject to some special treatment; to handle in accordance with a
prescribed procedure.

Procures – To obtain possession of; to bring about.

Produces – To grow; to make, bear, or yield something; to offer to view or notice; to

exhibit.

Programs – To arrange or work out a sequence of operations to be performed; to make a

plan or procedure.

Projects – To extend forward; to present for consideration; to communicate vividly,

especially to an audience.

Promotes – To advance to a higher level or position.

Proofreads – To read (copy or printers proof) against the original manuscript for
correction.

Proposes – To form or declare a plan or intention.

Provides – To supply what is needed; to furnish.

Publicizes – To give information concerning a person, group, event, or product through

various communications media to attract public attention.

Pulls – To haul; to tow; to remove, as in filing.

Purchases – To buy or procure by committing organizational funds.

Quantifies – To make explicit the logical amount of; to determine or expr4ess the amount
of.

Questions – To interrogate; to doubt; to dispute; to inquire.

Rates – To assess the value of; to appraise; to arrange in sequence of rank.

Reads – To interpret; to scan; to study the movements of; to understand the meaning of;
to utter aloud the printed written words of.

Realizes – To understand clearly; to get by sale, investment, or effort.

Reasons – To use the faculty of reason ( the power of comprehending, inferring, or

thinking, especially in orderly rational ways).

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Receives – To acquire; to come into possession of; to take something that is offered or
sent; to admit or welcome guests or visitors.

Recognizes – To perceive clearly; to acknowledge with a show of appreciation.

Recommends – To advise or counsel a course of action; to offer or suggest for adoption.

Reconciles – To adjust; to restore to harmony; to make congruous.

Reconstructs – To rebuild; to reorganize or reestablish; to restore.

Records – To register; to set down in writing.

Recruits – To seek out others to become new members, students, or personnel.

Rectifies – To correct by calculation or adjustment, to remedy; to set right.

Reduces – To narrow down; to diminish in size or amount; to abridge; to lower in grade

or rank.

Refers – To send or direct for aid, treatment, information, or decision; to direct attention;
to make reference to.

Reflects – To think calmly and quietly; to give back as an image, likeness, or outline; to
make apparent.

Regards – To pay attention to; to take into consideration; to relate to.

Registers – To enter in a record; to enroll formally or officially.

Regulates – To govern or direct according to rule; to bring under the control of law; to fix
or adjust the time, amount, or degree of.

Reinforces – To strengthen with additional forces or additions.

Rejects – To refuse to have, use, or take for some purpose; to refuse to hear, receive, or
admit.

Relates – To show or establish logical or causal connection between; to have meaningful

social relationships.

Releases – To set free as in releasing information; to permit the publication or

dissemination of.

Relies – To depend on.

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Remits – To send money in payment of; to submit or refer for consideration, judgment,
decision, or action.

Removes – To change the location, station, or residence of; to dismiss from office.

Renders – To furnish an opinion; to answer.

Represents – To act in the place of or for.

Reports – To give an account of; to furnish information or data.

Requests – To have as a requisite; to call for as suitable or appropriate; to demand as

necessary.

Requisitions – To make a request for, as in records or supplies; to ask in writing for

something that is needed.

Rescinds – To make void; to repeal.

Researches – To inquire specifically, using involved and critical investigations.

Responds – To answer; to show favorable reaction.

Restricts – To confine within bounds; to restrain.

Retrieves – To regain; to rescue.

Reviews – To consider; to reexamine; to analyze results for the purpose of giving an

opinion.

Revises – to rework in order to correct or improve; to make a new, improved, or up-to-

date version.

Routes – To forward; to schedule or dispatch; to prearrange and direct locations to which

an article is to be sent.

Satisfies – To carry out the terms (of a contract); to meet financial obligations; to make
reparation to; to please.

Scans – To examine; to search in order to locate specific date or information; to

scrutinize.

Schedules – To plan a timetable; to set specific times for.

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Screens – To examine in orderly fashion to determine suitability or acceptability (as in
appraising potential employees); to select.

Searches – To examine; to probe; to make a thorough examination or investigation of.

Secures – To gain possession of; to guarantee; to make safe; to obtain.

Seeks – To try to find or discover; to try to obtain or reach; to make a search or

investigation.

Selects – To choose the best suited.

Sells – To give up property to another for money or other valuable consideration.

Sends – To dispatch by means of communication; to convey.

Separates – To set apart.

Serves – To assist; to be of use; to hold office.

Sets Up – To cause a condition to come into effect; to put in operation.

Shows – To display; to give indication; to point out to someone.

Signs – To formally approve or ratify a document by affixing one’s signature.

Simplifies – To clarify; to reduce to basic essentials.

Solicits – To approach with a request or plea; to strongly urge.

Solves – To find a solution for.

Sorts – To separate or arrange according to a scheme; to rank by kind, class,

division, etc.

Speaks – To express oneself using words; to deliver an address or lecture.

Specifies – To state precisely in detail or to name explicitly.

Spends – To use up or pay out.

Stacks – To pile up.

Standardizes – To bring into conformity to something established by authority,

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custom, or general consent as a model or criterion.

Stimulates – To excite to activity; to urge; to rouse or spur on.

Strengthens – To make stronger.

Strives – To endeavor; to devote serious effort or energy.

Structure – To give arrangement or form to; to arrange or organize.

Studies – To contemplate; to carefully examine or investigate; to deliberate.

Submits – To present data for the discretion or judgment of others.

Summarizes – To restate material (facts, figures, etc.) briefly; to make an abstract.

Supervises – To personally oversee, direct, inspect, or guide the work of others with

responsibility for meeting certain standards of performance.

Supplements – To add to.

Supplies – To furnish something that is needed; to provide, to equip.

Supports – To promote the interests or cause of; to argue or vote for; to pay the costs

of; to hold up or serve as a foundation for.

Surveys – To examine as to condition, situation, or value.

Sustains – To give support or relief to; to prolong; to support by adequate proof.

Tabulates – To put in table form; to set up in columns or rows; to make a listing.

Takes – To assume possession of; to grasp; to gain approval of.

Terminates – To bring to an end; to conclude.

Tests – To put to proof; to examine, observe, or evaluate critically.

Totals – To add up; to compute.

Traces – To locate something by searching or researching evidence; to copy, as a

drawing.

Trains – To teach, demonstrate, or guides others in order to bring up to a

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predetermined standard.

Transcribes – To transfer data from one form of record to another or from one method of
preparation to another, without changing the nature of data.

Translates – To turn into one’s own or another language.

Transmits – To transfer or send from one person or place to another; to send out a signal
either by radio waves or over a wire.

Transposes – To change the usual order of.

Treats – To regard and deal with in a specified manner; to provide care for or deal with
medically.

Turns – To make rotate/revolve; to cause to move around so as to affect a desired end (as
locking, opening, and shutting); to reverse the sides or surfaces of.

Types – To write using a typewriter or keyboard; to arrange by categories.

Understands – To grasp the meaning of; to have thorough or technical acquaintance with
or expertness in the practice of.

Updates – To bring current.

Uses – To put into action or service; to consume or take; to act with no regard.

Utilizes – To make use of.

Verifies – To confirm or establish authenticity; to substantiate; to prove to be true.

Visits – To go or come to see in a professional capacity.

Weighs – To ascertain the heaviness of; to consider carefully.

Writes – To set down letters, words, sentences, or figures on paper or other suitable
material; to author; to draft.

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