Does your resume or LinkedIn profile give readers a clear understanding of your background and qualifications for a new job?
When writing your professional documents, you want to communicate the information as clearly as possible. Several phrases are often used in resumes and LinkedIn profiles, but are not actually helpful:
- Adept at…
- Recognized for…
- Demonstrated ability …
- Solid track record…
- Respected for…
- Trusted to…
Here are the problems with these resume phrases:
- Saying that you are “adept at…” does not adequately describe your strengths and experience. If you are not “adept at…” something, then don’t include it on your resume! You need to be able to back up your claims with clear descriptions of your strengths and experience.
- You don’t want to start a sentence with a passive verb when an active verb has more impact. Some alternatives might look like this:
- Builds trust by having impeccable follow-up on all work involving someone else. That person can count on you to get things done. This explains how you do it.
- Promoted four times by turning around under-performing sales territories that had increasingly complex business problems. This explains what you did and the results.
- Provided training and support for junior employees to be instrumental in their moving into new jobs for their own career growth. Management style includes training, mentoring, and setting stretch goals for each person. This explains your value to the employer by doing things beyond what is stated in your job description. It also states the results.
- People don’t talk this way in normal conversation. It sounds too formal and awkward. The resume needs to match what you will say in a conversation. Does it sound like you?
You can definitely strengthen your resume by merely using active verbs and offering more detailed descriptions of your work and how you do it.
I am a resume writer and a coach who has almost 20 years of experience helping people get jobs. If you have found these ideas to be helpful, give me a call so we can discuss your resume. There is NO CHARGE for an initial consultation. so click here to schedule an appointment.
I look forward to speaking with you!