What Are the Best and Worst Words to Use in a Résumé?

In an economic climate slanted toward employers, many hiring managers spend as little as 30 seconds reviewing résumés. So how can a prospective employee ensure his or her package gets a second look?

Word choice is a big part of it. Harris Poll surveyed 2,201 hiring managers and human resource professionals on behalf of CareerBuilder in late 2013 and compiled the best and worst words to use on your résumé.

“Hiring managers prefer strong action words that define specific experience, skills and accomplishments,” CareerBuilder Vice President of Human Resources Rosemary Haefnersaid. “Subjective terms and clichés are seen as negative because they don’t convey real information. For instance, don’t say you are ‘results-driven’ — show the employer your actual results.”

 

Here are the 15 best and worst résumé words: