What Made a Bad Resume
resume writing has its share of bad lingo that should be banished forever. Here are a few of the worst offenders:
“Responsible for…”
Almost every resume I see has “Responsible for” in the job description section, or its evil cousin, “Duties include.” Please, avoid using these words as they don’t do anything to help “sell” you on the resume. Anyway, your resume should be more focused on accomplishments and stand-out contributions, so you shouldn’t be spending much time writing about your responsibilities or your duties.
“Outstanding communication skills”
We must all have them, because this claim is stated on millions of resumes. Do yourself a favor and prove that you have outstanding communication skills by creating a well-written resume. You can also demonstrate that you have strong communication skills by including examples of projects that required these skills, such as creating reports and delivering speeches. Employers are getting tired of seeing “fluff” skills that don’t say much about how you actually used these skills.
“Strong organizational skills,” “detail-oriented,” and “multi-tasker”
These are just as bad as “outstanding communication skills” because they appear on so many resumes and don’t say anything about how the job seeker used these skills to benefit their employers. Instead of saying you have these skills, show that you have them by giving examples of related accomplishments.
“References available on request”
Really? I wouldn’t have known that you have references available so I’m so glad you used one of the most valuable sections of the resume – the finale – to tell me that. Folks, employers assume that you will have references when they’re ready to check them, so don’t waste the final line of your resume by including this statement.
“Seeking a challenging, growth-oriented position”
This is an example of what can be included in a bad objective, along with other fluff fillers like “looking for a position with opportunity for growth and advancement.” I hate to say this, but employers don’t care what you want. They care about what you can do for them. Remove fluffy statements from your objective, and replace with a qualifications summary that states your value proposition.
