Spelling and grammar can make the difference between success and failure (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Few things are worse than sending your resume to different jobs and realizing you’ve missed a spelling error.

If so, you are definitely not alone. People misspell words on their resume all the time, but that’s usually not the end of the world unless you’re trying to be a writer of some kind.

That said, it’s good practice to make sure your spelling and grammar are of a high standard. After all, your resume is the first indicator of your skills to potential employers.

So the online learning platform Preply used Google search volume to identify the most frequently misspelled words on people’s resumes using the term “how to spell.” [insert word here].

“Experienced” tops the list, and based on our data, is typically spelled “experienced,” followed by “successful” and “preferred.”


Most common misspelled words on resumes

  1. experienced as experienced
  2. not only successful but successful
  3. advice as advice
  4. professional as professional
  5. take responsibility as a responsible person
  6. action as action
  7. judgment as judgment
  8. focused as focused
  9. achieved as achieved
  10. independent as independent
  11. Successful
  12. management as management
  13. trust as a secret
  14. educated as I was educated
  15. taught how he learned

The company also looked at the most used phrases on people’s resumes in Indeed’s resume library.

It turns out that “qualified” is the word job seekers use most often on resumes. With over 2,183,414 UK CVs in the last 6 months, 20,576 jobseekers mention ‘sense of humour’ on their CVs. During the last 6 months.

This is followed by ‘skilled’, ‘organized’ and ‘educated’, appearing for a total of 3,270,812 CV.

Although it did not rank in the top 20, more than 73,000 job applicants included the description “interesting” and more than 20,000 job applicants said they had “a sense of humor” on their resumes over the last six months.


The Top 20 Words People Put on Their Resumes

Below are the 20 most common words people use to describe themselves on their resumes and how often they appear.

  1. With experience – 2,183,414
  2. Responsible – 1,305,845
  3. Trained – 1,285,023
  4. Organization – 1 105 723
  5. Educated – 880,066
  6. Notice – 735 911
  7. Motivation – 713,037
  8. Social – 617 333
  9. Confident – ​​573617
  10. Adaptability – 499186
  11. Reliable – 498,112
  12. Ankanaguri – 446 916
  13. Independent – ​​423,750
  14. Leader – 409 134
  15. Worker – 395140
  16. Enthusiast – 318644
  17. Success – 309,776
  18. Experienced – 302,242
  19. Team Players – 293,406
  20. Creative – 288,070

Use the right wording to make your resume stand out

Handwritten resume application form.  Flat style vector illustration (Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

It’s important to focus on your resume for each job (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Writing resumes and cover letters can be a headache. I want to look professional, but I don’t want to be generic and somehow convey my personality. How?

Begin sentences with action verbs.

Yolanda Del Pesso, Preply Marketing Specialist, said:

“For example, ‘handling customer complaints’ can become ‘handling customer complaints.'”

omission of personal pronouns

Yolanda suggests avoiding the use of “I” and “we.”

“This makes your resume more academic and factual,” he says.

For example, “I gave a lecture every week” could become “I gave a lecture to a group of 30 students every week.”

Use job description language

It can be annoying, but personalizing your resume is a good way to show the hiring manager that you really want the position.

So Yolanda suggests stealing words and terms from job descriptions to make it look like you’ve actually read them.

He said, “Make your resume tailored to each job and include words and phrases specific to the job ads you’re applying for to maximize your chances of success.”

Provide concrete evidence of your skills and achievements.

“Provide clear, specific, and relevant evidence to support your claims,” says Yolanda.

“Whenever possible, try to quantify your results.

For example, change “Grow a large Twitter presence” to “Twitter account gained 3,000 followers in Q2.”

avoid unnecessary adjectives

A clear and concise way to apply for jobs: don’t waste time and work reading resumes.

“Keep it simple and don’t overuse adjectives and verbs,” says Yolanda.

For example, “a contract that was skillfully negotiated” becomes “negotiated.”

Double check spelling and grammatical errors

Lastly, check your spelling and grammar.

“Formatting and grammatical errors can be the difference between success and failure,” says Yolanda.

“Always proofread your resume at least twice and, if possible, have someone else proofread it before you send it.”

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