Best and Worst Phrases for a Resume
A new CareerBuilder survey asked 2,201 hiring managers and HR professionals to identify the best and worst resume terms. Here’s what they found:
The Worst
The following terms were selected as uninviting resume terms:
- Best of breed: 38 percent
- Go-getter: 27 percent
- Think outside of the box: 26 percent
- Synergy: 22 percent
- Go-to person: 22 percent
- Thought leadership: 16 percent
- Value add: 16 percent
- Results-driven: 16 percent
- Team player: 15 percent
- Bottom-line: 14 percent
- Hard worker: 13 percent
- Strategic thinker: 12 percent
- Dynamic: 12 percent
- Self-motivated: 12 percent
- Detail-oriented: 11 percent
- 16. Proactively: 11 percent
- 17. Track record: 10 percent
The Best
However, employers also identified several key terms and strong verbs that hiring managers look for in resumes:
- Achieved: 52 percent
- Improved: 48 percent
- Trained/Mentored: 47 percent
- Managed: 44 percent
- Created: 43 percent
- Resolved: 40 percent
- Volunteered: 35 percent
- Influenced: 29 percent
- Increased/Decreased: 28 percent
- Ideas: 27 percent
- Negotiated: 25 percent
- Launched: 24 percent
- Revenue/Profits: 23 percent
- Under budget: 16 percent
- Won: 13 percent
The survey also noted that because hiring managers spend a minuscule amount of time looking at a resume, these key terms, for better or worse, will shape their all-important first impression of the candidate.
So, if you’re searching for a new job, take these tips in mind when building your resume.
