Hiring managers rank best and worst words in resumes: CareerBuilder Survey

NEW DELHI: Go-getter, team player, hard worker and strategic thinker. A new survey by human capital solutions firm CareerBuilder seems to suggest it would help to steer clear of these terms when you are posting your resume next time.

A sample of hiring managers identified which commonly-used resume terms are overused and which are strong additions in the survey, CareerBuilder said in a statement. The survey was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder and included a representative sample of 2,201 hiring managers and human resources professionals across industries.

While best of breed was rated as the worst resume term at 38%, go getter, think outside of the box, synergy, go to person, and thought leadership were the other resume turn offs at 27%, 26%, 22%, 22% and 16% respectively.

But, help seemed to be at hand as employers also suggested certain words and terms they would like to see in a resume. The recommended words indicate the efforts and action taken by aspirants to get things done. Achieved was ranked as the most preferred word at 52%,and improved, trained/mentored, managed, created and resolved were the other favourites at 48% 47%, 44%, 43%, and 40% respectively.

"Recruiters prefer information that is presented in a succinct, attractive & attention-grabbing manner," said Premlesh Machama, managing director at CareerBuilder India said in a statement. " Instead of using a generalised resume approach, recruiters prefer a targeted and much more effective approach. It is better to avoid clichés and subjective terms as they don't convey real information,” he added.

According to the survey hiring managers spend 30 seconds or less, on an average, reviewing resumes. A majority (68%) spend less than two minutes. With so little time left to capture interest, the candidate's choice of words can make a difference.