4 Useless Words Used on a Resume (And How to Fix Them)

Your resume is your ticket to a job interview, so a lot is riding on it. But so many things can go wrong simply because you haven't been careful with your words. Obviously, if you’re struggling to find those words, you could always use a resume builder. In this article we will look at the very worst aspects of wording and phrasing, those words that simply do you no good at all with your attempts to use a resume to help you move ahead in the job race.

If you want to make progress when trying to find a move forward in your career, there are a few words and phrases to avoid. For example:

• Experience working in. This is a classic example of a phrase that is essentially meaningless and is seen again and again on arguably obsolete career objective. Experience essentially happens to you and if you state that you have experience in something it makes you a little passive, to be honest. It’s much better to state that you had achievements rather than experiences. So for example, ‘I achieved 10 successful hires at the agency…’

• Problem solving. This is not really a great aspect to include on your resume. Problem solving has been around for a number of years and while it may well have been a popular skill to talk about say, twenty years ago, it is now something that children in school can excel in. It also comes across as quite cliched too. Animals can solve problems. We solve problems when we can’t find our shoes. Think of more exciting and compelling skills to include in your resume.

• Hardworking. If there is one word that really does no good at all in a resume it is this one. Think about it. What kind of job applicant would actually admit to being lazy? Isn't it a given that you are a hardworking individual who stays late, makes the maximum effort and generally works like a slave? Okay, that last bit is a little over the top, but employers are not planning to hire a lazy person. So don't waste your time by saying that you are hardworking. You're meant to be. The very best resumes should show situations where you have applied your work ethic to the best of your ability. So talk about the time you ‘worked for over 50 hours on a project’ and this shows the dedication that employees are looking for.

• Proactive. This is again one of those over-used words that does nothing other than alienate you when it comes to getting attention from a prospective employer.Try and think about times when you were proactive, such as creating a startup that failed and how you overcome this with your newly acquired transferable skills. Simply detail those, rather than telling the reader that you have this attribute.

So there are some words and phrases that should not be used by anyone who wants to have a high quality resume that gains an interview. Avoid them, and ensure that your resume has a better chance of doing the job you need it to.