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Title: Words Not to Include on a CV Post by: gee4 on January 12, 2011, 09:14:47 am The link below leads to an article on the DD home page entitled Words NOT to Include on a CV. I just wondered how much you agree or disagree with this? Previously we WERE encouraged to use such words and phrases, now it seems it's a no-no.
http://www.deskdemon.com/pages/uk/news/details?id=164 Title: Re: Words Not to Include on a CV Post by: msmarieh on January 12, 2011, 04:25:20 pm I have mixed opinions, but on the whole, I tend to agree that they are overused and trite and have no real meaning to the employers. They are generic "buzzwords".
Title: Re: Words Not to Include on a CV Post by: gee4 on January 12, 2011, 04:35:47 pm Exactly! Buzz words I was always told that employers look for and which you can be marked on for using. Is this not the case now? It seems contradictory in terms.
I have a very useful website which I have always used in the past - never seemed to do me any harm. In addition, I disagree that these words "have no real meaning to employers". If expanded on, they can have meaning. Title: Re: Words Not to Include on a CV Post by: chikky on January 20, 2011, 07:34:55 pm I have to agree with Gee. Is it me, but when looking at employers ads for admin positions, those "buzz words" appear in those adverts?
Title: Re: Words Not to Include on a CV Post by: gee4 on January 20, 2011, 10:05:33 pm AND recruitment agencies use them even more so when doing a sales pitch.
Title: Re: Words Not to Include on a CV Post by: Katie G on January 20, 2011, 10:36:21 pm What I took from the article is that you need to be careful using those words if you can't back them up. The example they use about saying "Ten years experience" as opposed to "Extensive experience" made a lot of sense to me.
We're going through a hiring process for a senior level director and I've seen a lot of resumes and cover letters coming across my desk. These words seem to appear, in some combination, on almost all of them. Going back to the example of experience, the applicant who says they are "experienced" and then lists a good 10 years of valid, related, progressive experience is one thing. The applicant who claims to be "experienced" and then lists only 18 months in a vaguely related position sends an entirely different message. In the first case, the word actually means something. In the second, it comes across as meaningless fluff. Title: Re: Words Not to Include on a CV Post by: gee4 on January 20, 2011, 11:36:30 pm What I took from the article is that you need to be careful using those words if you can't back them up. The example they use about saying "Ten years experience" as opposed to "Extensive experience" made a lot of sense to me. Katie, I would have thought it was quite obvious what 10 years' experience is compared to 18 months...that's why we add such information to CVs and application forms. Anyone reading those documents would be able to differentiate between that information... eg. I have extensive experience as a PA having spent the past 20 years working in both the public and private sectors. I don't believe these words should be avoided. Title: Re: Words Not to Include on a CV Post by: gee4 on August 10, 2011, 02:35:40 pm Interesting reading...a further article relating to buzz words on the home page, this time about CV buzz words...
http://www.deskdemon.com/dnet/userpage.php?page_id=468 Once again it seems these are useless, unless you can back them up. Title: Re: Words Not to Include on a CV Post by: jennika on August 10, 2011, 04:57:47 pm I actually agree with this. IF it is related to ME, I would use buzz words, not really to "hype" up a resume (or CV to those across the pond), but if it is factual I would. I think "team player" is a buzz word but it describes my situation so would definitely use it. I think most advice is subjective to the writer and you have read it, then make your own decision on what words to use. Even the articles I have wrote on the blogs, not everyone agrees with me or shares the same views but that is ok!
Title: Re: Words Not to Include on a CV Post by: gee4 on August 12, 2011, 09:07:06 am In the last episode of the recent series of The Apprentice, the remaining contestants attended 4 interviews. One of those used cliché after cliché and it was nothing but cringeworthy.
'I'm not a show pony, or a one-tricky pony. I'm not a jack-ass or a stubborn mule, and I'm definitely not a wild stallion that needs to be tamed. I am the champion thoroughbred that this process requires." Asked to describe himself without using a cliché and he said, "I am what it says on the tin"....which is what exactly? I think certain words and phrases on a CV or at interview are appropriate, but common clichés are to be avoided. |