More words to leave off your resume

I’ve covered the topic of words to avoid in your resume and cover letter before. Here’s an update.

Awesome, amazing, phenomenal, cool, spectacular, etc. I would personally like to see the word amazing purged from the vernacular altogether; sometimes it seems like that’s the only adjective people know. All of these words, besides making you sound like a teenage girl, are subjective, meaning that they are your interpretation of an IT project or skill. Unless the interviewer can see that for himself or herself, it’s not really going to mean much to him or her anyway.

Liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, monotheistic, polytheistic, atheist, agnostic, etc. I’m not telling you to deny your views or leanings, but the resume is not the place to state them. When people are vetting resumes, they’re not above throwing out those that represent people with beliefs that are different from theirs.

Healthy, chronically ill, diabetic, habitually pregnant, or any mention of a physical condition at all. This kind of information is illegal for prospective employers to ask about, so why volunteer it?

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