Top Ten Tuesday - Gobbledygook

An article in this past Sunday's Fort Worth Star-Telegram, in the "Work & Money" section, quoted recruiter and resume expert Dirk Spencer on "kisses of death" "fluff-filled phrases" to avoid in resumes because "We never search on these words, and they waste space you need." Here, in no particular order, are ten that recent college graduates might want to avoid in their resumes:

• results-oriented
• team player
• hands-on technician
• strategic thinker
• tactical thinker
• utilize
• duties
• decisive
• dynamic
• high energy
• powerful

Gobbledygook Grader can help you find other jargon and overused words and phrases that often lack specific meaning. [Hint: you don't have to enter an e-mail address to have the gobbledygook identified in the text you enter.] It's based on a study done by marketing strategist David Meerman Scott of over 700,000 press releases done by businesses in 2008. See this report from Dow Jones Insight.