What are the first phrases that come to your mind when you think of a resume? Are they similar to, let's say, "I am hardworking..", or "I am very passionate about.."?
If so, your application would sound like any other one from the countless resumes on the table. And having such clichés is the last thing you want the recruiter to see.
The overuse of common phrases will give your application a very generalized look. If you are updating your resume, the career specialists at resume writing service recommend that you stay away from the overused phrases. It might be time to find them and replace them with the original combinations attuned to your target job.
Monotonous Summaries
The summary is essentially the opening line of your resume. You need to start it strong to catch the eye of the recruiter. Importantly, this is the one place you want to avoid the most cliches. Think of it as an elevator pitch. You have only a few seconds, how would you sell yourself to the recruiter?
Come up with short, specific sentences, and offer details. It might be an excellent place to include your achievements without overselling yourself.
Use of Ambiguous Buzzwords
As mentioned in the intro, it is evident that the majority of resumes contain adorning vague phrases. These are "strong communication skills," "proven track record," or "attention to detail." Such features are, of course, desirable for every employee. However, these do not tell anything to the hiring manager regarding your skills or qualifications pertaining to the job.
So what can you do to address this issue? Instead of merely including the keywords given in the job description, provide them with an example of how you put your strong communication skills to use in the previous roles. Similarly, if you want to stress that you are a team player, describe a time when you collaborated successfully with others.
Adding Filler Information
Regardless of its length, your resume should tell the story to the hiring manager that you are a right fit for the position. This does not mean you have to ramble on for pages about every job you have taken. Rather, you need to pick and choose the relevant parts of your background that are the most compelling.
This is particularly crucial for fresh graduates and students as they tend to use filler information to give the appearance of work experience. You need not list out every club you are a member of or the hobbies. As a rule of thumb, if the information doesn't relate directly to your target job, it is best to leave it off your resume.
A Long List of Responsibilities
The approach of listing all your job duties has now become more of the old-school style. Remember that recruiters are already aware of what specific roles entail. It would be best if you replaced the responsibilities with quantifiable accomplishments.
Points such as "devised a strategy to cut expenses by 30%" would offer a better understanding of the value you can bring to the employer. You have to emphasize what you achieved. If your job role is difficult to quantify, you can include phrases such as "assisted in the transition to a cloud interface" or "helped establish a social media presence that increased traffic."
Overselling Accomplishments
While focusing on achievements is indeed a good idea, overselling is entirely different from highlighting some strengths. Exaggerating your qualifications may lead you to trouble later. For once, recruiters can easily identify lies, or it might come out during the reference phone call or interview.
If such a situation occurs, it will affect your personal brand. Even if you get hired, you might get assigned a task you are not prepared for and you will have a tough time handling it. If you cannot offer concrete examples of your skills, think twice before putting it down on the resume.
Vague Dates
Many times, job seekers tend to write only the years instead of the precise dates. For a recruiter, it might seem like you are trying to hide something, such as employment gaps. If the hiring manager is interested in you, this vagueness might set them off.
If you have had a short stay at a particular company, it is best to include a brief explanation and add it to your employment timeline. This will avoid recruiters making their own (probably wrong) guesses.
Adding Irrelevant Skills
Everyone uses social media, but that does not make you a social media expert unless you can prove that you helped a professional account grow in the number of followers.
Likewise, unless explicitly required to include Microsoft Office skills, you need not mention it. In this day and age, everybody is and should be well-versed in using the Office tools.
Careless Mistakes
Though this one is not really a writing cliche, it's indeed a common mistake. You would be surprised to know how many people send out a resume without proofreading it. A silly spelling mistake, odd spacing, inconsistent font size can rid a good portion of resumes in any pile.
You might be under the impression that vibrant or creative resumes will set you apart. But it might not work with every employer. If you are keeping the same format for all jobs, it is best to stick to the grids and avoid getting too creative not to get lost in the process.
Wrapping Up
Today, everybody is (or at least should be) a hard worker proactively taking up responsibilities. Many are dynamic and detail-oriented team players. These lines serve as a perfect example of what you should strive to avoid in your resume.
Keep it simple and short by including the precise information that applies to the target job. That is the only thing that the recruiter is looking for, and having a tailored resume will set you apart in a tough competition.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of sciencetimes.com
