The 5 Ways Words Are Breaking Your CV

By Teresa Mulomi

You are talented. You are learned. You are hardworking.

You have all it takes! You possess all the skills, qualifications and experience employers are looking for.

However, you never hear from them…you never receive a call to invite you for a job interview and when you do, you immediately receive a regret email informing you that the job offers is off the table for you.

What could you be doing wrong? You know it can’t be your CV since you have done your best to get everything right.

Well, it’s not your CV, it’s the words on your CV.

A teeny-tiny spelling error, a misplaced word, a confusing hard word or a stale overused word can get your CV quickly tossed in the dustbin.

Unfortunately, no matter how remarkable you are, words are your only promotional tool and they could be doing more harm than good on your CV.

These are the 5 ways your use of words could be breaking your CV

  1. Misspelt Words

“I once rejected a competent Technical Writing candidate for simply listing a previous job title as “Principle Editor” instead of “Principal Editor”. Sounds petty? No. A seasoned editor who doesn’t know the difference between principal and principle has no business being a writer.”  John, HR Officer

As you can see, misspelled words can be very costly. Train your eye to look out for commonly confused words that have evil twins such as ‘Effect and Affect’, ‘There, their, they’re’ and You’re Vs Your”.

Also, be keen to identify words that can be easily misspelled due to omissions or letter mix-ups such as necessary, business, personnel, accommodate and pioneered with 3 E’s.

  1. Hard Words

Have you ever heard the roar of the Parantha Leo, also known as the lion?

Or,

Have you ever been confused by the prescription your doctors scribbled on a note? A dose of acetaminophen? Yes. That’s another word for panadol.

In these two cases, which words effectively communicate? The simple words.

The goal of your CV is to communicate your abilities in the simplest way possible not to appear smart.

Hard words and jargon will only confuse the recruiter reviewing your CV who most likely won’t have your background.

For a quality CV, strive to translate hard words and terminologies into plain simple English that is easily understood. Aim to communicate not confuse.

  1. SMS Words

Thanks to SMS and Chat, we have found new creative ways to communicate in short and sweet ways.

‘Xo instead of So’,  & in place of ‘and’, ‘thru’ instead of ‘through’ ‘m’ for “I am”

Using such SMS words on your CV is a surefire way to ensure you get rejected.

Do not, I repeat do not ever use such words.

Keep your CV short, keep your sentences short and sweet but never your words.

  1. Acronyms and Abbreviations

In an attempt to keep your CV short, you may have to use abbreviations to because lengthy words can bog down the reader.

However, the recruiter does not know all the abbreviations associated with your industry and different abbreviations may have multiple interpretations.

Therefore, the rule of thumb is to spell out abbreviations in full except for well-known brands, bodies and things like MBA, SWOT, AIDS, CIA and so on.

Also, avoid street acronyms like ASAP, IMO, YOLO, HMU, LMK that may make you sound cool to your friends but will be frowned upon by a recruiter.

  1. Keywords not Overstatement

Words like overachiever, seasoned, expert, self-starter, exceptional, outstanding, result-oriented, effective, motivated, hardworking etc. have been overused.

They won’t impress recruiters. So use them sparingly.

A better approach is to focus on the keywords highlighted in the job description and tweak your CV to incorporate these words to stand out to the recruiters.

Take out your CV right now and review every single word on it. Remove the hard words, the incorrect words, the inappropriate abbreviations and any stale words that might be sucking the life out of your CV.

For an extra keen eye to review every single word on your CV, call and speak to a professional CV writer, right away.

10 Comments

  1. Hey Arnold.
    Yes, we can help you write a CV that will stand out to employers. Call me on 0798568638 or 0798568643 to guide you on how we can create a good CV for you.

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