Hiring Managers Expose the Top 17 WORST Resume Terms

2200+ hiring managers and HR professionals recently surveyed by the Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder revealed the top 17 WORST terms a job seeker can use on their resumes.  I’m not surprised by their list; I’ve been harping on many of these terms for years.  This certainly confirms what I’ve been saying based on my 12+ years of experience as an HR manager.  I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks these terms fall miserably short.  So grab your resume … and your red pen … and let’s make some immediate corrections!

TOP 17 WORST RESUME TERMS

1. Best of breed: 38 percent

2. Go-getter: 27 percent

3. Think outside of the box: 26 percent

4. Synergy: 22 percent

5. Go-to person: 22 percent

6. Thought leadership: 16 percent

7. Value add: 16 percent

8. Results-driven: 16 percent

9. Team player: 15 percent

10. Bottom-line: 14 percent

11. Hard worker: 13 percent

12. Strategic thinker: 12 percent

13. Dynamic: 12 percent

14. Self-motivated: 12 percent

15. Detail-oriented: 11 percent

16. Proactively: 11 percent

17. Track record: 10 percent

The problem with all of these is that they fail to show what you actually did or contributed.  In addition, these are terms that a vast majority of job seekers utilize on their resumes.  When everyone uses the same terms, then it fails to differentiate anyone.  Eventually, all job seekers start looking and sounding the same—and it becomes difficult for the hiring manager to determine why they should interview you over another candidate.

We work with job seekers every day to build their resumes from the ground up—without the use of overused resume terms and generic resume templates that cause them to blend in with the herd of other candidates. Instead, we create powerful, brand-driven resumes that rapidly deliver increased resume response rates. Interested?  You can find out more here: http://www.greatresumesfast.com.

FURTHER READING:

3 Secrets to Interview-Winning Cover Letters

PS. I’d love to meet you on Twitter here.

You can read the rest of the CareerBuilder survey here.