Career Development Handbook Career-Development-Handbook | Page 22

g. Do not use too much jargons, in particular if these are company specific jargons.
h. Job-hopping and these are not internships!
• Frequent changing of jobs may indicate your lack of commitment, or
incompetence. Ideally these should be minimised. Hence as a general rule,
unless the experience is an internship experience, try not to incorporate
short-term employment periods. If you really must include these, perhaps
showcase them as part of your engagements working as “free-lance
contractor” for various employers.
i.
Not being able to explain gaps in your resume.
• By all means, take a sabbatical or a career break. But be prepared to explain
these gaps sensibly. Otherwise, you may come across to the potential
employer as having a poor level of commitment, or lack of focus.
4. Action Words
a. Replace plain, boring words with action words.
b. Throughout your resume and cover letter, start statements with a variety of powerful
action words, followed by your results or accomplishments.
c. This gives the impression that you are ready to take action, and not just passively
accept work. Every hiring manager wants to hire someone who will take initiative.
d. Use words that match your target job, career field or qualifications. For example, if
you started a new process, substitute the word "started," with action words like,
"launched," "initiated," or "implemented."
e. Avoid using the same verb over and over. Instead, use Thesaurus.com to find
synonyms (words with the same meanings). Just don't use any keywords that you
cannot define or pronounce.
f.
In your resume, use past tense verbs for past experience and accomplishments,
and present tense verbs for current experience and accomplishments. Do not use
passive tense.
• Past tense - end in "ed" (organized, composed, expanded)
• Present tense - in normal state (ex. direct, provide, prepare)
• Passive tense - end in "ing" (planning, assisting, instructing)
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