When you use the words “motivated”, “team player” and “fast-paced” in your CV, potential employers just see “rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb”. That’s according to networking site LinkedIn, which recently included them in its list of the most overused buzzwords of 2010 .
Avoid filling your CV with these trite words, says Lindsey Pollak, author of Getting from College to Career (HarperCollins, 2007), as they can make your CV “appear empty to a potential employer and may do more harm than good”. After all, would you rather sound like a faceless corporation or a real person with an interesting story to tell?
