The QUEST Centre Community Initiatives

Every word on your resume counts in today’s competitive job market. But some words count more than others – especially those that refer to soft skills. Soft skills are increasingly important in the workplace. In fact, 86% pf employers considered soft skills to be among their most important hiring criteria in a recent survey.

‘Teamwork’
Teamwork is more important than ever in the workplace. The ability to work well with others to accomplish a common goal is vital for a harmonious workplace. Employees are often organized into teams to manage projects. And many employers believe collaboration increases the quality of work and improves productivity. A team player is an attentive listener, a colleague and is willing
to help others.

‘Flexibility’
Employers value workers who are flexible and able to juggle multiple tasks simultaneously. In other words, it’s sometimes just as important to be a jack-of-all-trades as a master of one. You can show that you’re flexible by demonstrating a willingness to take on new and varied projects and an ability
to handle changing priorities and deadlines. Ultimately, being flexible doesn’t only increase the odds that you’ll get a job – it also improves your chance of keeping it should layoffs occur.

‘Detail-Oriented’
Employers want to know that they can trust workers to handle a project down to the last detail. Being detail-oriented means being organized and meticulous about your work. It also implies that you can work without constant supervision and act independently.

‘Self-Motivated’
Employers value employees who are self-starters. These workers can generate their own ideas and follow them through to fruition. A self-motivated worker goes the extra mile. She regularly takes on tasks that may not be part of her job description. She’s inspired to work hard not just to reap rewards but also for personal satisfaction.

Words That Weaken Your Resume

Written by Caroline Levchuck

More than just your accomplishments make your resume stand out. How you communicate them matters too. For maximum impact, keep your resume as concise as you can. You need to include all your achievements in only one to two pages.

‘Assist,’ ‘Contribute’ and ‘Support’
An employer won’t know what you did if the wording on your resume is too vague. Words like assist, contribute and support all say the same thing. They say you helped, but they don’t say how. They beg the question: Exactly how did you assist, contribute or support a person or project? Use these words sparingly and always follow them with a description of your role and responsibilities.

‘Successfully’
Of course you want to show all that you’ve accomplished on your resume. But your achievements will be more impressive if you give concrete examples of what you’ve done and how you’ve been successful.

‘Responsible For’
The phrase ‘responsible for’ can make your resume feel like a laundry list. Instead of just listing your responsibilities, try to stress your accomplishments. Your resume will also have more of an impact if you quantify your accomplishments.

Don’t flower your resume with fancy words. By trying to sound intelligent, you may end up annoying or confusing your reader. “Synergy” and “liaise” are examples of buzzwords that have been overused and abused. Say what you mean plainly and simply. For example, instead of “interface” say “work”. Instead of “utilize” say “use.”

Words To Avoid In Your Resume

Written by Christopher Jones

Most resume writing guides focus on “power-words”—words that promise to grab the attention of recruiters as they scan hundreds of resumes -- but few tell you what words to avoid in your resume.

Abbreviations and Acronyms
Too many abbreviations and acronyms in a resume make it unreadable. As a rule, avoid using abbreviations and acronyms unless they are commonly recognized.

Personal Pronouns
Since your resume is all about you, the addition of “I” or “me” is redundant. Since a resume should contain no unnecessary words, there is no place for the personal pronoun.

Negative Words
These words spell death for a resume. Words like “arrested,” boring,” fired,” hate,” and “sexist” catch a recruiter’s eye. If there are difficult issues you want to raise save them for the interview.

Keep these words to a Minimum
There are other words that are sometimes necessary in a resume, but that should nevertheless be kept to a minimum. Among these:

§ Abused words: a, also, an, because, the, very

§ Any word you can’t define: You may think using these words make you sound smart, but if you use them incorrectly they could kill your chances of landing a job

§ Words that can be embarrassing if spelled wrong: assess, skills

These articles were retrieved from Yahoo! Hot Jobs. These and other job search tools can be found at www.hotjobs.yahoo.com