Hiring Managers Rank Best and Worst Resume Words

‘Best of breed’ (seriously?) gets most negative votes

One in six (17%) hiring managers spends 30 seconds or less, on average, reviewing r̩sum̩s, according to a new CareerBuilder survey. A majority (68%) spend less than two minutes. With so little time to capture interest, even a candidate’s word choice can make a difference. The nationwide sample of employers identified which commonly-used r̩sum̩ terms are overused or clich̩ and which are strong additions.

The Worst R̩sum̩ Terms

The following terms are r̩sum̩ turn-offs as selected by respondents:

1. Best of breed: 38%

2. Go-getter: 27%

3. Think outside of the box: 26%

4. Synergy: 22%

5. Go-to person: 22%

6. Thought leadership: 16%

7. Value add: 16%

8. Results-driven: 16%

9. Team player: 15%

10. Bottom-line: 14%

11. Hard worker: 13%

12. Strategic thinker: 12%

13. Dynamic: 12%

14. Self-motivated: 12%

15. Detail-oriented: 11%

16. Proactively: 11%

17. Track record: 10%

The Best R̩sum̩ Terms

The following are terms employers like best:

1. Achieved: 52%

2. Improved: 48%

3. Trained/mentored: 47%

4. Managed: 44%

5. Created: 43%

6. Resolved: 40%

7. Volunteered: 35%

8. Influenced: 29%

9. Increased/decreased: 28%

10. Ideas: 27%

11. Negotiated: 25%

12. Launched: 24%

13. Revenue/Profits: 23%

14. Under budget: 16%

15. Won: 13%

The national survey was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from November 6 to December 2, 2013, and included a representative sample of 2,201 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes.