A resume is a gateway for a great job. You can create a great first impression while seeking employment in front of the managers with your resume alone. In the queue of many job seekers, you need to stand out with your resume. On average, the hiring managers spend only 5 to 20 seconds while reviewing your resume. Thus, it would help if you are mindful of the words that you must add and the words to avoid in a resume.
While your resume needs to be attractive, it must also contain the information they want to see in the resume. Choosing a fancy or beautiful template is not enough to impress the hiring managers. Now, if you are thinking that how to make a resume, the first thing you need to know is you must be very mindful about what you are adding and how you are choosing your words while creating a professional resume to benefit your job search.
The first thing that you need to do to make an apt resume is to avoid resume writing mistakes. If your resume looks cool but is full of silly mistakes, you can’t make it suitable for the job you are applying to. Instead, you must be focused on creating an error-free resume, even though you stick to a basic looking one.
While there are words you must add to your resume, and there are words to avoid in the resume too. Here is a list of worst words to add to your resume and it will be better if you can avoid using them instead.
Here are 30 words to avoid in a resume and make it appropriate for your job search
1. Unemployed:
Though you are not currently working with any organization and the state of your current working situation merely is “unemployed”, but you still don’t need to use the word in your resume. When you are adding the working span in your previous organization, the hiring managers can find out themselves that you are not working at this moment and is unemployed.
2. Microsoft Office:
Everyone writing a resume to apply for a job tries to add as many skills as they van to their resume. While you alone or along with a professional resume writer, making your list of skills to be added to the resume, try to add skills that are relevant to the job profile you are applying for and not the ones which are not skills at all. Having a command upon Microsoft is not a skill.
3. Hard Worker:
Everyone who is applying for a job promise to work hard for the organization. Also, no one claims themselves to be not so hard working in their last job. Being hardworking is not a skill that you need to be proud of. Being diligent is an ethic that you must have in life, be it your job or your personal life. In the end, the employers need the given task to be completed, either you choose to work hard or work smart instead.
4. Creative:
This is one of the words to avoid in a resume as it can be replaced with something more soothing and useful, like “worked with a team of creative people.” Demanding to be someone creative is a bit more exaggerating.
5. Reference Available upon request:
This is an outdated term that is unnecessary at the same time. If the hiring managers feel that they must have some recommendations from your previous organization, they will ask for it. As per the modern resume writing rules, you don’t mention the term in your resume.
6. I, He, Him, Her:
You must not forget 1st or 3rd person words to avoid in a resume. It is you who have written the resume for yourself and not someone else. Thus, you don’t need to mention phrases like
“I worked with….”
“I led a team…..”
7. Expert:
Unless you indeed are an expert in something, you must refrain from using the phrase in your resume. But if you think that you must mention, you must also get prepared with answers to the questions regarding your expertise.
8. Can’t:
You must choose negative words to avoid in a resume. Your resume must demonstrate your skills and must mention things that you can do.
9. Responsible for:
If you are using an online resume builder and are being suggested with the term repeatedly in your resume to demonstrate your scope of work, then this is the high time you stop overusing the word.
10. Result Oriented:
Everyone is result oriented in an organization. You are hired and get paid to get some results for the organization.Thus, being result-oriented is pretty evident for all the job seekers. It is not a skill, and you can replace this term with suitable examples from your previous job experience in your cv writing.
11. Highly Qualified:
There is not any parameter to justify the term ‘highly qualified.’ There are ample of skills available in this world which you don’t even know. Thus, being highly qualified is unrealistic and among the words to avoid in a resume.
12. Energetic:
You can’t measure your energy in ‘Horsepower’ in your resume. Thus energetic is a term you don’t need to use. You are energetic means absolutely nothing in the professional aspect facet.
13. Out of the box:
This is probably the phrases which have already bored the hiring managers. This phrase is overused, and if you are willing to demonstrate your creative thinking skill with the words, stop and replace the same with something better.
14. Savvy:
‘I am a tech-savvy’ or ‘internet savvy’ – these are the words to avoid in a resume if you want it to look like a professional one.
15. Smart:
Being smart is a personality trait, like being honest is a quality. Your resume must contain relevant information about you. Being smart is not a skill it is given and thus, it will be a smarter option you choose such words to avoid in a resume.
16. Professional:
You can only prove your professionalism once you are hired by an organization or maybe during the interview process. Thus, rather than being self-remarking about you being professional, let your hiring managers decide that.
17. Team Player:
It is hard to prove if you are a team player or not. This term is prevalent, and most of the resume carries this easy to say but hard to prove term. You must have some genuine example where you have worked in a team or have mentored a group of people. As per our resume writing tips, you can better choose some other action verb to replace the term.
18. Honesty:
Honesty is a virtue quality, and the hiring managers have to do nothing with a person who is honest by nature. This is especially the quality of the right people.
19. Punctual:
Punctuality is a professional characteristic that is expected from everyone in the workplace. Thus, if you value your own time, it is a better choice for you and you don’t need to showcase that.
20. Synergy:
This sounds like a trendy term. But your hiring managers can find this to one of the cv buzzwords to avoid. The use of specific action verbs in every place is a must-do thing while writing your resume. If you are “collaborating” or “interacting” with various departments, stick to using those terms only to clarify what you mean to say.
21. Intelligent:
Your intelligence can be tested only when you are dealing with some real-life challenges. The word deserves to be justified rather than just mentioned.
22. Influential:
Many words that you choose can have a negative impact too. This is among the words to avoid in a resume as the hiring managers can misinterpret this term to be challenging for the workplace.
23. Best of Breed:
The word sounds like an annoying one. This is not some club dog show winner we are talking about, but it is you who is being represented.
24. Communication Skills:
You need to have some validated parameters while you are trying to demonstrate any of your skills. While you use the word communication skills on your resume, it sounds to be very self-serving.
25. Talented:
The definition of talent varies from person to person. While something you claim to be your talent may be fundamental to someone else, on another hand, when you demand to have specific expertise, maybe not so required skill for the organization you are applying for. Isn’t it a better idea to let your organization and hiring managers to find you are talented through some examples?
26. Go-getter:
Don’t you think the term is a real cliché? The term is generally used to demonstrate that the job seeker is an initiative taker, but rather than using the term, you must be specific with some examples. Professional resume writing services will suggest you write examples that are way much persuasive than using any word.
27. Strategic Thinker:
Being able to think strategically can help you to have a better life for yourself. Thus, if you are blessed with the skill or have achieved that, it’s a great thing for you and not for the hiring managers to know until you can prove it.
28. Dynamic:
Being dynamic is more a personality trait than a skill to be added to your resume. There is no way you can follow to prove your outgoing personality in your resume. If you think that your dynamic nature can help the organization somehow, try to demonstrate some examples.
29. Detail Oriented:
This is one of the most suggested words to avoid in a resume. You can demonstrate the skill in your resume itself by arranging your resume information in a proper way, rather than just using the phrase. You can use more polished words instead and can also give some examples for the same from your previous work experiences.
30. Bottom Line:
The hiring managers want to know about your achievements in the previous organization. Instead of using the term bottom line, try to quantify your progress in the last organization.
Source: 30 words to avoid in a resume
No comments:
Post a Comment