How to Improve Your CV By Banishing Bland ‘Buzzwords’

Does your CV describe you as “motivated”, “organised” or “experienced”? Then it’s time for an update for these overused buzzwords.

Avoiding clichéd descriptions isn’t easy, but if you want your CV to stand out from the crowd, those bland buzzwords need to go.

Employers spend an average of 8.8 seconds looking at your CV, so you need to grab their attention if you’re going to make the shortlist. Including words that are incredibly overused will just make your CV seem uninteresting and unoriginal.

Despite the fact that they’re descriptive, adjectives like “motivated”, “passionate” and “organised” don’t actually say very much. They simply state an attribute. However, finding replacement buzzwords isn’t as simple as thumbing through a thesaurus. While you might discover a few original words that describe your abilities, these won’t tell your employer how you put your skills into practice. To do this, you need to change the kind of buzzwords you’re using.

Despite the fact that they’re descriptive, adjectives like “motivated”, “passionate” and “organised” don’t actually say very much. They simply state an attribute. However, finding replacement buzzwords isn’t as simple as thumbing through a thesaurus. While you might discover a few original words that describe your abilities, these won’t tell your employer how you put your skills into practice. To do this, you need to change the kind of buzzwords you’re using.

Replace this adjective with verbs that show how you’ve used your creativity to innovate and solve problems at work. Ideal verbs include:

Instead of relying on one adjective, show how you put your organisational skills into practise by including verbs like:

Instead of relying on one adjective, show how you put your organisational skills into practise by including verbs like:

Despite the fact that they’re descriptive, adjectives like “motivated”, “passionate” and “organised” don’t actually say very much. They simply state an attribute. However, finding replacement buzzwords isn’t as simple as thumbing through a thesaurus. While you might discover a few original words that describe your abilities, these won’t tell your employer how you put your skills into practice. To do this, you need to change the kind of buzzwords you’re using.

These buzzwords will fine tune your CV so that it’s perfectly suited to the industry and role you’re applying for. They’re also extremely useful if your CV ends up going through an applicant tracking system before any recruiters read it.

If you’re already working in your chosen sector you’ll probably know some of the key buzzwords you should be including, but it’s still worth searching online to see what kind of words come up when you enter your job title. You could also check out a few industry publications. Whichever research methods you use, you should notice that the most commonly used words fall into one of three main categories.

These will depend on the industry you’ve chosen to work in, but here are some examples.

Once you’ve been awarded the required qualifications and gained enough experience you’ll be eligible to join one of your industry’s professional bodies. Mentioning these on your CV will impress potential employers and provide you with plenty of extra benefits including advice, information, training and networking opportunities.

If you’re just starting out in your chosen profession or you’re working towards qualifications, you may still be able to join a professional body. For example, anyone studying one of CIM’s marketing qualifications can join as an “Affiliate Studying”. If you’ve completed a CIM qualification or gained five years’ experience in the marketing industry, you can join the body as an Associate (ACIM). The highest level of membership is Fellow (FCIM), which requires at least ten years’ experience.

As well as allowing IT students to become members, The Chartered Institute for IT (BCS) also accepts apprentices. Once you’ve gained a years’ experience in the IT industry, you can upgrade to an associate (AMBCS) and when you’ve worked in the sector for five years, you’ll become a professional (MBCS). Fellowship is reserved for senior IT professionals who are able to influence and shape the IT industry.

Joining a professional body normally involves paying membership fees, but if you’re a UK taxpayer you may be able to reclaim tax on these. To find out, speak to the organisation or check out the government’s approved list. Here are a few examples of professional bodies your CV could include.

Once you’ve been awarded the required qualifications and gained enough experience you’ll be eligible to join one of your industry’s professional bodies. Mentioning these on your CV will impress potential employers and provide you with plenty of extra benefits including advice, information, training and networking opportunities.

If you’re just starting out in your chosen profession or you’re working towards qualifications, you may still be able to join a professional body. For example, anyone studying one of CIM’s marketing qualifications can join as an “Affiliate Studying”. If you’ve completed a CIM qualification or gained five years’ experience in the marketing industry, you can join the body as an Associate (ACIM). The highest level of membership is Fellow (FCIM), which requires at least ten years’ experience.

As well as allowing IT students to become members, The Chartered Institute for IT (BCS) also accepts apprentices. Once you’ve gained a years’ experience in the IT industry, you can upgrade to an associate (AMBCS) and when you’ve worked in the sector for five years, you’ll become a professional (MBCS). Fellowship is reserved for senior IT professionals who are able to influence and shape the IT industry.

Joining a professional body normally involves paying membership fees, but if you’re a UK taxpayer you may be able to reclaim tax on these. To find out, speak to the organisation or check out the government’s approved list. Here are a few examples of professional bodies your CV could include.

If the process of perfecting your CV has shown you that you need to gain an extra qualification before you apply for that dream job, why not check out our superb range of courses?