Articles : Buzzwords for Job Seekers

Have you ever come across a word or a phrase during your job search and you aren’t quite sure what it means? Or are you trying to freshen up your resume, but you aren’t sure which keywords to use?

Below are a list of key buzzwords every job seeker should know.

“C” Level: This refers to a position within the executive level like Chief Financial Officer or Chief Executive Officer.

Specialized: This is someone who has a specific area of expertise or skills set within a broader discipline. For example, a person could specialize in digital marketing or social media coordination within the general field of marketing.

Detail-oriented: When an employer includes this in the job description, they are looking for someone who has a careful eye and it could be as simple as being able to proofread documents and find spelling or grammatical errors.

Working independently: This means an employer is looking for someone who doesn’t need to be supervised on an on-going basis like taking on a specific task or project and working on it on their own.

Excellent communication skills: Generally, this means that you are proficient in writing e-mails, letters, conversing with clients professionally, and presenting documents. For example, someone in sales would require excellent communication skills to pitch sale ideas and close deals.

Competitive salary/hourly rate: This means that a company has done its research and is aware of the appropriate range in pay for that position based off market rate.

Fast paced environment: If you see this in a job description, this means an employer is looking for someone who can handle multiple tasks at once with various deadlines and won’t slow the workflow process down.

Growth opportunity: This could refer to opportunities where you move up in seniority or your role could move up in compensation, title, or scope of work.

Team player: This is someone who is able to able to work well with others to brainstorm ideas and complete different tasks and projects in the workplace.

Action words: This refers to words or phrases you could use in your resume that help recruiters better understand what you did in your last position. Some examples are:

• Facilitated
• Exercised
• Launched
• Negotiated
• Achieved
• Presented

Using words or phrases like expert, motivated, skilled, or creative are not specific enough. Something like “Presented monthly social media analytics to my manager and suggested improvements” sounds a lot better than “Skilled at presenting.”

Click here to watch President of TorontoJobs.ca Marc Belaiche, CPA, CA disscuss this topic.

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