27 Words and Phrases That Are Hurting Your Resume

Hiring managers and recruiters are inundated with resumes on a daily basis. They have to quickly determine which candidates are the best fit for the open position. You want to make sure they know that you are the best fit! So, it is important to know what may prevent a resume from being turned into an interview. There may be words and phrases that are hurting your resume and you don’t even know it.

There are general red flags a job seeker must understand about their resume. Most importantly, you must avoid poor grammar and spelling. It will not matter how great your accomplishments are if you can’t proofread your resume before sending it to a recruiter. Even an oversight of putting the wrong contact information can hinder your chances of being hired. This is why having someone proofread a resume is a must.

Other red flags for a recruiter are gaps in employment and short tenures at an organization. Without an explanation or having the confidence that they can contact your employer to find out why the tenures have been short, the recruiter will assume that you may not have “staying power” in the long run.

Unneeded information such as hobbies and interests outside of the job can be damaging, too. Hiring managers are less interested in how a candidate spends their free time — at least not immediately. They have deadlines and large piles of resumes to review, and right now, they’re just focused on finding candidates who meet the requirements. Of course, it’s okay to include a hobby if it’s related to the position you are applying for. If it’s a finance job, for example, mentioning that a hobby to dabble in cryptocurrency investing can be seen as a plus. But if you are trying to land a medical research assistant role, this would be irrelevant.

Another frequent mistake is including a headshot or family picture on your resume. Unless you’d like to be chosen as the leading actor for a big-screen movie, you don’t need to include a photo. In fact, there are potential drawbacks to doing so. For starters, some managers and recruiters find it “unprofessional.” It can also lead to unconscious bias. Details in the photograph including clothing, gender, race, or even age are all things that can potentially impact a recruiter’s decision-making, even if it’s done unintentionally. Lastly, there’s a small possibility that the photo can affect a resume format, leading to technical difficulties when it goes through applicant tracking systems.

More specifically, there are certain words and phrases to remove from your resume to make sure it stands out to the hiring manager. This can be challenging for some because so many of these words and phrases have been ingrained throughout the years.

Refrain from the buzzword problem! A resume is key to securing an interview, but you could potentially hurt your prospects by cluttering resumes with cringeworthy buzzwords. Another common mistake is trying to make an entry-level job sound much more exciting than it actually was by using jargon and synonyms, because a skilled hiring manager knows all the tricks. It’s much better to be clear, concise, and direct.

Business jargon/buzzwords to avoid:

1. Bottom line

2. Buy-in

3. Move the needle

4. Synergy

5. Value add

6. Wheelhouse

Another common mistake is using words that can make you seem like you are over speaking your value through self-promotion. Remember that anyone can say anything about themselves whether it is true or not, however, there are true results to share, or lack of results, that happened while they were employed somewhere.

Self-promotion words or phrases to avoid:

7. Go-getter

8. Go-to-person

9. Strategic thinker

10. Think outside the box

11. Results-driven

12. Detail-oriented

13. Proactive

You don’t have much time or space to make hiring managers understand why they should consider you as a candidate, so avoid taking up space with words like “people person.” Nearly every job will require you to work with other people, so unless you have a specific example that shows you are exceptionally skilled in this area, it’s not worth including.

Here are a few additional examples of phrases hiring managers often expect without needing to see them on your resume:

14. Hard worker

15. Self-motivated

16. Team player

17. Ambitious

18. Competent

19. Efficient

20. Experienced

21. Flexible

22. Goal-oriented

23. Knowledgeable

24. People-Person

25. Professional

26. Reliable

27. Well-organized

So, with all this being said, what words and phrases should you include on your resume!? The results you have accomplished. There should be quantifiable metrics of what you managed or goals that were achieved. An employer is hiring someone to solve a problem, exceed a goal and ultimately help them with a profit. This means the resume must speak to these accomplishments or skills. No amount of useless information or slick jargon will overcome an employer wanting to see what a candidate has done during their previous employment. A resume that shares measurable results can tell a story of what you’ve accomplished so far during your career. Some examples of this are:

Goal-oriented: “In my time at XYZ company, I led the sales department for two years by exceeding the sales manager’s goal to reach XYZ # of sales.

Team Player: “While employed at XYZ company, I was able to show my desire to be a team player by helping take on several tasks for other employees to help them. These tasks were ___________. I also helped with team morale by planning holiday parties.”

Experienced: “I have had over 15 years of experience in this field. During my career, I have been able to adapt, grow and add value to each company I have worked for over these years. Some of examples of this are ___________.”

Flexible: “XYZ Company needed me to take on another role due to a staffing shortage. I was able to help maintain both this role and my other role in order to help the company.”

Reliable: “While at XYZ company, I was able to afford them the confidence of someone who was reliable. I never called out sick on the day of or took unallotted time off. If I was given a deadline, I was sure to meet each one.”

The same principle applies to business jargon as well. Rather than telling an employer that you’re a strategic thinker, tell a story with a result that shows them how you used strategic thinking and problem solving. When used properly, words have the power to make your resume tell a story of the value you could add to a team. The hiring managers are asking the questions, “Who is the best fit for this role, and can they help our company achieve its goals?” Your resume should hold the answer!

Examples of past work give employers clear evidence of how you differ from other applicants. They are looking for examples of times you delivered value, and whenever possible, with numbers or percentages to support these claims. Consider the following list of words that can be helpful as you develop a resume with action statements that clearly show the value you’ll bring to their team: