Best and Worst Words for Résumé Success
Attaching a photograph of a celebrity instead of yourself to your résumé.
Listing details about your weightlifting prowess and ballroom dancing skills on a job application.
Applying for a deceased person’s job… and stating you know the position is open because you attended the deceased’s funeral.
The Internet abounds with stories of résumé mistakes ranging from thoughtless and misguided to just plain tasteless and offensive. Whether the authors of these curricula vitae are uninformed new job seekers, smart-aleck pranksters or jaded job seekers unable to curb their cynicism any longer, the results are all the same. In the best-case scenario, hiring managers simply add the résumés to the “reject” pile. In the worst-case scenario, the documents wind up on the Internet for all to see and ridicule.
Of course, if you’re reading this, chances are you’ve written multiple drafts of your résumé and would never make mistakes like the ones described above. But did you know there are other mistakes you could be making that cause hiring managers to overlook you within a few seconds?
How Your Résumé Is Read
In 2012, Forbes quoted a study that showed that on average, recruiters spent a mere 6.25 seconds on a candidate’s résumé before deciding whether the candidate was a match. A more recent study states that 17 percent of all hiring managers spend less than half a minute on it, while just 68 percent dedicated under two minutes to the effort.
Ouch. For any job seeker who’s spent hours putting together a résumé, that hurts. But after the pain subsides, consider this: if hiring managers and recruiters spend so little time scanning your document, with the right knowledge, you can learn how to hook them so they’ll give your résumé a second glance.
The information hiring managers look at include your current and previous title, company and employment dates, as well as your education. In addition, they look for keywords that pertain to the open position, as well as—and here’s where it gets interesting—words and phrases that either capture or deflect their interest.
It’s clear: in addition to your experience and education, the words you use to describe your qualities, skills and experience are extremely important. So which words should you use, and which should you avoid at all costs?
Worst Words
According to the Wall Street Journal quoting a 2013 survey conducted by Harris Poll, the top words and phrases you should never use on your résumé include go-getter, think outside of the box, go-to person, thought leadership and results-driven. Hiring managers consider these words and phrases to be subjective and cliché.
Best Words
Instead, you should use strong words and expressions that objectively define specific accomplishments, experience and skills. Think of words such as achieved, improved, managed and resolved. By expressing yourself objectively in this manner, you automatically have to include information about what you achieved, improved, managed or resolved. And that’s measurable information a hiring manager wants to see and can validate by calling your references.
(You can read the full list of worst and best words here.)
More Tips for Creating an Effective Résumé
Now you know what words to use and avoid, let’s take a quick peek at how to make your résumé more effective.
Forbes reminds us to keep in mind that the document is first and foremost a marketing tool, one that hooks the reader to want to know more about the candidate. At or close to the beginning, you should include a 40- to 50-word paragraph that gives three reasons a company should hire you. Other than that paragraph, avoid long blocks of text and instead, use bullet points that are easy to scan. And always, always include any awards, accolades or other achievements that will help set you apart from the pack.
Writing an effective résumé is a surmountable challenge. When you know how long you have to hook your reader and what words to use as bait, that challenge becomes more manageable. So incorporate the above tips into your résumé and increase your chances of being called for an interview!