Have you seen these phrases? Or used them?

Strategic visionary with significant experience in senior-level roles.

Motivated executive with deep background leading cross-functional teams

OR, worst ever …. Results-oriented professional with a bottom-line orientation – Nooooooo….

I’m reading your resume and trying to get to the real you but ……ZZzzzzzzz…….

Everything is changing in the resume world.  Managers, HR and recruiters are looking for a resume that is not a list of skills and experience, but a snapshot of the whole person you are and your personality.

Instead of the resume fodder of the above, try starting with bullets that are specific like:

At my best when….. (“working in a small team with a startup mentality.”, or “understanding the customer’s pain and creating the solution.” or “leading a team of 5-10 developers in web services technologies.”)

Culture fit: (“in a small to medium sized team or company with a strong collaborative vision.” or “in a startup where I can be involved in everything.” or “in a larger, more established company that has a strong sense of their place in the market and where they’re going.”

Philosophy: (“Never quit, never be intimidated, and work harder than anybody else.” or “Perfect is the enemy of done. I would rather see somebody fail forward and get it out there, than wait for it to be “perfect” and never get anything done.”

As kids in school, we were taught to show, not tell.  If you’re a strategic visionary, how do you demonstrate that?

“Foresaw trend toward mobile recruiting and initiated Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn campaigns to reach those audiences.”

It’s also important to keep them short, concise, and no more than two lines, preferably one.  They’re meant to be one line sales pitches that make a hiring manager or recruiter say “I want to talk to this person!”