Banish overused buzzwords from your resumé and profile

Put yourself in the place of an HR recruiter, many of whom receive hundreds of resumes for any open position. After weeding out those that are from obviously unqualified people or those are misspelled or poorly formatted, h/she may still be left with dozens of resumes to read. Yours must stand out from the crowd, but how many—like yours—identify the applicant as “experienced” or “results-oriented”? Probably most of them and with constant use, these phrases have become virtually meaningless. Buzzwords used to have buzz—a crackle of excitement and interest– but now they have become overused slang for the lazy resume writer.

According to the Analytics team at LinkedIn, the social network for business professionals, the most cliched and overused phrases, culled from 85 million USA LinkedIn Profiles, are these 10:

  • Extensive experience
  • Innovative
  • Motivated
  • Results-oriented
  • Dynamic
  • Proven track record
  • Team player
  • Fast-paced
  • Problem solver
  • Entrepreneurial

While some of these should be banished from your resume and LinkedIn profile (Of course you are “motivated”, you are searching for a job and “dynamic” makes you sound like the Energizer Bunny) not all these phrases need to be exiled forever…just more fully explained.

Expand on how you are a team player (Led a sales team of 15 to increase sales by 75% in the last quarter) or why you legitimately may call yourself a problem-solver (Through a stock reissue, I helped raise $20 million in capital, averting a devastating financial downturn for the company.) You can elaborate further during an interview, but don’t let a clichéd phrase just lie there on the page by itself. The recruiter’s eye will skip right over it—and over you.

Let Arrow Staffing help craft a resume that will guarantee you won’t be overlooked. Contact us today.

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