Get a little creative with your resume. Chuck those boring words like 'Led', 'Did', 'Handled', 'Responsible' etc. out the window! Spend a good 2 hours to restructure and polish your resume once again with a few powerful verbs and action words. Make it good enough to grab the recruiter's eye!
To ease your exercise, here is a list of some powerful and relevant resume keywords.
#1. Enthusiastic or enthusiasm
This is the key quality and the basic requirement for any job whatsoever. Everyone likes an enthusiastic person in their team and such people are generally more attractive and get along well with people. It gives a much positive impression about you and shows that you are genuinely interested in the job you are going to take up. Use it in a sentence like this.
I ideate constantly and portray a lot of enthusiasm. I'm keen to work for a company with a great reputation and high profile.
Quick Tip: The more relevant keywords in your profile, the higher in search results you appear!
#2. Hardworking
This is one of the most important keywords to make recruiters notice your resume. Assurance of hard work is something every recruiter expects while taking in employees. A hard-working employee can bring many laurels to the company. Use the word 'hardworking' in a sentence but back it up with real-life examples of how you can go the extra mile.
By nature, I am a very hardworking person. I have overachieved my targets in past three quarters without fail, despite high attrition and reduced staffing within the team.
#3. Creative
Creativity is always the cherry on the cake and never fails to get you brownie points. It is the need of the hour in the much competitive world. Any recruiter would choose a creative person who definitely has an edge over others. It’s not that difficult too be creative. Just start giving some exercise to your right brain and you are there.
Creativity is my forte… at least that is what I always believe. I recently realized I play my guitar quite well, but that is not the only place where I shine at creativity. I am a good singer and I also write decent poetry!
#4. Inquisitive
The more inquisitive you are, the more will the recruiters like you. When you say you are an inquisitive person, it means you are interested in knowing everything about the functioning of the company and are keen on learning and knowing every that thing that can help you in improving your performance.
I have an inquisitive nature which drives me to learn more on the job everytime.
#5. Quick learner or fast learner
Every new job has something different to learn for sure, whether it’s the work procedure or culture. You need to be willing to accept all that and the sooner it is, the better for both you and the company.
Being a fast learner, I love to pick up new technologies, tools, and tricks. These help me become more productive at my job.
#6. Dedicated
Dedication is a word that no recruiter would say no to. Dedicated people give their best in whatever job they take up, no matter how big or small it is. What more would a recruiter want from his employee?
I always try to prove myself as a dedicated resource for my organization. Even as an intern, I have tried to put in my best possible efforts and help the team achieve its targets.
#7. Motivated
When recruiters find this word on your resume, they know that you are a person who can handle the worse situations also and think of ways to get out of it. You don’t need a push as you are your best motivator.
As an employee, I always stay motivated at work. Motivation drives me to accomplish activities related to work and achieve my goals.
#8. Determined
By adding this word, you are telling the recruiters that you stay focused to meet your targets. You also clearly communicate that no person or thing whatsoever can deter you from fulfilling your targets.
I can promise you that I am determined to act on my targets with complete dedication.
#9. Goal-oriented
This word will signify that as a goal-oriented resource, you have the ability to set clear-cut goals for the long-term as well as short-term. Setting a goal helps you in being more planned and organized. Recruiters know that such people make it a point to strive hard become successful in life and at work.
I am a goal-oriented person. I have several key goals set for my personal and professional life, that I am seeking to accomplish in the coming few years.
#10. Asset
Assets are something that the company can totally rely on and are proud of. They increase the value of the company. If you can assure to be an asset to the company, you can be sure of getting the job.
I can be an asset to any organization by using all the valuable qualities and experiences I earned from my past jobs.
#11. Open minded
Not many people have the ability to accept others opinion and listen to their view points. While you put forth your point, you should give everyone else involved also, a chance to give in their inputs, try to understand them and change your thoughts if required. If the recruiters know that you can take in any criticism and are willing to improvise, you would be their first choice.
Being open-minded, I am always honest enough to admit that I am not all-knowing. I take full responsibility for my mistakes instead of playing the blame-game.
#12. Perfectionist
Perfectionist is a word that recruiters would definitely be impressed with. Such people make sure everything around them and everything they do is perfect. If you can guarantee the quality of your work, recruiters would be more than willing to hire you without a second thought.
Do I often seek to achieve a perfect standard at my work? I think so. Would that make me a perfectionist? I don't know or maybe yes.
#13. Communication
Effective inter personal and intra personal communication is a key requirement for almost all jobs these days. Everyone wants to hire an employee who can effectively convey his thoughts and help in building good relations and maintain the existing ones. Not only that, you need good communication skills to understand others while working in a team in order to achieve your targets.
I try to keep all channels of communication free-flowing and open within my team. Afterall, communication is a very important part of the workplace.
#14. Empathy
In order to work better in a team or with people, one thing that you need to have is empathy. You should have the ability to step into another person’s shoes and understand their situation to help him/her out. It helps you understand your teammates better, and thus, being able to produce better results.
Even though I go by rules and regulations, I also show a deep respect for co-workers and show that I care. I portray the right amount of empathy in the workplace, according to every situation.
#15. Social
This is one of the biggest advantages in your side if you are a very social person and have a pretty good list of contacts almost everywhere. Every company would definitely want to take in resourceful people who can get more connections with the company. Today, social media makes this work much easier for you. If you have a good base of connections, your chances of getting in are much more.
I am a social butterfly and I love talking. That is the major reason why I run a small stand-up comedy club in my neighbourhood.
#16. Optimistic
An optimistic person has a very positive outlook on life. He/she can look for the better side of any situation or thing. Such outlook is very helpful for one to go high in life and the same goes for one to take a company higher. This way you can face the worse of the worse situations and still keep calm to figure out the reason behind its occurrence and get something positive out of it. Crisis management is all about this.
I believe I am a pretty optimistic person. Yet, I would like to increase my level of optimistic thinking, as staying positive keeps me happy and motivated at work!
#17. Polite
When you go for a job, you work with numerous people. Different people have a different personality and different way of thinking. You may not agree with all of them at times but you need to know the right way and language to state your point. No one likes listening to a rude person. You need to be kind and polite to people, yet state your point firmly so they actually think about your point too.
Politeness runs in my blood. Frankness and humanity come naturally to me. So, I don't 'try' to be polite while communicating, ever. When it comes to work and business, I go beyond good manners to make an incredible impression.
#18. Patience
It is perseverance along with hard work that results in success in anything. And to persevere, the most important thing you require is ‘patience.’ If you walk till the 99th step and lose patience, you’ll never get till the 100th. Come what may, you should patiently face it because you know that there’s sure success beyond that. You lose your patience, you lose your job. So, this is one of the major keywords to make recruiters notice your resume.
I have a lot of patience. I can wait calmly in the face of frustration or adversity, be it a long ATM line, or even an interview call. I have trained myself to be like this, through Yoga.
#19. Social worker
If you are to apply for a corporate job, you ought to know what CSR is. Corporate Social Responsibility is where the corporates go beyond the interests of the company and indulge in social good in order to maintain positive public relations and high ethical standards. Here comes the need for good social workers and activists who can champion a cause and selflessly think of initiatives for the welfare of nature and the society, while she/he performs the job role as well. Such an employee would be of additional importance to the organisation.
Thanks to social work for NGOs like The Akshaya Patra Foundation(TAPF), I am a better person today.
#20. Up to date
The world is progressing at a much faster rate now. You see new inventions taking birth every now and then. Every day is a new discovery. To stay ahead of the competition, you need to stay updated on all this. You need to be aware of whatever significant is happening in the surrounding, in your country, in another country, in the entire universe. If you know something ahead of and better than your competitor, that’s a good (catch) investment for your recruiter.
I try to keep up with current technology and also stay up-to-date with current affairs of my industry.
There are certain general keywords that can enhance your image/ personality in your CV and up your chances of victory in getting the dream job. Rather than the long explanatory sentences, there are these keywords that speak for you more and grab the attention of the recruiters merely from their quick glances at all the resumes. Use them to make an impression about yourself in the mind of a hiring manager. Boost your chances to get an interview call and pave way to land a dream job.
Related: Check out career objective samples for resume.
So go ahead and structure your resume and don’t forget to share your experience in the comments section below. All the best!
