Forget the 5 Dollar Words

Direct and concise is best
By: MAX MESSMER, Scripps Howard News Service, Scripps Howard News Service (SH) -

When compiling their resumes and cover letters, job seekers often attempt to showcase their expansive vocabularies. Unfortunately, instead of sounding savvy and sophisticated, many come across as pretentious. The truth is that being clear and concise impresses hiring managers more than using - or misusing - fancy five-dollar words.

"SKILLS: Enrich performance-based employee remuneration, enhanced with consistent encouragement, support and coaching."
"Support sales staff" might have been the better choice of words.

COVER LETTER: "I always aggressively take on the demeanor of meticulous leadership."

Lead us away from that nonsensical sentence.
In addition to avoiding convoluted language, it's also important to target your application materials to the specific employer and position. The next applicant missed the boat completely:

COVER LETTER: "I visualize myself as a person viewing a stream - the stream being a business. I see rocks beneath the surface causing the water to run with ripples. I view myself as the one who removes those rocks, leaving a smooth-running stream."

We visualize a long-winded job seeker failing to produce a compelling cover letter.

COVER LETTER: "Intuitive people value imagination. When I look at an apple, I imagine myself baking a pie or putting the apple into a fruit salad."
In this case, an apple a day keeps the job offer away.

QUALIFICATIONS: "I enjoy challenging tasks involving measurable results and imaginable solutions."
All good, but why place this information under "Qualifications"?

While some job applicants try too hard to impress, others just don't try hard enough:

COVER LETTER: "Teachers say they are preparing you for the real world, but when exactly does the real world multiply matrices? Or when am I going to have to know the smallest unit of organic compounds? To me, it seems useless and a waste of time to teach these senseless things."

We sense a real attitude problem here.