Thousands of people search for a job daily, but many people struggle to get the job they’re seeking. You might be frustrated sending in applications that get rejected or even ignored.
In 2023, current jobs may receive an average of 250 applications but only hire a single candidate. You’re not alone in the rejection. With some reworking of your resume, you can find yourself standing out above the other applicants.
The first step in a successful job application is a strong resume. Implementing essential practices, like using powerful resume adjectives, can transform your chances in minutes of editing.
What Are Resume Adjectives?
Resume adjectives are specific, powerful words or phrases that help make your resume stand out. They’re considered buzz words that help enhance the description of your skills and stick in the memory of recruiters.
Interesting adjectives help show personality and that you put thought into creating your resume instead of using generic terms. It’s also easy to tailor adjectives to fit specific job descriptions.
Should You Use Adjectives in a Resume?
Yes, it’s crucial to use adjectives in your resume. They’re considered a regular part of resume best practices. Recruiters expect to see certain elements and structures, and including adjectives is part of that process.
Resume adjectives also help build descriptions and illustrate your skills. Powerful skill sections and meeting standards can be essential, especially if you don’t have experience.
Why Should You Use Resume Adjectives?
Powerful words help you stand out on applications, effectively communicate your skills, and explain your experience.
Recent studies show that job recruiters can spend as few as seven seconds reviewing resumes. After they assess your basic information and qualifications, they look for keywords on a resume that catches their attention.
What Words Should You Avoid in a Resume?
While editing your resume adjectives, you should look for a few words to avoid. These mistakes can be generic, unhelpful, and easy to remove or replace.
Smart
The first adjective on the list is the word smart. While displaying your intelligence is beneficial, using the generic term has no impact. Instead, try to demonstrate your skills with descriptions.
You could consider options like independent, meticulous, or intellectual. It could also be helpful to describe if you’ve ever been in an advising or mentoring role.
Best
Another common adjective you can avoid is the term “best.” This resume adjective doesn’t appropriately describe your achievements. It’s also one that many people use, and simply avoiding it can help prevent filler.
If you want to replace it, use concrete ways to measure your success. Instead of something like having the “Best customer feedback,” write about the percentage of positive reviews or the number of comments.
Self-Starter
Self-starter may seem like a valuable term, but it’s often overused. Ambitious, confident, or motivated can be some alternative words.
Again, you can also search for ways to incorporate experience or adverbs that describe how you demonstrate self-starting skills. Overusing generic terms can also come across as thoughtless.
Unemployed
Next, you should avoid using the resume adjective unemployed. Breaks in your work can be a challenging subject, but it’s best not to draw attention to unemployment.
You can try to reformat your resume out of the chronological format. The resume isn’t the best time to address the issue, but you can in your cover letter or interview.
Hardworking
Hardworking is another term that can quickly be overused. When recruiters scan hundreds of resumes with similar phrases, it blurs together.
You can avoid becoming a part of that blur by switching out the term hard working for options like exceeding, outperforming, or determined. Rephrase things in your own words for other powerful resume adjectives that are unexpected.
Punctual
While punctuality is admirable, the word may get scanned over. Your skills shouldn’t go unnoticed, so try out terms like reliable, precise, structured, or productive.
You can also demonstrate your punctuality in written form and by trying to submit your resume within a few days of the job posting. Early applicants have great chances of getting the job.
Accomplished
Accomplished is another lackluster resume adjective that fails to communicate your genuine accomplishments. Don’t sell yourself short on your resume with generic terms for personal achievements.
Try terms like prolific, profitable, or achieved. You can also look for ways to demonstrate skills and experience in quantifiable terms that expand on the generic descriptions.
Results-Oriented
Finally, avoid using the term result-oriented. Instead, try to describe some results you’ve achieved. If you lack experience, you can try to illustrate dedication.
Terms like focused or enthusiastic can help demonstrate similar goals without making your resume like everyone else’s. Editing out these mistakes can personalize your resume to improve your chances.
What Are the Best Resume Adjectives?
Now that you’ve taken out some of the problematic phrases that can get your resume looked over, here are the best resume adjectives.
These phrases are effective and may help get a recruiter to set your application aside for an interview. Try implementing these descriptive adjectives throughout your resume.
What Are Adjectives for Skills?
One of the best places to use resume adjectives is while you’re describing your skills. Some powerful adjectives can demonstrate your abilities, like the words:
- Resourceful
- Attentive
- Perceptive
- Personable or sociable
- Decisive
- Creative
- Persuasive
- Thorough
Technology skills are one of the crucial parts of modern resumes, so ensure you demonstrate them appropriately with terms like complex or proficient.
Leadership Adjectives for Resume
If you’re trying to demonstrate your leadership on your resume, you can try out a few resume adjectives like building, mentoring, or advising. Use these terms to describe your experience or achievements.
You can also try to include some words similar to influential, inspiring, accountable, or thorough.
Resume Adjectives for Teachers
Teachers need to alter their resumes to meet the job specifications, and they can benefit from using a mix of resume adjectives. Some of the above leadership terms may help, but you can also address some personalized skills.
Consider writing about student-centered instruction, classroom management, or other detailed pedagogic talents. You can also include terms like flexibility, patience, or strategic planning.
Nursing Resume Adjectives
Nurses can also benefit by personalizing their resumes to match the job. Including key resume adjectives help prove you have the qualifications for the position.
Try out the adjectives adaptable, compassionate, or patient-oriented. Ensure you spend time on your specific technical or patient skills and certifications.
Self-Descriptive Words for Resume
Last, you might be looking for a few self-descriptive words to add personality to your resume. These details can help the recruiter remember who you are, and they’re beneficial if you don’t have much experience.
Including terms that describe things like a positive attitude, being honest, trustworthy, personable, thoughtful, forward-thinking, or diligent can all help your resume.
How to Use Adjectives on Your Resume
Finally, it’s time to take a closer look at how to use resume adjectives. Cramming them in doesn’t help, but you can try different effective writing methods.
These tips will balance your resume and show you’ve spent time crafting it for the application.
Combine Them With Action Words
One of the crucial tips for resume adjectives is to use them with action words or verbs. You can usually use them most effectively in your skills, summary, or experience sections.
Demonstrating the actions makes it easy for the recruiter to imagine your abilities. For instance, you could use the adjectives adaptable and patient-oriented, like “Remained highly adaptable in stressful situations while staying patient-oriented in decision making.”
Use Them Sparingly
Cramming in too many words can make the resume difficult to read. The recruiter may also interpret the overuse of some buzzwords as someone being quick and thoughtless when putting together their resume or dishonest.
Instead, use only one or two adjectives every few lines. Choose the words that fit you best, and don’t repeat them excessively. Repetitive words can be displeasing to the eye and reader.
Use Specific Words to Express a Specific Meaning
Choose your words carefully to express what you intend precisely. Short, simple descriptions can be the most effective.
You can also spend time tailoring your resume to fit the job description. Today, a majority of companies use software to scan resumes. If your resume doesn’t have matching keywords, a person may never even see it.
Include Them in Objective and Description
Finally, it’s best to put your resume adjectives in your objective or descriptions. These sections are where adjectives blend naturally, and it will prevent you from overusing them by limiting where you can include the words.
The objective is also one of the first sections the recruiter will read. Plus, they tend to stand out visually from the other lines of text.
Wrapping Up
Resume adjectives are an essential part of a resume, but it’s critical to use them appropriately. Boring or overused words can make your resume bland or even skipped over by software.
Beat out other applicants by using compelling resume adjectives and describing your experience in actionable, quantitative terms. When you tailor your resume, you might start to see better results.
If you have thoughts on the best resume adjectives to include or which ones to avoid, feel free to share them below.
