Resume Verb Tense Checker
Paste your resume bullets to flag mixed verb tenses, passive voice, and first-person pronouns — the three grammar mistakes that quietly weaken even strong resumes.
Set the toggle to match the role: past tense for past jobs, present tense for your current job.
Runs entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded or saved.
Why verb tense matters on a resume
The resume rule is simple and easy to break: past roles use past tense ('led', 'built', 'shipped'), and your current role uses present tense ('lead', 'build', 'ship'). Most resumes mix the two — a present-tense verb in a job you left two years ago, or a past-tense verb under a role you are still in.
Tense mixing is a small signal of carelessness that recruiters notice and ATS scrapers can miss entirely, leaving the problem in front of a human. The Verb Tense Checker compares the verbs in each role to the tense it should be using and flags every mismatch.
Passive voice hides the achievement
'A new onboarding flow was launched' tells the reader something happened. 'Launched a new onboarding flow, cutting ramp time 40%' tells the reader you did it. Passive voice steals credit from your own bullets, and it is the most common voice mistake on resumes.
The checker scans for the be-verb + past-participle pattern that produces passive voice and points it out so you can rewrite each line in the active voice the way a strong bullet should read.
Drop 'I', 'me', and 'we'
Resume bullets are implicitly first-person — every reader knows the resume is about you. Writing 'I led the redesign' instead of 'Led the redesign' burns valuable space and reads as unpracticed. The checker highlights every first-person pronoun so you can delete it and start the bullet with the verb.
Frequently asked questions
What verb tense should I use on my resume?+
Use past tense for past roles ('led', 'built', 'shipped') and present tense for your current role ('lead', 'build', 'ship'). Be consistent within each role — mixing tenses inside one job is the most common mistake.
Should resume bullets be in past or present tense?+
It depends on the role. Bullets describing accomplishments at a current job are present tense; bullets describing past jobs are past tense. The verb tense checker lets you tag which role is current and flags any mismatch automatically.
Is passive voice bad on a resume?+
Yes — passive voice ('was responsible for', 'a project was led by me') hides who did the work. Resumes should use the active voice, leading each bullet with an action verb so it is clear what you accomplished.
Should I use 'I' or 'my' on my resume?+
No. Resume bullets are implicitly first person, so 'I' and 'my' are redundant — drop them and start each bullet directly with a verb. 'I led' becomes 'Led'; 'My team' becomes 'Team of'.
Is the Resume Verb Tense Checker free?+
Yes — it is free, needs no signup, and runs in your browser. The verb dictionary and grammar rules are built into the page; nothing you paste is uploaded or stored.
ResumeTurtle's builder turns these fixes into a finished, ATS-ready resume — free to start, no trial trap.
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