You have to list the correct words in your resume to get past applicant trackers and to match your qualifications to a job description. What you may not realize is that you need to use a power word set during your job interview, as well. Discover these five very important words you should say when you lay out your case for someone to hire you.
1. Measurable
"Measurable" is a good power word to start out with because hiring managers and recruiters love hard numbers as opposed to abstract qualities. "My firm's measurable increase in sales was 17 percent year-over-year during my three-year tenure at Acme Brick." This is a provable fact that someone at your previous employer can attest to and even verify with KPI metrics.
2. Results
What were the results of your actions at a previous employer? "Result" is another power word employers like because you're there to get results and a hiring manager wants to know what he gets from his investment in your position. "The result of my supervision led to five more team members added to my department over the five years I worked at Smith Incorporated." Again, this is something that is provable or verifiable.
3. Responsibility
"Responsibility" is a major power word because firms like people who take responsibility for their actions. When someone knows to take responsibility for something, that person has a vested interest in the outcome. "I was responsible for overseeing the merger between Brown Corp and JacksCo." Proving you have responsibility shows you are a self-starter who can see projects and initiatives to their logical conclusions.
4. Initiative
Companies also love self-starters who take the initiative. As an example, you can say, "I took the initiative when I noticed our major competitor faced a lawsuit. We earned more market share when we seized the opportunity from my observations." This concept lets your future employer know you're always on the lookout for new opportunities, and it tells your future manager that you've got the company's back if a problem arises that no one else notices.
5. Example
The power word "example" is, perhaps, the most vital of these five. "For example, my greatest strength is my ability to get people to buy into corporate ideas for the greater good of the company when we needed to expand our production." Instead of saying you enjoy inspiring people in general, you turned this abstract concept into a concrete example to relate a soft skill. You should use as many examples of your work in an interview as possible, as these provable, tangible aspects are what lands you a perfect job.
Using a power word in a job interview isn't just some fancy concept. Hiring managers are not very interested in how you view yourself, so simply boasting about your personality traits is not going to impress them. Instead, use these power words — coupled with concrete examples from your previous positions — to help them visualize the kind of positive, measurable impact you can have on the company, if hired.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Doncaster at Flickr.com
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