8 Words or Phrases Never to Include in Your Resume

8 Words or Phrases Never to Include in Your Resume 8 Words or Phrases Never to Include in Your Resume According to a CareerBuilder survey, 17% of hiring managers spendan average of 30 secondslooking at a resume before deciding iftheyre interested in a candidate. Having toolittletime to read each one in depth, obvious resume red flags, like an outdated resume format, typos, or too many unmatched resume fonts, are immediately eliminated. Even those that pass initial scrutiny can still fall prey to one of the fruchtwein abiding faux pas of resume donts poor diction. By this we mean those hackneyed termsthat are ripe for resume retirement. Here, well talk about eight of the resume words nearly every hiring manager hates.1. ObjectiveObjective is a no-no because it is part of Objective Statement, an outdated phrase on any resume. Thesestatementsfell out of favor because they talked more about what a job seeker would get out of a position, rather than focusing on what a job seeker would bri ng to a position. The company-focused term is, instead, a career summary, which describes a job seekers most relevant skills, qualities, and accomplishments that would make them a good fit for a position.A career summary (also called executive summary) is a better alternative to an objective statement.2. Highly-qualifiedIf you use the word highly-qualified on your resume, youre likely to seem anything but. Plus, youll be including one of recruiters turn offs. Rather thanbeing so bold as to list this word,let your highly-qualified status become evident to readers by virtue ofyour accomplishments, experience, and education.3. Team player orHard workerThese phrases are both clichd and vague they dont say much about what you did in a previous position. Instead of using language that is likely on every resume, trade out phrases like these for measurable objectives. Measurable accomplishments are quantifiable achievements you performed in a position, usually expressedin the form of numbe rs, percentages, and profit.4. UtilizedUtilized is just a dressed-up version of the word use. Dont try to fancy up a perfectly workable verb in order to sound more accomplished. Recruiters can see right through these tactics. Skills and achievements, when properly highlighted (as through the aforementioned measurable results), need no furtherembellishments.5. Self-motivated orGo-getterYou dont want to include too much generalizing, especially about describing how great you are. Instead of including these praiseworthy adjectives, include verbs like improved or created about your measurable accomplishments to let the reader make his or her own judgments about you.6. ProactiveProactive is one of those resume buzzwords that doesnt say much. While it might sound good, it doesnt tell the recruiter how exactly youre proactive. Instead of listing words that sound good, scan the job posting and your resume through Jobscan. Jobscan pulls keywords from the job posting that you should match on your resume. Whiletailoring, look through those pulled keywords to find one or more that demonstrate your proactive attitude more specifically.Take the time to tailor your resume to each job.7. References available upon requestAnother ghostof resumes past, References available upon request takes up space unnecessarily all employers will require references, and they will expect that job seekers will provide them.8. Was and BecameThese verbs of being dont talk about what you did in previous positions, the most important function of your resume. Instead of writing verbs like these,include action verbsto createvisuals in your readers heads.Bottom line use words that help recruiters understand who you areand what you can bring to the table, in the quickest and most straightforward way. Ditch superfluous terms.Your language should beclear in expressing what youve done and the various ways in which youve achieved them.