Language: Have You Missed the Tripwires?

The prose of a resume suggests the caliber of your mind. At the very least, it shows what you will tolerate in an important document. A poorly worded resume implies you'd approve weak reports and sloppy letters to prospective clients.

And yet language is complex, rich with tripwires.

For instance, you might blur a crucial point. You might include a typo. You might fail to make your case in scores of subtle ways.

You might even say too much. A good resume omits discreetly, leaving the employer yearning for more.

Here are a few tips:

• Annihilate spelling and grammatical errors. Employers keep the trashcan handy for documents with such mistakes. NOTE: Don't depend on spellcheckers, as they won't catch typos like "wok" for "work."
   
• Eliminate clutter. Trim your prose and it will perk up. Here is a real sentence from another resume site: "A winning resume is a document that you should author, own and craft with a very specific purpose in mind." Boil it down to "Good resumes have a specific aim" and you gain clarity and life while losing nothing.
   
• Favor strong verbs. Colorful terms are more emphatic and interesting, and scientific studies show they linger in the memory. For instance, "Spearheaded the development of... " works better than "Initiated the development of ..."
   
• Omit the subject "I" and start with the verb. The style is standard, if curt, and otherwise you repeat "I" endlessly.
   
• Avoid the verb "to be" if possible. "Served as chief financial officer" is better than "Was chief financial officer."
   
• Avoid rumbling run-ons. A four-line sentence is just a set of shorter ones waiting to be set free.
   
• Be precise. Don't say "continuous" when you mean "continual," for instance.
   
• Rise above bureaucratese. "Facilitate" won't facilitate your job search and "value-added" has negative value-added.
   
• Avoid terms the employer may not understand. Stay away from jargon and arcane acronyms.
   
• Shun the passive voice. 
   
• Run your cover letter past a good editor. It demands the greatest sense of style and has the most landmines. It cries out for professional help.