Résumé words · Improving and fixing
Another word for “Optimized”
What it is trying to claim: That you tuned something to perform better.
Why it underperforms
Technically it means finding the best value, and it is almost always used to mean "made somewhat faster". The gap between the strict meaning and the loose one makes technical readers discount it. It has also become filler in job-adjacent writing, appearing in phrases like "optimized workflows" that describe nothing.
Stronger than "Optimized"
Not ranked. Each is right for one situation, and the situation is the column that matters.
| Word | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Cut | Something went down. Say what and by how much. |
| Tuned | Parameter-level work on an existing system. |
| Cached | Name the actual technique. Specific beats general. |
| Rewrote | You replaced the slow thing rather than adjusting it. |
| Reduced | Cost, latency, or resource use came down. |
A real bullet, fixed
Before
Optimized database queries for better performance.
After
Added covering indexes to the four slowest report queries, taking p95 from 4.1s to 240ms and removing the need for a bigger instance.
Naming the technique and the percentile makes it credible to an engineer, and the avoided upgrade is the cost saving nobody remembers to mention.
When “Optimized” is the right word
When there was a real objective function and you moved it, which is genuine in performance work, logistics, bidding, and scheduling.
Common questions
- What can I say instead of "Optimized" on a résumé?
- Cut, Tuned, Cached, Rewrote. Pick the one that matches what you actually did, then follow it with a number. Naming the technique and the percentile makes it credible to an engineer, and the avoided upgrade is the cost saving nobody remembers to mention.
- Is "Optimized" bad on a résumé?
- Technically it means finding the best value, and it is almost always used to mean "made somewhat faster". The gap between the strict meaning and the loose one makes technical readers discount it. It has also become filler in job-adjacent writing, appearing in phrases like "optimized workflows" that describe nothing.
- When is it fine to use "Optimized"?
- When there was a real objective function and you moved it, which is genuine in performance work, logistics, bidding, and scheduling.
Fix these next
- ImprovedThat something works better than it did.
- StreamlinedThat you made a process simpler or faster.
- EnhancedThat you made something better.
- ReducedThat a number you can name went down because of you.
All 72 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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