Writing a CV can be hard. And it can be even more difficult to perfect your CV to make it stand out.
Not only is your CV your personal marketing tool where you showcase your skills and experience to employers, but it's also the 2 pages that are going to convince your new employer to pay you more and ensure you are not only coasting in your next role but being developed. And how do you achieve all this? It's in the language.
The words you use on your CV are so important as they allow you to communicate with others, and let's be honest, language and communication fall into almost every job. So, showing your language skills off on your CV gives your employer great confidence that you are a language whizz and will smash the job.
So, let's take out words such as assisted, worked and helped….boring. Instead let’s add powerful words that put you centre stage. So, with that in mind, let's get into seven strong words to use on your CV and some examples of when you can use them.
Executed
If you have ever pulled something off, carried out, accomplished or performed a task, then executed is the word to use. A prime example being 'I created and executed an award-winning digital marketing strategy for the largest luxury womenswear store in Europe'
Enhanced
To enhance means you increased, or further improved the quality of something. An example on a CV would be 'I enhanced the ways of working in the team by setting up collaboration zones and a 1-2-1 reverse mentoring scheme where senior leaders were able to learn from junior colleagues'
Solved
Your CV should carry the message that you are a problem solver. Hello Sherlock Holmes (but in a badass outfit, with a badass CV). So, it's really important to demonstrate problem-solving skills on your CV - whether you found a way to fix low employee engagement, came up with an initiative to troubleshoot difficult a constant problem, or collected information to perform data analysis to provide insight - you’re a problem solver. And that deserves a mention on your CV.
Coordinated
To coordinate means you have brought in different elements of a usually complex activity into a seamless end product. If you have ever ran a company away day, or a big meeting with lots of different speakers and had to allocate timings and collate presentation materials, then you’re a coordination queen.
Facilitated
Similar to the above example, facilitation skills are sought-after!! If you can make group meetings more efficient, encourage meaningful discussions, and resolve disagreements all through the way you are able to communicate with others, then you're working on your facilitator skills - and that's something to shout about.
Launched
When you think of launch, you think of NASA (or SpaceX - let’s not forget Elon) launching a rocket into space. The word launch is connected with strong action and a push to make something great happen. So whether you have started something new, such as a townhall/round table initiative for your team, or went above and beyond to make a website/podcast that got great reviews - it's important to shout about what you have created as if it's a rocket going to the moon.
Delegated
This one shows you are a team player. By delegating you are transferring the responsibility for a task to another person in your team - it shows that you are able to trust others and support the development of other team members. A line such as 'I delegated the responsibility of producing the weekly financial reports to a junior team member. To support them in completing this task, I held regular check-ins where I shared knowledge and helped them troubleshoot'
Notice something about these words? They are action verbs. Action verbs show whoever is reading your CV that you did the action.
Bonus tips: Don't forget to bring out what you did by using 'I', not we. We (your mum, best friend, cousin, ex-boyfriends cousins son, the really pretty girl that works in Zara) are not applying for the same job - it’s your job application, so big yourself up.
Happy CV finessing!
Fempire Finance