Was it your Mother or Grandmother that used to say?:
“Never say never!”?
Well now it’s White Now saying it!
Here are some words that I suggest should (dare I say?), NEVER be used in a professional resume and some of my reasoning as to why:
“Various”…
As an adjective, “various” really is a bit of a nothing! It doesn’t add any oomph or pizazz to a resume! “I worked on various projects” or “I’m conversant in various software programs”. It really doesn’t mean much at all. In fact, I invariably make various noises out-loud when I read the word various on various resumes!
The next time you’re thinking of using the word “various”, ask yourself this: ‘What’s the difference between:
– Worked on various projects, AND
– Worked on projects?”. If you reach the same conclusion that I did, “various” will soon be in your deleted items folder!
Thinking the above through a bit further, what’s preferable is that you SPECIFY the projects that you worked on. Reading the above doesn’t really tell the reader anything about you at all, but if you said that you had work on projects that have included (for eg): a $4.5m refurbishment; the acquisition of 3 other licensed premises and the development of a 10 year, 4-phase business plan that is currently in its second phase; then the details are far more impressive than having done some various projects.
“Visionary”…(or “Transformational”)…
It’s funny how some words seem to be so very “in” and visionary is one of those in-words that has stuck around for a while now. What does it actually mean to be “visionary”? More importantly, how do you PROVE that you’re “visionary” in whatever it is that you do?
Personally I’d much rather see something in a resume about how you can demonstrate that you have developed a plan (a vision), articulated it to your team and delivered it to the stakeholders…….which resulted in blah, blah blah (Insert: $XXm increase in turnover/savings; % greater visitation rates; reduction in injuries; improved brand recognition; etc; etc).
“Expert”…
This is another one of “those” words. You know, the one that sounds great in theory, but in reality makes you sound like a bit of a tosser as it makes the claim that you’re ‘brilliant’ in a particular area. In fact, you’re so good in that area that you’re an EXPERT. And yet when the resume-reader digs further there is absolutely no supporting evidence.
Doctors that possess a doctorate in a particular field have a right to declare themselves an ‘expert’ in their specific area of expertise, but unless you’re a Doctor of something, I would argue that it is immensely difficult to prove that you’re an expert in anything, except maybe being a little bit full of yourself.
“Seasoned”…
As a bit of a foodie, my first impression when I read this in a resume is that you mean that you have been salted and peppered to perfection. Once I get that somewhat disconcerting thought out of my head, I tend to wonder what a “seasoned” anything might look like other than possibly……old? Is this the image that you want to portray? If so, why not just say that you’re old or maybe, to put that in a more positive light, talk about your ACHIEVEMENTS that you can demonstrate throughout your career and let the reader draw the conclusion about whether you’re old and ready to be put out to pasture or experienced with the necessary skills and, more importantly, demonstrated track record that the reader just has to get you in for an interview to speak to about the job?
“Results Oriented”…
This one always makes me smile as people all too often talk about being “results oriented” and yet at no point in their resume (or often cover letter as well), do they provide SPECIFIC DETAILS of the results that they have achieved.
Achievements have to be QUANTIFIABLE and should ideally correlate to the job that you are applying for – let’s face it, employers are generally approaching the recruitment process from the viewpoint of, “what’s in it for me?”. They want to see what you’ve done in your past, how successfully you did it and then they want to picture you doing the same for them! If this happens, you have a far greater chance of being invited to an interview.
Employers also don’t want to have to think too hard about how your achievements align to what it is that they have advertised for – so make it easy for them! Use the words that they have used in their adverts and edit your resume to respond to the main points that they are looking for. And most importantly, make sure that you can back these up if and when you get invited to an interview.
Finally, remember: your achievements are what separate you from the resumes that the reader reads before yours and all those that s/he is going to read after. One GM does pretty much the same as another GM, as does one Cleaner from another. What makes one GM/Cleaner/DM/CFO/Marketing Manager/<insert role title here> different from another is what they ACHIEVED whilst they were in that role.
“Very”…
Surely there is an adjective that you can find to go in front of whatever word it is that you want to emphasise that is going to give you more impact than “very”? Just about anything would be very much better than “very”!
“It was a very successful financial year” OR “the success of FY14/15 can be measured by the following exceptional results: Revenue +$6.2m. Expenses -21%. EBITDA +19% and an overall nett profit of $7.6 million”. You choose…
“Synergy”…
This was a buzz word about 8 to 10 years ago and at the time, was fresh, current and when used appropriately, even clever! However nowadays it has been overused to the point where it has lost its impact – “responsible for the synergy of the department”; “developed a synergistic work environment” and “amalgamated two venues due to their synergy, resulting in a win/win for all parties”. And incidentally, “win/win” is a bit (a lot) cliched nowadays too!
“Out of the Box”… (or “Creative”)…
If you were genuinely “Out of the box”, you’d have thought of something a little more “out of the box” to write down. ‘Nuff said!
Here are some other words to avoid:
Love – “I would just love to work in an organisation…blah, blah, blah”. And I’d LOVE to be in the Bahamas doing anything other than reading resumes. But I’m not, so let’s stop the lovin’ and focus on the facts and achievements. Capisce?
Great Communication Skills – says who? YOU? Prove it!!!
Try – as the great Jedi Master, Yoda so famously said: “Do. Or do not. There is no try”…
Detail Oriented – I once had a recruiter say to me about these words on my resume, “You know what this means don’t you? That I am going to look for errors and won’t necessarily concentrate on the content as much as I should?”…
Skillful… Capable… Innovative… Experienced… Team Player… References Available on Request… Creative… Highly Motivated… Capable… Skillful… Pro-active… Salary Negotiable…
Hopefully the above has given you some food for thought and possibly even put a little smirk on your face. Ultimately there are no specific ‘right and wrongs’ when it comes to the use of the above words and others like them. There is however, in most cases, a better way for the sentence to be structured for greater impact (you know, for more “Ah!” moments rather than “ARGGHHHHH” ones)!
Best of luck with the writing of your resume and please remember – if you would like us to have a look over yours, please give us a call at the office on 02 9807 1806 to discuss how we can assist.