Resume keywords vs buzzwords: replace claims with evidence

Classify the words in the job description

Separate tools, tasks, domain knowledge, credentials and working behaviours. “Forecasting” may be a task; “Power BI” a tool; a required licence an eligibility condition. Do not assume all repeated words are equally important. Follow the employer’s essential criteria before polishing adjectives.

Replace a vague sentence

Illustrative example: “Dynamic team player with excellent communication” could become “Coordinated finance and operations reviews, documented disputed assumptions and produced the agreed reporting brief.” This identifies behaviour and an output. Add an outcome only where you have evidence, and do not borrow an example as your own achievement.

Use exact terms where they are accurate

If you used a named tool, include its recognizable name alongside what you did with it. Expand an unfamiliar abbreviation once. If your experience is related rather than identical, describe the relationship instead of renaming it to match the advert. Hidden text and repeated keyword blocks add no credible proof.

A short editing exercise

Highlight three unsupported adjectives in your summary. For each, write the event that would justify it. Replace the least useful adjective with that example, or delete it when you cannot support it. Keep a compact skills section so a reviewer can find relevant tools without reading every bullet.

Edit a summary without inflating it

Take a summary sentence and circle words that describe qualities, such as innovative, proactive or strategic. For each, identify a concrete event that would justify the claim. Keep only qualities that help explain relevant evidence. Replace the others with the task, responsibility or domain you can support.

Then underline recognizable tools or qualifications requested in the vacancy. Check that each appears accurately in your experience or education, not only in a list. Read the sentence aloud: does it explain what you can do, or merely how highly you regard yourself? Ask another reader to name the capability they understood from the revised version.

Choose the next guide for your question

• Find missing role terms
• Compare requirements manually
• Prioritize the next edits

Sources and further reading

• National Careers Service: writing a CV