Resumés

Words to rev up your resume

Most job seekers would love to believe that hiring managers put as much effort into reading their resumes as they did in writing them.

SUN MEDIA NEWS SERVICES

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The fact is they don't. In fact, most resumes have one minute or less to dazzle a hiring manager before being deemed "pass" or "fail."

Against odds like that, every one of a resume's words has got to count.

"When you list your achievements, pay attention to how you write about them. The words you choose have a huge influence on employers. Employers will judge your resume on how well you communicate, so it's important to choose powerful words," say Jim Bright and Joanne Earl,

co-authors of the recently released book Amazing Resumes, Second Edition.

In their book, Bright and Earl outline a list of verbs to help job seekers pack their resumes with a punch. "You can also add power adverbs to boost the strength of your selling verbs even more," they say.

Job seekers should also be aware that there are dozens of words that can demean their resume because of their negative connotation. Job seekers should also be wary of cliches. "These are the overused phrases that become meaningless and irritating. At best, they will be disregarded; at worst, they will irritate the reader," say Bright and Earl.

Below are some examples:

VERBS THAT PACK A PUNCH:

Achieved

Analyzed

Built

Compiled

Contributed

Controlled

Designed

Directed

Discovered

Eliminated

Established

Finalized

Founded

Initiated

Investigated

Managed

Modified

Organized

Overcame

Persuaded

Presented

Reorganized

Selected

Supervised

Trained

Transformed

Won

POWER ADVERBS:

Assertively

Capably

Carefully

Competently

Consistently

Cooperatively

Creatively

Decisively

Effectively

Efficiently

Energetically

Enthusiastically

Flexibly

Positively

Quickly

Rapidly

Responsibly

Resourcefully

Selectively

Successfully

WORDS TO BE AVOIDED:

Abandoned

Argued

Attempted

Avoided

Conflicted

Disciplined

Dismissed

Failed

Lost

Relied

Relinquished

Succumbed

Tried

Withdrew

CLICHES TO STEER CLEAR OF:

Mission-critical

Blue-sky

Out of the box

Cutting-edge

Seamless

Team player

Big picture

Win-win