If your resumé describes you as a ‘go-getting hard-worker who thinks outside the box’, don’t bet on getting that dream job.
A survey of 2,200 hiring managers in the U.S. found that obfuscating language was a pet hate when reading through hundreds, if not thousands, of applications.
New research revealed the most overused terms by job hunters across a wide-range of industries and company sizes – with ‘best of breed’, ‘go-getter’, ‘think outside of the box’ and ‘synergy’ topping the list.
One in six HR people spend less than 30 seconds reading a resumé when looking for potential job candidates, according to the study by CareerBuilder.
The majority (68 per cent) spend less than two minutes scanning that carefully crafted document – so the advice is to make the words count.
Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, said: ‘Hiring managers prefer strong action words that define specific experience, skills and accomplishments.
‘Subjective terms and clichés are seen as negative because they don’t convey real information.
‘For instance, don’t say you are ”results-driven”; show the employer your actual results.’
THE WORST RESUMÉ WORDS…
1. Best of breed (38 per cent)
2. Go-getter (27 per cent)
3. Think outside of the box (26 per cent)
4. Synergy (22 per cent)
5. Go-to person (22 per cent)
6. Thought leadership (16 per cent)
7. Value add (16 per cent)
8. Results-driven (16 per cent)
9. Team player (15 per cent)
10. Bottom-line (14 per cent)
11. Hard worker (13 per cent)
12. Strategic thinker (12 per cent)
13. Dynamic (12 per cent)
14. Self-motivated (12 per cent)
15. Detail-oriented (11 per cent)
16. Proactively (11 per cent)
- Track record (10 per cent)
…AND ONES LIKELY TO GET THE JOB
1. Achieved (52 per cent)
2. Improved (48 per cent)
3. Trained/Mentored (47 per cent)
4. Managed (44 per cent)
5. Created (43 per cent)
6. Resolved (40 per cent)
7. Volunteered (35 per cent)
8. Influenced (29 per cent)
9. Increased/Decreased (28 per cent)
10. Ideas (27 per cent)
11. Negotiated (25 per cent)
12. Launched (24 per cent)
13. Revenue/Profits (23 per cent)
14. Under budget (16 per cent)
15. Won (13 per cent)
