Words and Phrases to Avoid on Your Resume VOCABULARY track - [ trak ] - verb to follow the progress, development, or movement of something I've started using the MyFitnessPal app to track my weight. recruiter - [ ri - kroo - ter ] - noun a person whose job is to find someone to join a company or organiz ation I'm constantly getting emails from this recruiter. resume - [ rez - oo - mey] noun a document that describes a person's education, previous jobs, etc. You have a very impressive resume. revenue - [ rev - uh n - yoo] noun money that a government or organization earns Newspapers rely on advertising for most of their revenue. deliver - [ dih - liv - er ] - verb to produce or provide something expected or promised Politicians rarely deliver on their election promises. exceptional - [ ik - sep - sh uh - nl ] - adjective extremely or unusually good; unusual The designers at this advertising company always do exceptional work. Eye - tracking research conducted in 2018 revealed that recruiters spend, on average, approximately seven seconds reading a résumé. How therefore can you distinguish yourself from the competitors so quickly? One method is to avoid using phrases and terms that hiring managers despise. When the US employment website CareerBuilder surveyed more than 2,000 hiring managers in 2014, frequent resume phrases such as "team player," "hard worker," and "self - motivated" were among their least favored. These phrases take up space but do little to demon strate how you will contribute to the company's success. They are also attributes that most companies anticipate you to possess. The action words "achieved," "trained," "managed," and "produced" were the most preferred by hiring managers, according to a st udy by CareerBuilder. These phrases can be utilized to provide clear instances of what you've accomplished. Additionally, they favored adjectives such as "increased" or "decreased," as well as "revenue" and "under budget" - words that help explain your acc omplishments in a concrete manner. Therefore, rather than simply asserting that you possess particular abilities, it is preferable to demonstrate them. As an alternative to stating that you are a "team player" and "great communicator" who "delivers outcome s," you may say: Over a period of four years, I increased revenue by 130% while overseeing a sales team of twelve. Communicated with three departments to establish an enterprise - wide payment system four months ahead of schedule and 10% under budget. Also, avoid phrases that seem too much like self - promotion, such as "rock star," "extraordinary," and "expert" — anyone can make these claims. But don't be too basic; only stating that you were "responsible for" something sounds inadequate. The same holds true f or having "job experience in" something. So, although you shouldn't declare you're "a sales rock star with great interpersonal skills," you also shouldn't say you have "sales experience" and were "responsible for three departments." Use these action phrase s to illustrate all the people you've trained or managed, as well as the fantastic things you've created and accomplished!