stop claiming subjective traits on your resume

Do you have anything like the following on your resume?

• excellent written and oral communication skills
• strong initiative
• visionary leader
• creative innovator
• able to present strategic concepts clearly and persuasively

If so, remove it! Remove it all!

Your resume is for experience and accomplishments only. It’s not the place for subjective traits that anyone could claim without evidence. Moreover, hiring managers generally ignore anything subjective that an applicant writes about herself, because so many people’s self-assessments are wildly inaccurate; what they’re looking for on your resume are facts.

Here’s the thing: If you really are a visionary leader, or you have strong written communication skills, or you have a track record of taking initiative, the way to demonstrate that is by including accomplishments that demonstrate those traits.

Employers want to see evidence of the traits you’re claiming, not just proclamations.

So: What have you done — what have you achieved — that illustrates your work ethic, or your great writing, or your amazing customer service skills, or whatever else it is that you want employers to see that you have? That’s what belongs on your resume.