Is Your Resume Filled with Bad Words?
When it comes to creating a top notch resume, the key challenge lies in how to get hiring managers interested in your value with just one or two sheets of paper. Knowing what words to leave out is just as important as knowing what words to put on your resume.
If you are a senior level candidate, it is critical that you choose your words wisely. You don’t want to present a resume that is anything short of perfection.
Avoiding the use of “bad words” is an important part of resume writing. While experts disagree on what words should be left off of resumes, here are a few phrases that you may want to think twice about using.
- Excellent with clients and customers: This seems benevolent enough, but this phrase is meaningless and trite unless backed up by clear cut examples. I recommend using the SAR method to provide detailed descriptions of what you did that makes you excellent with clients and customers. Be specific. S for Situation, A for Action, and R for Results.
Example: Successfully managed a six-figure book of business that experienced 25% annual growth over the course of eight years; resulted in top client satisfaction ratings.
- Organized and Detail Oriented: If you weren’t organized and detail oriented, how on earth would you rise to the senior level? Employers assume you have all of your I’s dotted and your t’s crossed.
Your resume should be used to describe your past achievements and serve as the crystal ball, if you will, of future performance. Offer specific details of how you delivered the goods for your employer rather than giving vague lip service to how you tidied your desk.
Example: Created a revolutionary client tracking system to monitor order status online; implementation saved $2M+ in annual labor expenses.
Responsible for: ‘Responsible for’ is a term that rookie writers use all the time when creating their own resumes. It is often overused, vague, and there are so many more descriptive action verbs that can be used instead. Start your sentences with words that have higher impact.
- I, My, Our: Resumes are formal documents and should not include personal pronouns. It is fine to add personal pronouns to a cover letter. Choose compelling action verbs instead to communicate more effectively.
Example: Spearheaded strategic partnerships with leading international financial institution that resulted in $3M in new business during Q1.
Filling your resume with bad, low impact words that provide fluff without substance is a waste of space. Take a critical look at your resume and consider your words wisely. Every inch of your resume should be devoted to providing valuable, compelling information. This will serve to establish your brand and position you for increasing levels of responsibility and compensation.
This blog's author, Debra Wheatman of Careers Done Write, provides executive career services including resume and cover letter preparation, job search / interviewing strategies and professional branding including how to effectively use LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media in your career.
Visit CareersDoneWrite.com to learn more about how we can put your career in gear with interview catching resumes and professionally written career documents.