Hopeful Australian job applicants should remove the words ‘obviously’, ‘workaholic’ and ‘perfectionist’ from their vocabulary if they want to be successful, experts say.
Recruitment professionals have warned against using eight commonly used buzzwords and throw away phrases in job interviews as bosses hear them all the time.
Career coach at Relaunch Me, Leah Lambart, shared which words to avoid in a job interview and what you should say instead in a blog post for Seek.
Recruitment experts have warned against using these eight commonly uttered buzzwords and throwaway phrases in job interviews the hiring manager has heard a thousand times before
She said to steer clear of words that downplay your abilities like ‘just’, ‘only’, and ‘obviously’ but rather use positive language that sells your strengths and accomplishments.
‘Surprisingly, even chief financial officers and chief executive officers find this incredibly difficult,’ Ms Lambart said.
‘As a result, people can fall into the trap of using words that tend to downplay their achievements for fear of sounding boastful or arrogant in an interview situation.’
She also warned against using overused clichés like ‘workaholic’ and ‘perfectionist’ that will have the interviewing panel’s eyes rolling.
She said to steer clear of words that downplay your abilities like ‘just’, ‘only’, and ‘obviously’ but rather use positive language that sells your strengths and accomplishments
1. Obviously
It’s important not to assume anything is ‘obvious’ in an interview as the person interviewing you has most likely never met you and doesn’t know about your personal or professional history.
‘Using the word ‘obviously’ can potentially rub people the wrong way as it suggests that the other person should understand something when they may not,’ Ms Lambart said.
2. We
Interviewers are only concerned with your impact and achievements in a job rather than your former team or department’s so it’s best to replace the word ‘we’ with ‘I’ when describing things like problems in the workplace.
‘It’s really important that people get comfortable using ‘I’ instead of ‘we’ so the panel can assess your personal contribution to a successful outcome,” Ms Lambart says.
She recommended practicing talking about your skills in a mock interview with a friend.
3. Just
Ms Lambart said ‘just’ is often used to downplay our responsibilities and achievements, for example, saying you ‘just assisted with the project’ or ‘just have basic excel skills’.
She said the word ‘just’ will emphasise where you aren’t confident and recommended practicing talking about your skills and achievements without using the word.
4. Only
‘Only’ is another word that downplays your abilities, Ms Lambart said and suggested avoiding it as it can reinforce you are lacking in certain abilities or skills.
‘If you feel you have limited experience or skills, instead be upfront about the experience that you do have and how you plan to gain further exposure or to upskill in a certain area,’ she said.
Ms Lambart said to pivot back to your strengths and skills wherever possible in an interview.
5. Workaholic
Ms Lambart said the term ‘workaholic’ is outdated with employers now looking for employees with a work-life-balance.
‘Most employers these days are looking for employees who have a balance between professional and personal life and can manage their time effectively,’ she said.
She instead suggests describing the ways you are hard working or focused on getting the job done with great results.
She also warned against using overused clichés like ‘workaholic’ and ‘perfectionist’ that will have the interviewing panel’s eyes rolling
6. Perfectionist
Hirers are tired of interviewees spinning perfectionism from a weakness into a positive and using the word ‘perfectionists’ can suggest you spend too long on tasks rather than being efficient.
Ms Lambart suggests avoiding the word altogether but describing your perfectionism differently if you really believe it is a weakness.
‘You could say that you set very high standards for yourself and sometimes need to recognise when a task has been completed well enough, that it’s time to move on,’ she said.
7. Motivated by change
One of the worst examples of a generic phrase that means little to nothing is ‘motivated by change,’ according to Mr Scott.
He said change is an inevitable part of life that we all face on a regular basis, but it’s not something that many people actually thrive on.
‘In my experience, many people become active job-seekers because they have experienced change,’ Mr Scott said.
‘As human beings, many of us struggle with change, and prefer the comfort of normality, systems, routine.’
If you are someone who actually enjoys the cut and thrust of constant change, be sure to show that consistently in other answers throughout the interview.
8. Challenge
Candidates should never tell an interviewer they ‘love a challenge’, Mr Scott warned, because it’s usually difficult to prove that this is true.
‘Rarely do people follow this up with a good explanation of what challenges them or even examples of challenges they have met, their reaction to the challenge at hand and the result of their response,’ he said.
Instead, Mr Scott recommends giving exact examples of what you’ve loved about previously roles and how you’d like to improve on those areas.
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