Résumé words · Improving and fixing
Another word for “Refined”
What it is trying to claim: That you made small adjustments to something already working.
Why it underperforms
It describes an amount of change too small for a reader to weigh. Refinement is real work and it is the hardest kind to evidence, because the before state was already acceptable, so the delta is narrow by definition. Used without a figure it reads as tidying, and tidying does not compete for space on a page.
Stronger than "Refined"
Not ranked. Each is right for one situation, and the situation is the column that matters.
| Word | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Tuned | Parameter-level work on a system. |
| Tightened | Tolerances, controls or copy. |
| Polished | Presentation-layer work, stated honestly. |
| Improved | Plainer, and it invites the number. |
| Rewrote | It was not refinement; you replaced it. |
A real bullet, fixed
Before
Refined the search ranking algorithm.
After
Refined search ranking over four iterations, taking click-through on the first result from 31% to 38% without changing the index or adding latency.
Naming what stayed constant is what proves the gain came from the refinement rather than from spending more compute.
When “Refined” is the right word
Where the margin was the point: performance tuning near a limit, precision work, or a mature process where small percentages are worth real money.
Common questions
- What can I say instead of "Refined" on a résumé?
- Tuned, Tightened, Polished, Improved. Pick the one that matches what you actually did, then follow it with a number. Naming what stayed constant is what proves the gain came from the refinement rather than from spending more compute.
- Is "Refined" bad on a résumé?
- It describes an amount of change too small for a reader to weigh. Refinement is real work and it is the hardest kind to evidence, because the before state was already acceptable, so the delta is narrow by definition. Used without a figure it reads as tidying, and tidying does not compete for space on a page.
- When is it fine to use "Refined"?
- Where the margin was the point: performance tuning near a limit, precision work, or a mature process where small percentages are worth real money.
Fix these next
- ImprovedThat something works better than it did.
- OptimizedThat you tuned something to perform better.
- EnhancedThat you made something better.
- StreamlinedThat you made a process simpler or faster.
- DesignedThat the decisions about how something would work were yours.
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.
Approve the jobs and we get them applied to, with a confirmation saved for each one. The free tier is 25 applications a month, no card, and a credit is only spent once a submission is confirmed.