Getting your resume right is the most critical step of getting the job you’re targeting. It gives a detailed information not only about your educational and professional but also about your personality, which is the reason why several job aspirants don’t even get a response from the prospective employers despite having outstanding credentials. To make your resume more impactful, don’t include the below words and phrases.
1. Resume
Several candidates have the habit of writing the word resume on top. The recruiter already know it’s the resume so you don’t have to announce it in large and bold font.
2. Punctual and self-disciplined
These are prerequisites for a job and not special qualities. Also, you don’t announce them on your resume but rather have to display them with your behaviour and actions.
3. Result oriented
When you work for a company, you’re expected to deliver results as per the basic job criteria. Also, it’s a very generic phrase. Instead, specify what outstanding results you’ve achieved such as contests won by you for exceeding sales target, or an excellence award for customer service or operational management.
4. Responsible for
As an employee, you’re supposed to be responsible for your assigned tasks. No job role allows you to be irresponsible. So, you don’t have to highlight it as a superior trait. It’s the basic requirement for working with an organisation.
5. Ability to think out of the box
It’s a phrase that has been used so much that it’s now a cliché and even the recruiter knows it. No point using it as it wouldn’t add any value. Rather, it will make your resume look very ordinary and lacking creativity.
6. Dynamic
Another overused phrase. In the modern knowledge driven economy, you’re supposed to be dynamic by default to adjust to the changes in the professional environment.
7. Detail oriented
Focusing on details is a basic part of the job. Every employee is expected to focus on details. So, this phrase doesn’t add any value to your resume. It will only make your resume look monotonous as several other candidates would have used the same phrase.
8. Successfully achieved
This is another generic phrase. Instead, specify exactly what you achieved by highlighting them. Recruiters don’t like to read general information. They need to see something that specifically highlights your achievements.
9. Ethical
Ethic is the most important trait that an employee must have. Organisations only hire people whom they consider ethical and honest. Specifying it on your resume won’t make it more attractive. Display it through your behaviour. If there’s a specific achievement such as receiving an award in your current or previous organisations for displaying outstanding ethical behaviour, highlight it, but don’t write a general sentence that you’re highly ethical.
10. Self-motivated
There’s nothing exceptional about this phrase. Mentioning it on your resume doesn’t add any extra credibility. It has become so common that most of the recruiters would just skip it.
11. Problem solving ability
In your workplace, you’ll face several challenges and problems which you’ll have to solve. It’s not something you highlight in your resume but rather prove it through actions. If there’s a specific achievement in this field, such as you improved the operational performance exceptionally in your workplace after you were assigned the responsibility, mention it. Be specific. A general phrase will only put off the recruiter.
12. Proactive
Again this is a general word that doesn’t give any detail about your quality of taking initiatives or being proactive. If you add this word to your resume, it can’t be quantified. Hence, avoid it.
13. Best among your peers or colleagues
How? You could be better than many, but it’s an exaggeration to claim that you’re the best. Recruiters won’t even bother to give this phrase any credence.
14. Salary is negotiable
You still haven’t been shortlisted so it’s illogical to talk about salary. Recruiters expect you to be flexible with the salary, else they won’t make an offer.
15. References available on request
Clearly mention the names and contact details of the references. You wouldn’t want to irritate the recruiters by asking for their names. Give it to them upfront.
These are some commonly used words and phrases that just don’t make your resume any better. Instead, they are the spoilers which will make the resume look pretty ordinary.
