All of the late nights studying and internships prepared us for the work world, but what they forgot to teach us is how to properly communicate with a hiring manager, employee, and CEO. Certain words and vocabulary should be left out of corporate communication and replaced with a phrase that provides professionalism and confidence. Here are four words/sayings to remove from resumes, emails, and everything work-related.
“Just”
As the end of the Millennial and the beginning of the Gen Z generation begin to enter the corporate world, they are bringing slang and lingo into corporate conversations. One of the most casually used words is just. It can be hard to remove this from discussions because it flows naturally but neglect it during a corporate talk.
Every time you are sending an email to an employee, a manager, CEO, etc., double, even triple check for the word just. Not only does this word take away from your professionalism, but it decreases your level of credibility.
“I would love to…”
The use of this term is to suggest, “I would love to get coffee” or “I would love to hop on a call with you.”. It shows enthusiasm, but in reality, you are oversharing emotions. It may not seem like it, but using the word love, or any word to an extreme degree, can have a different outcome. Instead, replace it with “are you available to get coffee?” or “are you available to hop on a call?”. Instead of showing your emotions, you are displaying professionalism and confidence.
“Expert”
When talking about your work experience, it can be easy to gravitate towards the word expert. If you are not a genuine expert in your field of work, then refrain from using this word and replace it with a specialist. This word proves to the hiring manager that you are confident in your skills and work in this field, but you are not an expert yet.
“Goal-oriented”
This phrase has become unnecessary overtime because everyone actively working and looking for a job could consider themselves to be goal-oriented. A great way to replace this word is by using statistics and numbers from your work to show progress and change. For example, an Account Executive should replace it with “Increase B2C relationships by 20% in the first year”. Advertising your statistics shows the hiring manager in numbers how you completed your goals and in most abundant skillset.
Before sending an email or a resume, double and triple check your spelling, grammar, syntax, and word choices. If a hiring manager or a recruiter sees misspellings or any of these words above, then they could deter you from being recognized as a serious candidate.
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