BEST (Add to Resume): Achieved, Improved, Trained/Mentored, Managed, Created, Resolved, Volunteered, Influenced, Increased/Decreased, Ideas, Negotiated, Launched, Revenue/Profits, Under budget, and Won.
WORST (Remove from Resume): Best of breed (Ranked 1 of 50), Go-getter, Think outside of the box, Synergy, Go-to person, Thought leadership, Value add, Results-driven, Team player, Bottom-line, Hard worker, Strategic thinker, Dynamic, Self-motivated, Detail-oriented, Proactively, and Track record.
KEYWORDS: Specific skills or knowledge that recruiters are searching for; they vary by industry, job, function, and location. Tools like wordle.net and LinkedIn Premium can help you find keywords to add to your resume to increase your chance of making it through the screening process.
Let's look at an example. “Intro: Top Project Management Keywords” states that the best words to use on your resume for project management differ according to industry. In the list of keywords below, how are the red words different from the other words on the list?
By Amy Rossi
When you looked at the chart, did you happen to notice the that the red words are repeated on both lists? The red words are general skills, or BUZZ WORDS, that they are looking for in project managers. If you look at them closely, they are skills that you can use in many different industries. All the other words listed are KEYWORDS, or specific skills that they require for the function or type of Project Manager.
Be mindful as you review job postings and target your resume. Remember that recruiters typically search for Keywords using the Boolean Search methods so that they can get a better candidate match. To be that candidate, you will need to use Buzzwords and Keywords to show that you have the general and specific skills for the position. Good luck!