Words you should remove from your resumé
Getting your resumé wording just right can feel challenging. You may need one version for international firms, another for local companies, and sometimes a bilingual CV. Choosing the right wording helps recruiters quickly see that you understand their business and can perform in a fast‑paced, high‑pressure environment. Some popular phrases sound positive but are so overused that they no longer say anything meaningful about you. Here’s a look at the words to think twice about in a Hong Kong resumé – and what to write instead.
Words to avoid using in your resumé
Certain buzzwords appear again and again in Hong Kong resumés, to the point that they feel generic. Nick Chow of Macleans Group recommends avoiding popular buzzwords in your resumé, including:
- Hardworking
- Responsible
- Passionate
- Flexible
- Detail‑minded
- Good team player
- Able to work under pressure
These expressions are familiar in Hong Kong, but they rarely differentiate one candidate from another. Anyone can claim to be hardworking or to “work under pressure”, especially in a market where long hours are the norm. “Employers here want to understand how you contribute: what you delivered for clients, how you handled tight deadlines, or how you improved a process,” says Chow. Simply stacking buzzwords makes your resumé sound formulaic and may even suggest you have copied a template.
What to write in your resumé instead
Instead of listing traits, focus on evidence that shows those qualities in action. Chow gives us some examples: Rather than calling yourself “detail‑minded”, you might highlight that you prepared bilingual proposals with zero error rate across a year, or that you managed complex documentation for multiple tenders without missing a deadline. “If you want to convey loyalty, state how long you stayed in each role and how your responsibilities grew over time – something Hong Kong employers often value, even in a mobile market.”
Use strong action verbs and concrete outcomes at the start of each bullet, such as:
- Led (e.g., “Led a cross‑border project team of six across Hong Kong and Shenzhen”)
- Drove (e.g., “Drove a 15% increase in retail sales during peak season”)
- Streamlined (e.g., “Streamlined monthly reporting, reducing preparation time by 30%”)
- Coordinated (e.g., “Coordinated bilingual events for 200+ VIP guests”)
These verbs draw the reader to specific achievements and help hiring managers quickly benchmark your experience against Hong Kong market expectations.
Replace buzzwords with keywords
Many larger Hong Kong employers, especially banks, property developers and multinational corporations, rely on Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) or keyword searches in internal databases. These systems scan for skills and experience that match the job description, not for generic claims like “enthusiastic” or “self‑motivated”. To improve your chances, carefully read the job ad and highlight specific requirements such as “IFRS reporting”, “China marketing experience”, “retail leasing”, “stakeholder management”, or “MS Excel (pivot table, VLOOKUP)”.
Then, weave these genuine keywords into your resumé where they truthfully reflect your experience – in your career summary, skills list and bullet points under each role. Wherever possible, support them with figures or clear outcomes, such as revenue impact, cost savings, headcount managed or project scale.
According to Chow, this approach gives Hong Kong recruiters a sharp, credible snapshot of what you delivered, and will add far more value than repeating overused phrases like “team player” or “good communicator” without proof. But choosing words to show you have the skills and qualities employers are looking for will make an even better impression and reinforce what you can bring to the role.
