Don't Use These 10 Terms In Your Resume Or Cover Letter (Employers are sick of them)

Business Insider ^ | 12/13/2011 | Aimee Groth

[SeekAndFind]

LinkedIn just released the most overused words in its 85 million user profiles. They are:

1. Extensive experience

2. Innovative

3. Motivated

4. Results-oriented

5. Dynamic

6. Proven track record

7. Team player

8. Fast-paced

9. Problem solver

10. Entrepreneurial

The company says to completely eliminate these in your resumes or cover letters, and instead replace them with specific examples of how you're a problem solver, etc.

[Darren McCarty]

And especially for attorneys, paralegals and legal secretaries, always, always, ALWAYS include the ‘l’ in ‘public’. Always. Seriously. I have seen at least a half dozen resumes with that error.

That's a good way to get laughs if it is read by an attorney. That puts "Public defender" and "Public interest lawyer" in a whole different light.

However, if you're the in house counsel of some pub(l)ic school districts, is it a typo or Freudian slip these days?

[andy58-in-nh]

No problem. I did mean to exclude any category of government work except for the military services.

We've all been to the DMV before, and some of us old-timers even remember what the inside of a US Post Office looked like. The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles was the worst: two-hour waiting times with lines stretching out the door. Six "service" windows - and only two "workers" (and I use both terms in the narrowest possible sense).

Sometimes, if you listened carefully, you could hear the moss growing beneath their feet.

Until break time, that is.

Then, they moved like Mark Sanchez avoiding a blitzing linebacker. Duck and run.

[andy58-in-nh]

That’s true - some businesses mistake activity for efficiency.

[In Maryland]

"Are there really any "slow-paced" workplaces out there in the 21st century?

Have you ever sold fine furniture? I did when I was a 20-something. Snooze-a-thon MOST of the time.

[EternalVigilance]

My number one deal-killer:

“Solutions.”

Sorry, Newt. “We’ll get back to you...”

[andy58-in-nh]

No, but I sometimes wish I worked in one of those discount mattress stores where if you get tired of being on your feet, you can flop down in the warehouse and catch a quick nap on a pillow-top queen.

[Darren McCarty]

It's really better to forget the resume and just find ways to get to know people on the inside. One "This guy's OK" from an insider counts a thousand times more than any document, no matter how much you paid to have it written.

I own two businesses. In both, I am the President/CEO/Chief Cook/Bottlewasher, etc. I get 90% of one of my businesses from either inside contacts, or friend of a friend.

I haven't received a job from a resume in years.

[j_tull]

That’s good because at the end of the day, I’m a real go-getter, who thinks outside the box and won’t take no for an answer.

You missed one.

[dfwgator]

. In both, I am the President/CEO/Chief Cook/Bottlewasher, etc.

Didn't I see you on "In Living Color"?

[j_tull]

Are we talking piecework, commissions or billable hours, or union shop ? Fixed your single omission.

[Larry Lucido]

11. Blogged for businessinsider.

[Larry Lucido]

You beat me. See my #91. :-)

[Bubba Ho-Tep]

I had, as the last item on my resume, “Game Show Appearances: Jeopardy.” Don’t know if it got me any interviews, but every interview I got asked about it and I was able to tell that story.

[Larry Lucido]

If I wrote a resume giving examples, it would be a book.

Would I look in "fiction" or "nonfiction"? :-)

[freedomlover]

“A really, really good shot at long distances through glass.
BTW your hair needs combing in the back today.”

[Hot Tabasco]

That’s good because I’m a real go-getter,

Then go get some more beer, we're running out.........

[CodeToad]

Plus LinkedIn has joined Google in matching email addresses so everyone who even remotely knows anyone that was on my LinkedIn account has been sent to me as “potential friends”. I promptly canceled my LinkedIn account and that finally stopped the spam.

[ottbmare]

Actually, what happens in many cases is that all resumes, whether submitted electronically or over the transom via snailmail, are handed to a processing company that unformats them and scans them. They are electronically searched for particular keywords that comply with the specifications for the job—length of experience, education, skills, etc. Though it’s not legal to screen for age, they get around this by looking for graduation dates. There is no leeway for, say, one year less than required experience, or an extra capability, or something that makes you truly stand out. The computer does not notice if your resume contains some evidence of superb performance; it only sees keywords and numbers. After this computer culling process, names and unformatted, crude versions of resumes are forwarded to humans who are involved in the company’s HR department or search committee (the latter for higher-level management positions).

It’s also interesting that, at least in my part of the US, most companies rely on only one such resume processing firm. This centralized firm also notes what other resumes you have sent in for other jobs, and those applications too are part of the report they pass on to a potential employer. This is a way of checking on your veracity as well as your desperation level. So if you are applying for a management job for which you’re really qualified, but you’re desperate and are also applying for a job as a stock person at the grocery chain, all that data is collected on you, too.

It’s a fairly creepy set-up, and it explains a lot about why people can’t get jobs.

My source for this is a very senior person at my former job, one of the most highly-placed executives, who was often involved with hiring at all levels. She was very sympathetic when hundreds of her employees were laid off simultaneously and was trying to help me as much as she could with good advice. The knowledge and advice she gave me has not, however, helped me get a job.

[Paladin2]

I can see where the "databases gone wild" could easily influence the winnowing of resumes - and not in a good way.

The last times I got jobs, the contacts were either at a job fair where if you pass initial muster, you get a quick interview from one of the actual hirers with a final interview at a (slightly) later date or had a "pimp" making the sale.

Thanks for the detailed info/reply. It's good to know.

[bert]

People have commented that I am trustworthy and as such am loyal to my employer. While I do my own work, I am always helpful to my colleagues and maintain a friendly attitude as I go about my tasks. I attempt to be courteous to associates and customers being kind even in the face of those who would change my cheerful attitude. While I am at heart a thrifty sort of person I find I must be brave when faced with those who would squander company money. I try to always be neat and clean and maintain a reverent demeanor when dealing with company officers.