Three Situations Where Industry Jargon Can Hurt Your Resume
Even if your field isn’t really related to any jargon, you tend to develop a certain way of explaining things when you’ve been in the industry long enough. But when it comes to your resume, using esoteric language sometimes just hinders your attractiveness more than it helps.
This post was originally published on the Muse website .
The whole point of this document is for someone outside of your current company to understand what you are doing. This means that you sometimes need to muffle up some technical conversations in order to step in the door.
There are three such cases:
1. If you are not sure who will see your resume first
If there is a chance that the first person to look at your resume is not in your field – for example, a recruiter, HR representative, or assistant – you should consider how well a normal person would understand this. It’s unlikely that you trick a recruiter into referring them just because they are full of words they’ve never seen before. Take a better shot and simplify your language. After all, it makes perfect sense that a recruiter can better rate a candidate if he or she understands what is written on the resume.
2. When the position requires frequent communication with different audiences
This is more common than you might think. Any position that requires attending meetings or working with clients requires a certain level of communication skills with an audience that is not familiar with the intricacies of your job responsibilities. Consider your resume as a work model. If you can’t break down your writing role into something that a knowledgeable recruiter understands, how well will you converse with the group or client? This is a legitimate question. How you present your work on your resume can help with this question.
3. When you overcomplicate something to make it sound more impressive
We’ve all been there. Sometimes we try our best to make something more complex than it actually is, to make it sound more meaningful. Whether it’s lying or not, it’s not necessary. According to recent research by Daniel M. Oppenheimer, professor of psychology at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, using simple language actually makes you seem smarter than using complex words.
If you recognize any of these examples on your own resume, don’t worry. Here’s a quick guide on how to write a list for your resume to impress recruiters without making them think they should Google every word.
3 Times When You Need To Get A Quick Resume To Get On Your Feet | Muse