Creating a good resume is essential because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up allowing people to get better jobs. In spite of the fact that this is the case, a lot of people make mistakes by including overused terms in their CVs. Preply recently did an analysis of over millions of resumes that were sent out in 2022, and this analysis revealed some interesting trends that job hunters can try to avoid.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that the single most widely used word in US resumes was “responsible”. This word was used about 5.3 million times, and interestingly it does not correspond with the most popular word in British resumes with all things having been considered and taken into account. Responsible fell to second place in the list for UK applicants, with “skilled” taking the top spot with just under 2.2 million uses or 2.18 million to be precise.
Other words that are commonly used in CVs attempt to impress recruiters by giving a personable image to the applicant. That is why words like “social” and “friendly” are so popular among job applicants. Buzzwords that can outline career achievements are also quite common, and they include terms like “maintained”, “managed” as well as “completed”.
Avoiding these words can make CVs less generic than might have been the case otherwise, which is important in a world of highly saturated labor markets. Another interesting bit of info that this study revealed was that there are several words that are commonly misspelled.
Job hunters who don’t have good language skills often try to Google the correct spellings for words. The most commonly search word was “experienced”, with around 2,400 monthly searches indicating that many job hunters misspell it as “experianced”. Successful is another challenging word for job hunters, with around 1,900 searches per month suggesting that aspiring employees drop one of the Cs while spelling this word out.
The researchers behind this study highlighted a few tips that job hunters can use to distinguish their resumes. These tips are as follows:
1. Front Load With Action Verbs
Starting a sentence with an action verb like “answered” or “communicated” can bring the role you played front and center. It also helps to minimize the word count of your resume.
2. Avoid Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns such as “I” and “we” are already implied in the resume details. Instead of saying “We handled customer complaints”, try using “Handled customer complaints” to shorten your resume and make it more readable.
3. Adapt Your Language to the Job
Try not to use generalized language in your resume. Using industry and job role specific terms can indicate your value in a particular career much more effectively.
4. Provide Specific Proof of Skills/Accomplishments
Adding achievements to a resume is necessary, but some job hunters are too vague. It can be useful to be specific about your accomplishments. For example, add some stats and figures to provide more context.
5. Do a Spell and Grammar Check
Misspelled words and poor grammar can reflect poorly on you. A quick spell and grammar check can help you sort them out.
Read next: New Study Sheds Light On The Way Consumers Are Dealing With Global Inflation
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that the single most widely used word in US resumes was “responsible”. This word was used about 5.3 million times, and interestingly it does not correspond with the most popular word in British resumes with all things having been considered and taken into account. Responsible fell to second place in the list for UK applicants, with “skilled” taking the top spot with just under 2.2 million uses or 2.18 million to be precise.
Other words that are commonly used in CVs attempt to impress recruiters by giving a personable image to the applicant. That is why words like “social” and “friendly” are so popular among job applicants. Buzzwords that can outline career achievements are also quite common, and they include terms like “maintained”, “managed” as well as “completed”.
Avoiding these words can make CVs less generic than might have been the case otherwise, which is important in a world of highly saturated labor markets. Another interesting bit of info that this study revealed was that there are several words that are commonly misspelled.
Job hunters who don’t have good language skills often try to Google the correct spellings for words. The most commonly search word was “experienced”, with around 2,400 monthly searches indicating that many job hunters misspell it as “experianced”. Successful is another challenging word for job hunters, with around 1,900 searches per month suggesting that aspiring employees drop one of the Cs while spelling this word out.
The researchers behind this study highlighted a few tips that job hunters can use to distinguish their resumes. These tips are as follows:
1. Front Load With Action Verbs
Starting a sentence with an action verb like “answered” or “communicated” can bring the role you played front and center. It also helps to minimize the word count of your resume.
2. Avoid Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns such as “I” and “we” are already implied in the resume details. Instead of saying “We handled customer complaints”, try using “Handled customer complaints” to shorten your resume and make it more readable.
3. Adapt Your Language to the Job
Try not to use generalized language in your resume. Using industry and job role specific terms can indicate your value in a particular career much more effectively.
4. Provide Specific Proof of Skills/Accomplishments
Adding achievements to a resume is necessary, but some job hunters are too vague. It can be useful to be specific about your accomplishments. For example, add some stats and figures to provide more context.
5. Do a Spell and Grammar Check
Misspelled words and poor grammar can reflect poorly on you. A quick spell and grammar check can help you sort them out.
Read next: New Study Sheds Light On The Way Consumers Are Dealing With Global Inflation
