Describing the Client: Best Practices for Word Choice & Editing Overused, Inappropriate, and Vague Language

Your clients are counting on you to create content that is going to make them marketable on paper—word choice is essential because you want to engage the reader. You are aiming for substance, not fluff.

Practice the following tips to improve the flow, concision, and impact of your writing:

After completing your first draft, take a break before proofreading your own work. Once you're ready, try changing the entire resume into a different, ideally fun font (Comic Sans) and a different color (bright blue). Seeing the content in a different font and color can help you see the content in a new way. Finally, read what you wrote aloud. When you read something aloud, you can hear when it sounds redundant, bland, or just doesn’t make sense. Once you get your draft, read your content back. If it doesn’t sit well, flag it and come back to it.

You need to be looking at job descriptions; this is the most effective way to understand how to build a profile that aligns with the candidate the company is looking for. This will also give you keywords and phrasing to use. If you are not familiar with the industry, we have some guidance on conducting research here. We recommend LinkedIn or Indeed.

To ensure we’re not diluting the impact of the engaging/active verbs we're using in the resume, we want to avoid adverbs whenever possible. Nine times out of ten, an adverb in a resume is modifying a verb in a way that should already be a given/be assumed. You are better off being direct and using your space on the resume to talk about what the client has actually done. If there are gaps in the narrative, don’t rely on adverbs or vague language to cover them up. Use client prompts to ask open-ended questions to get the information you need.

Clients don't want to pay for well-worn phrases, they are looking for some innovation. Think about what you want to say and why you are saying it. Make your statement and support your claim.

Avoid phrases like 'as needed, ‘ 'when required,’ and ‘including but not limited to.’' In resume writing, it's understood that items included on the document were necessary tasks, so you can save space and make content more concise by avoiding specifying.

Thinking about their perspectives, ask yourself, “What am I trying to say about this person? What does the targeted job description say that I need to say (i.e., how does it describe the ideal candidate?)?” “Why is this relevant to the hiring manager?” Then, ask yourself, “If the client asks me “What does this sentence mean/why is this included?” How would I defend my strategy?” Clarifying your purpose and intent when describing the client (and being ready to stand behind your draft!) will allow you to see other possibilities for word choice.

If the job focuses on the quality of collaboration, established structures, and shared goals, recognize that describing the client as independent and entrepreneurial are not the best word choices. Similarly, you wouldn’t emphasize the client’s charisma if the job is strictly working with data and has no regular verbal interaction with others.

Here are some examples of editing overused, vague, and/or inappropriate language.