During the last 5 years as president of a company that helps clients start their job searches and land their dream jobs, I have reviewed thousands of resumes. Since space is limited on your resume, every word must find its way into this document because of its importance. Unfortunately, many resumes contain overused or ineffective words that don’t add value. Here is a list of the most common offenders that should be removed immediately.
Remove these useless words from your resume:
- Successful / accomplished (do not add adjectives to try to improve your status, instead show that you have been successful through the written text in your summary)
- Guru / Ninja / Rock Star (informal and not useful for keyword purposes)
- Seasoned (makes one sound old)
- Honest (this is obvious and does not need to be stated)
- Results oriented / results oriented (explain your specific results on each job title, rather than just typing based on results)
- Driven / Motivated / Passionate / Focused / Hardworking (this is obvious and does not need to be stated)
- Goal-oriented (give concrete examples using goal numbers to show you met or exceeded your annual / monthly / weekly goals)
- Significantly (include concrete numbers or strong text to show the reader your meaningful results)
- Person to turn to (clearly explain your level of responsibility)
- Team player (it is understood that you know how to work with people)
- Responsible for / Duties include (use more interesting action verbs to explain your responsibilities and duties; Google resume action verbs to find appropriate verb lists; and make sure each bullet below each job description begins with a verb)
- Family (does not convey that you are good at what follows)
- Stay-at-home parent (potential employers should not know about your children as it is not relevant to their career)
- Abstract (do not write CV at the top of your document)
- objective (do not write Objective at the top of your document, instead use a career summary section and label it with your current job title)
- References (do not write references available upon request at the bottom of your document)
- Language in the first or third person (don’t use first person or third person language, instead use formal resume language to appear professional)
Be sure to carefully review your resume to make sure each word is powerful, specific, and necessary. Once you think everything is perfect, have at least 3 other people read it to check for mistakes or unnecessary words.