Things that you should never say
With CVs and interviews, there are some phrases that should be eliminated from the vocabulary. These include:
‘I consider myself to be’
This just isn’t confident enough.
‘I feel that’
It’s the wrong word. ‘Think’ or ‘believe’ is more suitable, but then the above applies. Just state the skills you have in positive language instead.
‘Duties included’
This is boring and it’s much better just to get straight to the point.
‘We’
There may be no ‘I’ in team, but there is no ‘we’ in recruitment and selection.
‘Basic understanding of’
It’s either good enough to be of use in the job or you shouldn’t state it. If this is in relation to a skill that the employer needs, then you have two choices: Learn it or seek a more suitable job instead.
The job of your CV is to get you interviews. Any information which does not help you achieve this does not belong on there.
So, replace these phrases with more confident language and language that is not clichéd and therefore retains some level of meaning. This will improve any CV.
