Whenever we start hiring here at NPQ we are overrun with resumes from people who think they are “incredibly organized” and have “vast skill sets.” Many are “highly resourceful multi-taskers” and a good portion of them have enough passion to mention it multiple times in the same cover letter.
(I generally reserve my “passion” a bit more to distinguish it from the more mundane. Anyway there is no way in h-e-double hockey sticks that I would put it on a resume.)
Either we are incredibly – vastly and highly – lucky in our applicants, or people have been counseled to state things on their resumes in a way that is virtually insupportable and that does them a disservice.
The resumes we take seriously of course are those that actually portray things in more measured but still impressive ways. So as a service to our readers who are looking for a job we’d like to compile a list of words and phrases that you should not use on your resume – and maybe provide a few pointers about what employers in this sector would like to see more of.
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But we need help from you!
Direct your suggestions back to me: the words and phrases that drive you nuts . . . the suggestions you have for job seekers . . . and I will put together a small article to provide support and counsel for these wonderful future nonprofit workers to help them get taken more seriously in their job hunts.
Meanwhile be sure to check in on ” Next Generation Leaders: What They Want and Need from the Workplace ,” which addresses some of the workplace practices preferred by Millennials and – apparently according to the comments on our website – all the rest of us as well.
The previous column was taken from NPQ’s eNewsletter, written by Editor in Chief, Ruth McCambridge. Click here to have it delivered free to your inbox.
