Résumé words · Analysis and research
Another word for “Compared”
What it is trying to claim: That you put options side by side to inform a choice.
Why it underperforms
It describes the most mechanical part of the work and skips the two parts that mattered: what the criteria were and which one you picked. Comparison without a recommendation reads as producing a table for somebody else to decide from, which is a smaller claim than most people intend. It is also close enough to evaluated and assessed that using all three in one document looks like variety for its own sake.
Stronger than "Compared"
Not ranked. Each is right for one situation, and the situation is the column that matters.
| Word | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Benchmarked | Against an external or historical standard. |
| Evaluated | Against defined criteria, with a view. |
| Selected | You made the call. This is the stronger claim. |
| Recommended | You proposed and somebody else approved. |
| Modeled | The comparison was quantitative and projected forward. |
A real bullet, fixed
Before
Compared several vendors for the new logistics contract.
After
Benchmarked 4 carriers on cost, on-time rate and claims handling, and recommended the one that was 8% dearer but ran 14 points better on delivery.
Recommending the more expensive option, with the reason, is far more persuasive than recommending the cheapest.
When “Compared” is the right word
Where the comparison itself was the deliverable and the decision was explicitly not yours, which is common in research and procurement support roles.
Common questions
- What can I say instead of "Compared" on a résumé?
- Benchmarked, Evaluated, Selected, Recommended. Pick the one that matches what you actually did, then follow it with a number. Recommending the more expensive option, with the reason, is far more persuasive than recommending the cheapest.
- Is "Compared" bad on a résumé?
- It describes the most mechanical part of the work and skips the two parts that mattered: what the criteria were and which one you picked. Comparison without a recommendation reads as producing a table for somebody else to decide from, which is a smaller claim than most people intend. It is also close enough to evaluated and assessed that using all three in one document looks like variety for its own sake.
- When is it fine to use "Compared"?
- Where the comparison itself was the deliverable and the decision was explicitly not yours, which is common in research and procurement support roles.
Fix these next
- EvaluatedThat you assessed options or performance against criteria.
- AssessedThat you judged the state or value of something against criteria.
- AnalyzedThat you examined data and drew something out of it.
- ResearchedThat you investigated a subject in depth.
All 125 words are on the résumé words index. For the verbs grouped by what they claim, read résumé power verbs.
After the résumé
Fixing the words is the easy half. The applying is the slow half.
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