Words to avoid in your CV
Creating a winning CV is a feat of strategy involving focus, wording, design,
and content selection. To achieve a career marketing document that wins
interviews, all areas of the strategy must be spot-on and consciously used in
the most effective manner. One of the most common mistakes job candidates make
when writing their CVs is the mistake of not paying attention to strategy and
word selection.
There are actually words that are commonly used on CVs that can have a
detrimental impact on the effectiveness of the CV. When most job candidates
write their own CVs, they don't consider word choice because they are primarily
worried about getting down the basic information. Verbiage is critical and the
wrong word choice can sabotage your CV.
The average agent and/or hiring manager sees hundreds of CVs from qualified
candidates. CVs begin to look and sound the same to them. Here are some words
and phrases to avoid:
Soft-skill Descriptions
Job seekers feel they need to communicate their soft-skills to the
employer because they believe they are the traits that make them unique. There
is nothing further from the truth. Soft-skills are so common that hiring
managers pay no attention to them.
Soft-skill phrases to avoid or severely limit:
- Excellent communication skills
- Strong work ethic
- Personable presenter
- Detail-oriented
Do not bore the reader to tears with these trite, overused and tired phrases.
After all, no one will write that he/she takes long lunches, is lazy, and argues
a lot with peers. Hence, it is much more effective to write description that is
action-based and demonstrates these abilities rather than just laying claim to
them. For example, rather than just stating you are an "excellent presenter,"
you could say "Developed and presented 50+ multi-media presentations to
prospects resulting in 35 new accounts totalling £300,000 in new revenues."
Age, Health, Appearance
Many seasoned job seekers are facing that scary time warp known as
pre-retirement and fear age discrimination. They feel they can counter this
perceived hurdle by giving description of their age or health. Such description
can be death to a CV because rather than helping, it significantly hurts.
Age, health, appearance phrases to avoid:
- Youthful
- Athletic
- Fit
- Healthy
- Mature
Additionally, unless specifically requested, there is no need to include
personal information such as date of birth, marital status, children or other
similar information. This information is typically used to exclude candidates
from consideration in the hiring process rather than include them. Unless the
employer specifically asks, keep this information confidential.
Passive Voice
Many people write in passive voice because that is how we've been
taught to write "formally" in lower school composition. The problem with passive
voice, however, is that it is just that � passive! A CV needs to have punch and
sparkle and communicate an active, aggressive candidate. Passive voice does not
accomplish that.
Indicators of the passive voice:
- Responsible for
- Duties included
- Served as
- Actions encompassed
Rather than saying "Responsible for management of three direct reports" change
it up to "Managed 3 direct reports." It is a shorter, more direct mode of
writing and adds impact to the way the CV reads.
On the flip side, whilst action verbs are great, don't overdo it. I have
actually seen:
- Smashed numbers through the roof
- Electrified sales team to produce
- Pushed close rate by 10 per cent
Consider your word choice in a CV
A CV is a marketing document for your career just as a brochure is a marketing
document for a product or service. Companies put careful thought and
consideration into each and every word that goes into marketing copy and you
should do the same in your CV. These words stand in your place with the employer
and need to showcase you in a powerful way. In a perfect world, these
things would not matter, but in the reality of job search today, they matter a
great deal. Be wise -- stop and give some thought to the words you choose.
