Remove These Passive Words From Your Resume ASAP
2022 is officially here and those #TravelGoals won’t pay for themselves. As you’re setting intentions, refreshing your vision board and simply working on being the best version of yourself that you can be, let’s keep that same energy for your resume.
Oftentimes your resume is your first introduction to a talent recruiter or hiring manager and how you show-up matters…A LOT, specifically when describing your past work performance and skillset.
Filling your precious resume space with loose language or overused buzzwords can definitely backfire, as these tell a recruiter nothing specific or memorable about your work history.
Active verbs, also called "action or dynamic verbs," are words that you would use to describe an action that a subject is performing. They differ from passive verbs in that they put a focus on the sentence subject, while passive verbs highlight an object that receives the action in the sentence.
Indeed, How to Use Active Words in Your Resume and During an Interview
Using common business terms like “wheelhouse” or “go-to person” can seem like the best way to get your qualities across efficiently. However, words like these have become so overused that they have lost meaning and won’t help you stand out from other applicants.
Instead, choose action-oriented phrases that show rather than tell why you should be considered. For example, instead of saying that you’re a “results-driven team player that delivers impactful results,” hiring managers want to see something like, “I developed a streamlined delivery process that reduced revenue slip by 20%.”
Action words help you to focus on your accomplishments, performance and paint a clear picture of your work achievements, oftentimes backed by metrics (dollars, percentage, etc.) To make sure your resume doesn’t get overlooked, here a few words to keep and remove from your resume.
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