CVs that
claim to be able to take a ‘helicopter view,’ be ‘results-orientated’ or ‘out-of-the-box
thinkers’ capable of ‘shifting the paradigm’ are 72% less likely to get candidates through to interview or to secure a
job because they contain so much jargon.*
The
research, undertaken by O2, forms part of their Think Big programme which is
designed to help young people build their skills and employability and the gap
between education and the workplace.
O2 Think Big
found that one third of employers spend a minute or less reading each CV they
receive, making snap judgments. They say that over-use of jargon, spelling or
grammar errors or over-designed CVs mean they will immediately reject a
candidate’s application.
Now, the top
ten worst pieces of management speak that crop up in resumes from candidates
has been identified. The research asked those involved in recruitment at UK
companies to pick out the worst pieces of jargon and then rank them based on
their (over) use.
The worst pieces of CV jargon
1.
“Able to take a helicopter view” (23%)
2.
“Shifting the paradigm” (18%)
3.
“Blue sky thinking” (14%)
4.
“Out-of-the-box thinking” (13%)
5.
“Results-orientated” (7%)
6.
“Road-mapping” (5%)
7.
“Strong interpersonal skills” (5%)
8.
“Leveraging my skills” (5%)
9.
“Critical thinker” (4%)
10.
“Dynamic team player” (4%)
To help
combat the problem of jargon-use in CVs, O2 Think Big has teamed up with
Do-it.org, the UK’s largest digital volunteering service, to launch a free
mobile app (available for Android and for iOS in the near future) called Gro (http://gothinkbig.co.uk/gro). The new
tool – primarily aimed at young people who may be hunting for their first role
in the world of work – helps them to translate volunteering and
extra-curriculum activities into language that is recognised, understood and
valued by employers.
For example,
if a young person has mentored or coached someone, the app will point to their
listening skills. If they’ve fundraised for a charitable cause, Gro will
highlight their creativity, influencing skills and trustworthiness. If they’ve
campaigned for a cause they believe in, Gro will pick out their skills in
communication as well as motivating and convincing others to get involved.
A recent
report from CIPD encourages more employers to include questions about
volunteering and social action as part of the selection process – in order to
unlock young people’s “hidden talents” and experiences. According to the #iwill
campaign, approximately 3 million people aged between 10 and 20 years old (12%)
have undertaken volunteering and social action activity across the UK, but need
help to translate the skills and experience they gain through volunteering into
“CV speak”.
Jamie
Ward-Smith, CEO at Do-it.org comments:
“Volunteering can provide amazing opportunities to boost career
development. Enabling young people to translate their social action experiences
into CV friendly terms that can impress prospective employers is a great way to
demonstrate this and give young volunteers a boost in a competitive jobs
market. The new Gro mobile app does just that and we’re thrilled to have worked
together with O2 to launch this important new tool.”
* research
conducted amongst a nationally representative sample of 1,000 UK adults on 23
November 2015, of whom 49% who responded “Yes, I regularly review CVs from
prospective candidates as part of my job role” were used as the base.
