One of the first rules of good writing is – Avoid Cliches. And it holds good even in business writing – especially when it comes to writing resumes.
For someone who is preparing a resume for the first time, words and phrases like "Innovative", "Result-oriented", "Team Player", "Strong communication skills" might sound attractive and important. It might feel like they add weight to a resume. But no. These words and phrases are so overused that for those those on the hiring end, they are just empty, meaningless words. If you want your resume to be just one among the thousands of forgettable resumes they receive, then go ahead and use them!
Another important point that many job-seekers overlook is this - When recruiters look for resumes to suit their job opening, they search the database using keywords. Most new job-hunters tend to think that these keywords are "good organization skills" and "Single-point contact." But the reality is that recruiters search by the words that are most relevant to their job requirement, like, "Software implementation" or "Marketing and sales" and "Business Development." So make sure that you have words in your resume that reflect the nature of your job.
Newsweek came up with the ten worst resume cliches of 2010 – which include tired words like Dynamic, Motivated and Team Player. For your resume to stand out, you've got to go beyond those favourite keywords, and think of something more original.
- Use a thesaurus if need be, and come up with something different. A stronger synonym, something more action-oriented, more specific.e.g. "Worked as", "Assisted in", "Participated in" are weak, non-specific words. Depending on your work, use action-oriented words like Implemented, Developed, Generated, Reorganized, Marketed, Managed.
- If you must use cliches, then back it up with quantifying statements. e.g. If you want to say, "Strong communication and organization skills" then consider extending it to prove your statement. "Strong communication and organization skills, which increased customer satisfaction by 30 %, and resulted in 100% on-time delivery for the entire duration of the project."
- Perhaps the best way is to state your achievement, and allow the hirer to infer the nature of your strength themselves.e.g. Instead of saying, "Track record of success", you could say, "Consistently exceeded target sales by more than 15% each year."Also, if you say you have "Excellent written communication skills" and your resume is full of spelling and grammar mistakes or just a copy-paste job, or if it just a boring, uninteresting one, you will just be contradicting yourself!
- Forget the superlatives. Delete the frills. Present the facts in a no-nonsense way.
- Abandon the cliches and just quantify your achievements. It is a surefire way to improve your resume in one shot.
It is easy to use cliches, but difficult to give your resume that unique, professional touch. But the effort will pay off!
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