Career Advisor Says: Words to Never Use in Your Resume

04/28/2010

Career advisor Liz Ryan was on “The Early Show on Saturday Morning” this past weekend with advice on how to make your resume stand out. Although her advice was directed at all job seekers, the advice is especially helpful for those of you who are looking for your first job and writing your first resume.
 
When writing a resume it is easy to throw in popular catch phrases or terms like “team player” or “strong work ethic.” But the problem with these phrases is that everyone else is also including them on their resume, preventing you from standing out!
 
The best way to avoid these common phrases is to use examples that showcase your skills. Don’t write “I have a strong work ethic,” but describe the extra-curricular or volunteer activities you pursued on top of your school work. Don’t claim you’re a “team player,” show the number of years you were a member of your high school basketball team.
 
Also add any important achievements or ways you excelled. Were you captain of your swim team, a member of the Student Council or on the Dean’s List? These are great things to include to show how your experiences set you apart from other candidates.
 
Liz also gives us another really great piece of advice on how to keep your resume from going into a black hole. She tells job seekers to avoid sending your resume and cover letter to human resources and instead find the name of the key person at the company (Linked In is a great resource for this) and send you resume directly to them. By going a step further than the average job seeker you will show your future employer that you are “results oriented” without having to write it out in your resume!