Responses to Resume Phrases That Need to Go Away

A couple of weeks ago I published an article talking about what resume phrases I would love to see go away because they are cliche, boring, uninformative, or just dull.
Do These 10 phrases Kill A Resume?

My original list was:
1. "I'm a Team-Player."
2. "I Have Great Communication Skills."
3. "I Have a Proven Track-Record."
4. "I Have a Strong Work Ethic."
5. "I'm Self-Motivated."
6. "I'm Accustomed to a Fast-Paced Environment."
7. I'm a Hard Worker"

It started an interesting discussion.
Here are some of the comments:

Nazimah SM• ..and in its place, what would be recommended? I understand that seeing thousands of the same phrase would be exasperating but to the person putting himself forward - this is the only chance to tell the recruiter what kind of employee he is. Its calling a spade a spade and as a recruiter, I would appreciate that. We can't run away from cliches and generic phrases -- when job adverts and employers ask for "team player, independent individuals with good interpersonal skills" themselves - what chance does an applicant have unless he parrots all that in the application - or risk the CV being trashed for "not meeting the requirements"?

GWB 房东 • " At the end of the day " gets on my nerves as does " I can think outside the box" which leads me to ask, so what were you doing in there in the first place?

Charles Stoten • I think because is one of the strongest words on a CV. I am a team player because... I have great communication skills because.... They are relevant to an application but they are banded about and inevitably have no meaning unless they are substantiated. I goes back to features and benefits. The above are all features we look for but what is the benefit of these. I am a team player because in my previous role I had to work with a team to achieve a joint goal or target and this was achieved by......

Brian Gordon-Stables • Most people put the generic phrases on their CV which does ultimately cheapen or dilute the impact. Charles is right - if they back it up with reasons why then it becomes more credible. Everet - I don't agree with all of your hit list. "Proven track record" is very useful in sales roles if you can back it up with facts and figures. Again - "accustomed to fast paced environment" is something that some of my clients ask for. I think we grow weary of seeing the same phrases but as Zazimah says, what do they replace it with? If you can substantiate it then it could be considered a valid statement.
Personally I don't like "punctual, presentable and honest". I expect that as a given not a CV highlight!

Michele L. Perry • Everyone makes valid points in this discussion. Industry standards says to pick up the words and phrases from the job description to show that your skills and abilities fit what they are looking for. However, that can become a trap of its own if people are just mimicking what they see in the ad without really possessing those qualifications. I agree with you about what you expect as a given, Brian but I'm thinking not all potential employees are punctual, presentable or honest. Besides, they may be focusing attention on those things to cover over a lack of experience for the specified job.

Paul Roberts • "I'm a fast learner"
Go on then. Give me an example (with proof) of something you learned faster than someone else...

David Gillies • My "vast" knowledge/experience.....

Jim Replogle • I like this question....Never say I was responsible for-...if i wanted a job description I can call your employer and get that....Never say I would have, could have, should have....tell me what you did....I love data so numbers are even better.....tell me things you identified as a problem in the work place and how you fixed it....tangible things you have done!....and lots of em

Jo Ann Stewart • As a Recruiter I really don't look at those phrasings--I am looking for the "meat".

Everet Kamikawa 

There are lots of great points so far:

Nazimah makes a great point about what should candidates replace the phrases with. Part of it is the job ads. Employers need to learn to write better ads. If they don't rely on cliches then candidates won't either. Brian, Michelle, and Jim I agree with you to back up phrases with numbers. A sales resume is a great example. "A proven track record" is a phrase I see a lot with no numbers to back it up. Changing the phrase to "A proven track record of raising revenue from $500K to $2.7M in three years" provides more meat.

Brian mckenzie • I would quit using them, when employers quit keying them into the ad and and using them as Taleo X key word filters.
Just a few of my favorites from the other side of the cutting table, this afternoon:

• Performance management and quality improvement (when it is a government social agency that is neither branded as quality or performance)
• Diligence and integration (when the business cannot manage to follow up with a call or email)
• Exceptional organizational skills (when the ad has its own spelling errors; especially in the certifications it is seeking)
• Translates business operations (especially when it is NOT language job)
• Required B2B solutions experience ( when there is not history of the company, and they are NOT ready to delineate between practices between retail and corporate)
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills (pure jibber jabber)
• Career advancement potential locally, nationally and internationally (when in fact, they don't have an overseas location, have no corporate intentions of it, and think that answering a phone call from outside of the US means they are 'international' )
• Don't even get me started on Divercity, Esperienced, Liscensed, Accrediated, Certificated and my all time favorite HIPPA
• (spelling errors are from their ads, and not mine)

Mark Thomas:
Some of my resume pet peeves:

“Successfully (insert some activity)……” I would hope is was successful if it was on your resume. “Creative….” Who says? One person’s creative is another person’s passé.
“Visionary…” Means you have hallucinations.
“Tenacious….” Translation: Obnoxious
“Resilient….” You must have screwed up plenty to develop this to be your strength.
“Empowering….” Does not manage nor make quick decisions
“Sense of urgency…” Also means senseless urgency, which is just wasted energy.


In each case, if the term really applies, you can create a bullet point that illustrates how successful the project was, how creative the idea was, how visionary the direction was, how tenacity led to achieving a goal, how resilience helped you overcome adversity, the extent to which your empowered team moved critical metrics, and how your sense of urgency implemented a solution before anyone knew it was a problem.
Just my two cents (or, too sense)

If you have other resume phrases you cannot stand please feel free to comment. Thanks to everyone who participated or read this article!
Ev
"A Heck of A Nice Guy"