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.