Resume Buzzwords and Cliches To Avoid
Resume clichés often come from a good place — candidates want to show they’re dependable, motivated, or creative. The problem is that nearly every applicant uses the same phrases, so they lose their meaning. Recruiters see hundreds of resumes each week, and when the language blends together, it’s harder for any one candidate to stand out. What employers really want is evidence: numbers, projects, and stories that prove you have those traits. By cutting clichés and showing results instead, you make your resume both stronger and more memorable.
Overused terms like “problem solver” or “team player” can make your resume seem bland and generic. So what should you do instead? Replace fluff with facts. Show your skills in action with specific examples and quantified achievements.
Common Phrases To Avoid in a Resume
The below words and phrases don’t tell hiring managers anything they don’t already assume about a qualified applicant. Each term ends up wasting space you could use for real, concrete information.
- Attention to detail
- Creative
- Dynamic
- Go-getter
- Hardworking
- Innovative
- Motivated
- Out-of-the-box thinker
- Problem solver
- Results-oriented
- Self-starter
- Strong communication skills
- Team player
These words aren’t bad in themselves — after all, being motivated and a team player are good qualities. The issue is that they don’t differentiate you. A hiring manager will assume you have these baseline skills if you’ve held professional roles. Instead of repeating what’s obvious, focus on the skills that are unique to you. That might be specialized software knowledge, leadership in a niche field, or achievements that prove your “creativity” or “problem-solving ability” in concrete terms.
To replace clichés effectively, think about:
- What skill the phrase is trying to describe
- How you’ve demonstrated that skill in measurable ways
- What outcome your efforts created
Spell Out Your Results
Hiring managers want to see evidence of a person’s strengths, so you can improve your resume by trading out any clichés with detailed examples of your impact.
Think of the terms above as prompts you can consider and use to spell out your unique accomplishments. Turn each one into a question about what you’ve actually done or achieved in your career so far. Your answer can make a great bullet point in your resume experience section. Here are five examples:
Attention to detail
What details did you pay close attention to, and to what end?
- Audited 200+ financial records with zero discrepancies, ensuring full compliance with regulatory standards.
Creative
What did you create, and how did that help the wider organization?
- Designed and launched a new training program that improved team efficiency by 15%, streamlining workflows and boosting productivity.
Hardworking
What did you work hard to accomplish or maintain?
- Consistently processed 300+ client transactions daily with 99.8% accuracy, maintaining smooth operations in a high-volume environment.
Results-oriented
What results did you generate?
- Increased quarterly sales revenue by 22% through strategic, targeted outreach campaigns.
Strong communication skills
Who did you communicate with, and why?
- Wrote a monthly internal newsletter with product updates for 45 staff members, strengthening organizational alignment.
Turning Soft Skills Into Strong Statements
Soft skills like communication, teamwork, or adaptability are important, but they need to be shown through action. Instead of just saying “Excellent communicator,” you could write: “Presented technical findings to non-technical stakeholders, simplifying complex data into actionable insights.” Instead of “Team player,” you could say: “Collaborated with three cross-functional teams to launch a new product line, driving $2M in revenue in its first year.”
This approach does two things: it proves you have the skill and shows how it benefits your employer.
Industry-Specific Resume Clichés
Different fields have their own overused phrases. Here are some to avoid and how to improve them:
- Sales: Avoid “proven closer.” Instead, say: “Closed 50+ enterprise deals in 2024, generating $3.2M in new revenue.”
- Marketing: Avoid “out-of-the-box thinker.” Instead, say: “Developed and executed a campaign that increased web traffic by 40% in three months.”
- IT/Tech: Avoid “tech-savvy.” Instead, say: “Deployed cloud migration strategy that reduced infrastructure costs by 25%.”
- Healthcare: Avoid “compassionate caregiver.” Instead, say: “Provided daily patient care to 20+ residents, maintaining a 98% patient satisfaction score.”
Frequently Asked Questions: Avoiding Resume Clichés
Common phrases like "team player" or "motivated" that try to describe a candidate's strengths, but often lack meaning or context. These terms are so frequent they've lost all impact on hiring managers.
Ask yourself: Would a hiring manager know what I've done just by reading this term? Does the phrase tell a story or show a result? If not, follow the advice above to give it more substance.
Not necessarily. Soft skills can be important, but back each one up with evidence. Instead of just saying "leadership," describe a time you led a team. Instead of "collaborative," show how you collaborated with other business functions. Let your accomplishments do the talking.
Yes, but they want to see them in context. A line that says "collaborative leader" won't carry weight, but "Led a cross-functional team of 12 to deliver a product three weeks early" proves collaboration and leadership in action.
Even without clear metrics, you can highlight improvements, feedback, or responsibilities that show growth. For example, "Chosen to train new hires due to consistent top performance" still demonstrates reliability and leadership.
Yes, but with proof. If the job posting says "results-oriented," include that phrase - but follow it with an accomplishment that shows results. This keeps your resume ATS-friendly while still adding substance.
Learn More
To help you write stronger, more specific descriptions, check out our resume action words guide. You can also find inspiration in these professional resume examples and skills to put on resume resources.
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