Over the last 5 years as president of a company that helps clients start their job search and land their dream job, I have reviewed thousands of resumes. Since space is limited on your resume, every word must earn its place in this document due to its importance. Unfortunately, many resumes contain overused or ineffective words that do not add value. Here is a list of the most common offenders that should be removed immediately.

Eliminate these useless words from your resume:

• Successful / Achieved (do not add adjectives to try to improve your status, instead show that you have been successful through the written text in your summary)
• Guru/Ninja/Rockstar (informal and not useful for keyword purposes)
• Seasoned (makes one sound old)
• Honest (this is obvious and need not be said)
• Results Oriented / Results Oriented (explain your specific results in each job, instead of just writing based on the results)
• Driven / Motivated / Passionate / Focused / Hardworking (this is obvious and need not be said)
• Goal-oriented (Give concrete examples using goal numbers to show you met or exceeded your yearly/monthly/weekly goals)
• significantly (include concrete numbers or strong text to show the reader your meaningful results)
• go to person (clearly explain your level of responsibility)
• team player (it is understood that you know how to work with people)
• Responsible for / Duties include (Use more exciting action verbs to explain your responsibilities and duties; Google resume action verbs to find lists of appropriate verbs; and make sure each bullet point begins with a verb under each job description.)
• Family (does not convey that you are good at what follows)
• stay at home dad (potential employers should not know about your children as it is not relevant to your career)
• Summary (do not write Resume at the top of your document)
• Goal (don’t write Objective at the top of your document, instead use a career summary section and tag it with your current job title)
• References (do not write References Available on Request at the end of your document)
• First or third person language (do not use first or third person language, instead use formal resume language to appear professional)

Be sure to carefully review your resume to make sure every word is powerful, specific, and necessary. Once you think everything is perfect, have at least 3 other people read through it to check for mistakes and unnecessary words.