Thoughts on Chris Osborne’s Blog Post on Resume Clichés

Recently we discussed why resume clichés decidedly terrible. They bring literally no value to your application. Anyone can say them and prove that they are true. They are meaningless, terrible phrases that everyone uses, and by using the same exact phrases you do nothing to stand out from the 1,000 other applicants that are vying for the exact same role. . If everyone is wearing a black shirt, and you want to get noticed in the crowd, you don’t by a black shirt. You buy a pink shirt or you go naked.

In Chris Osborne’s blog post he addressed this very point. Resumes and LinkedIn profiles (which read like resumes, in many ways), are filled to the brim with annoying job clichés that bring no obvious value to the reader. His blog post is worth checking out. We would, however, like to address one small area a little bit. From the post:

Before:

I am an effective and enthusiastic writer using communication skills to drive results, in a hard-working and dependable manner. My 20+ years experience helps me multi-task so I can think out-of-the-box about being a terrific people person.

After:

I am motivated to encourage my readers and clients to find creative and fun ways to express themselves in resume and profile writing. In general, my clients and readers discover that following some simple, but effective, tips and suggestions increases the readability and effectiveness of their resumes, and they usually see an increase in traffic across their social media profiles.

Thoughts

It should be obvious why the “after” is clearly better. It’s unique, it’s specific, and it’s engaging. The “after” paragraph is exponentially better than the original. Osborne does a great job showing how one paragraph can be completely rewritten to essentially say the same thing, but in a unique and interesting way.

The only thing worth addressing, however, is this statement:

What is easier? Saying that I have “excellent communication skills”? Or explaining exactly what that means. For instance, do my communications skills persuade? Inform? Motivate? Close deals? Educate? And if my communication skills do one or more of these important things, what type of results have I delivered?

Don’t forget – it is not just a matter of looking for better, more specific words. That is only a part of it. You also want to make sure that you use your accomplishments. Of everything you can put on your resume and cover letter, your accomplishments are 100% unique to you.

Using the above “after” example by Mr. Osborne, he has effectively communicated his motivations and goals. That’s great. The thing to remember, though, is that other people can still use that exact same paragraph and have it be true to them. While Osborne chose a unique, more specific phrasing, he does not mention any accomplishments that are unique to him.

Nor should he, necessarily. This is not to say his paragraph isn’t perfect for what it is designed for – to attract visitors on social media profiles. When you are writing your resume, though, don’t forget to use your accomplishments as often as possible. Only you accomplished the things you accomplished, but thousands of people can be “motivated to encourage their readers.”

Take Away Tips

• Avoiding clichés should be one of your top priorities.
• Your goal is to be unique and stand out from the crowd.
• Delve into specifics, in goals, skills, and accomplishments.

7 Resume Red Flags

Hiring managers have a limited amount of time to go through an almost unlimited amount of resumes. A single “red flag” and your resume will immediately be placed in the “No” pile. You don’t want to be in the “No” pile. The “No” pile usually means you won’t get the job. It’s science.

How do you avoid the “No” pile? You avoid “red flags” that tell hiring managers “Hey, this resume is probably not worth bothering with. Don’t bother with it.” Below are several things that red flag your resume.

Things Not to Do

• Decorate Your Resume

Your resume should simply be your resume. No smells, no strange colors, no fancy fonts. If your resume looks too artsy, or smells too much like the hiring manager’s grandmother, it is probably going to be ignored.

• Lame Words

If your resume has a lot of boring statements, like “Excellent Communication Skills,” it is going to quickly be ignored. Cliché’s or boring words are an immediate sign that you don’t have enough accomplishments in your resume.

• LOL Email Address

Does your email address make you look like a fool? Is it luvs2jognude@emailaddress.com? Always supply an email address that is professional and speaks to your character.

• Block Paragraphs

Resumes now should be written in a format that looks attractive to the eye, usually in the form of bullet points. There are occasionally times where a resume paragraph (/writing-your-resume-bullet-points-vs-paragraphs) might be useful, but even in those rare instances, you should not have some long, blocky paragraph that makes it hard to scan.

• It’s Greasy

If you sent in a paper resume, your resume should be clean and neat, as though freshly printed. It should be without bends or wrinkles or smears. Ideally you should send the paper in a large manila envelope, but if you must send it in a standard sized envelope, try to make the folds perfectly even. Sloppy folding is also a red flag.

• You List Ten Jobs

If you are listing every job you have ever held in your resume, that is a huge red flag. Resumes should only contain the latest and greatest jobs, and only two or three will suffice.

• Your Objective is Useless

It is arguable that you need an objective in the first place. Many working professionals remove the objective altogether, or replace it with a professional summary. However, if you do have an objective, remember that the objective statement is the first thing the hiring manager sees. If it is poor, such as “To make money and work at your company,” you are immediately flagged.

Don’t Red Flag Your Resume

Any error in your resume is going to be a red flag to the hiring manager. There was a time where employers would look at your resume in full, so that a small error did not necessary negate your chances. These days employers scan your resume, and fi they notice any of the above red flags, chances are you will not be considered for the job.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Make every word in your resume count.
• Don’t make it too fancy.
• Consider your objective statement.

Additional Links

• Yahoo list of resume red flags



How Long Should Your Resume Be?

Open jobs get hundreds of applicants. Each applicant has their own resume, with each resume designed to win over the employer with all of your greatest strengths. Hiring managers then have to look through hundreds of resumes, and by the time they get to yours, they may easily be tired of reading these personal sales documents.

Resume TL;DR

Generally it is recommended that you keep your resume under 1 page. Hiring managers prefer this for a number of reasons:

• Forces you to cut out useless information.
• Most hiring managers have a good idea by the first page.
• Less to read shows respect to the hiring manager.

Jobs that you held 10 years ago that bear no relevance to the current position you are applying for often don’t need to go on resumes, and cutting your resume down to a single page helps reinforce that. However, recently a number of articles have suggested that it does not really matter anymore. They imply that hiring managers will not fault people for resumes greater than one page.

How Long Should Your Resume Be?

It’s not necessarily a matter of length. It is a matter of content, and how that content relates to length. Here are the standards you should set for yourself.

• Time in Workforce – If you are just entering the workforce, your resume should be much shorter than a seasoned worker. Most of your jobs probably don’t help you get this new job, and it is unlikely you have enough to say to warrant a long resume.
• Content – Every word in your resume should have a purpose. If it doesn’t, it should be cut out. If a hiring manager skims your resume, you need to ensure that every word on it points to you being a great employee.
• Setup – Resumes need to have an aesthetic component to them as well. If your resume is one sentence longer than a page (meaning the 2^nd printed page is one or two sentences at most), you should cut it down to a single page. If you have nearly two pages worth of content, it becomes more acceptable.

Take those into consideration when designing your resume. For many, a single page resume is going to be more than enough. For some seasoned workers, resumes of two (and sometimes three) pages may be necessary, and will be considered acceptable.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Resumes should generally be one page.
• Longer resumes are fine when there is sufficient useful content.

Additional Links

• Yahoo Article on Resume Length
• Career Builder Article on Resume Length

The New Resume Rules: What’s In and What’s Out?

A resume revolution is coming (excited?). Resumes are undergoing dramatic changes thanks to a competitive economy and an ever changing job market. If you want to compete in today’s job market, you will need to learn the new rules of resume writing and what is “in” in resumes.

The Changing Resume World

• Professional Summaries

Have you ever written the objective statement of a resume and thought to yourself “wow, what a corny, lame sentence”? Well, you’re not the only one. Objective statements have never been very useful, and every word in today’s resume needs to have a purpose. Enter: Professional summaries. Professional summaries are blocks (or bullet points) of your main strengths that make you right for the job.  They give the hiring manager an opportunity to see why you are right for your job from the get go, without having to read through an objective statement that provides very little value.

• Resumes are Expected to be Tailored

The Internet has made it possible for jobs to receive thousands of applications for a single job. A boring resume designed to work for multiple jobs doesn’t cut it anymore. You need to write a new resume for each job in order to be successful.

• Pretty is Important

Imagine there were no words on the page. Imagine that the resume was art, and you have to look at it from far away. Does it look ugly? Does it look like you threw words on a page? Or does it look pleasing to the eye? Resumes now need to have bullet points, easily readable formatting, and need to look as good as they are written.

• Originality

It is no longer acceptable to have clichéd phrases like “Excellent Communication Skills.” Everyone has excellent communication skills. You need to set yourself apart by focusing on real, tangible skills and accomplishments. Show the employer that you are better than the other 1,000 applicants, not the same as them.

The Revolution Will Be Televised

Okay, maybe the resume revolution is not as exciting as other revolutions, but there are some serious changes being made to the resume writing process. These changes drastically affect how well your resume will be received, and making these changes to your resume could be the difference between getting and not getting the job.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Replace objective statements with professional summaries.
• Write a new resume for each job you are applying for.
• Make your resume pleasing to read.
• Be original with your bullet points.

See Also

• Yahoo Article on Resume Rules
• Yahoo Article on Bad Phrases

Resume Honesty Rules

Applying for jobs is a delicate dance. You want to the employer to be wowed by your accomplishments, but in many cases your accomplishments are slim. No two jobs require you to do the same type of work, yet you need to convince the employer that you are going to fit like a glove.

To accomplish this, most people simply bend the truth. “I spent one day creating a PowerPoint project for my boss” becomes “Proficient in Microsoft PowerPoint.” “I once had to bold text on a webpage” becomes “Experience with HTML coding and website management.” It’s risky, because if you are asked to perform these tasks it is expected that you will address them easily, but as long as you are at least somewhat knowledgeable in the topics you can get away with bending the truth.

The Alternative Approach

Some candidates decide to use a different approach – they lie. They lie a lot. They put achievements and experiences in their resume that simply never occurred, or they alter facts dramatically in order to impress employers.

Sometimes these lies can lead to incredible success. This was addressed in a recent Wall Street Journal article:

According to the 2009 Screening Index released by ADP, a human-resources and payroll provider, 46% of employment, education or credential reference checks conducted in 2008 revealed discrepancies. That’s up from 41% in 2006.

The problem is that lying on your resume is a bad, bad idea. The world is too small. The likelihood that your lie is caught is high, and the effects of finding out you lied on your resume are such that you will likely be laid off immediately, with possible long term repercussions.

• If you don’t know something you claimed you knew on your resume, you will be caught.
• You never know who your coworkers know. If they know someone at your previous company, you will be caught.
• If you don’t show proficiency in something you claimed you knew well, your previous employer may be called, and you will be caught.

WSJ Advice

If you already lied on your resume, the article suggests that you clarify your lie up front, shrugging it off like an error. “I noticed that my resume said that I lead a team of 5 on that project, but that was in error, as I actually worked with a team of 5 and simply took on a leadership role within the group.”

This is not bad advice, but it may still affect your job chances. You are going to need to maintain an amazing interview if you hope to salvage your job chances. Your best bet is not to lie from the beginning. Lying on your resume may get you a job, but it will also get you fired from one and may make it harder to find another job to replace it.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Don’t lie on your resume.
• If you lied on your resume, bring it up as an “accident” during your job interview.

Should You Remove Jobs You Held Short Term on Your Resume?

Resumes are your chance to sell yourself to a company. You want to make sure that the employer knows the experiences you have that should win you the position. It is like a sales letter for your employment.

Like a sales letter, you should only include the features that are going to win you the job. You have a limited amount of space to try to win over the recipient, and you need to use that space as wisely and as impressively as possible.

Lots of Short Jobs

It is not uncommon to find that you have a number of different jobs that you held for only a short amount of time, especially if you are a young worker that was employed through college. It is tempting to want to add these jobs to your resume. Most of the time you should not. Employment that you held for less than a year does not always speak highly to your value as a candidate:

• Short term employment makes it look like you can’t hold down a job.
• Multiple positions make it look like your career has no focus.
• Temporary positions do not appear to be great job experiences.

Ideally, you should only list either the most recent or longest term jobs you have held.

When to Remove Jobs

You should remove these jobs from your resume when they meet any of the following criteria:

• They are irrelevant for the position.
• Removing them will not cause a massive gap in employment.
• You have held several jobs for a longer period of time.
• You do not have any major accomplishments at these positions.

As you can see, most of the time you will remove these jobs from your resume. However, there may a reason to keep the job on your resume. Perhaps one of your short term jobs is your only job that was relevant for the position. When that is the case you should consider switching to a skill based resume, or doing your best to make it appear as though you held the position for longer (perhaps by removing the months from the “time employed” section of your resume so that employers cannot see how long you were actually employed, only the year(s) you were employed.

There are very few instances where you will want to place short term positions on your resume. See if you can omit them without affecting your job chances, and look at skill based resumes or fancy workarounds if you are convinced that listing the job is necessary.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Short term employment is not very useful on a resume.
• Omit any jobs that will not help your chances.



Free PDF – Free Resume Writing Tips Available for Download

At Everyday Interview Tips, we strive to bring you more than just your average interview strategies. Our goal is to be your number one resource for all questions or advice related to job interviews. We want you to be able to win your job.

Each month we will write up new and informative guides designed to supply you with the tips, strategies and techniques that can earn you employment at companies all across the country.

This month we have a free resume writing tips PDF available with information on how to avoid one of the most common resume mistakes: clichés.

In this month’s guide, titled “7 Clichés to Remove From Your Resume” you will find:

• The 7 Most Common Clichés Found in Most Resumes.
• Tips on How to Avoid Clichés in Resume Writing.
• Information on Choosing Effective Action Words.

“7 Clichés to Remove From Your Resume” is designed to provide you with resume writing tips that are sure to help you improve the readability of your resume. The resume tips in this free guide are designed specifically for those looking to enter the workforce.

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