Use Elegant Variation in Your Resumé

Use Elegant Variation in Your Resumà © Use Elegant Variation in Your Resumà © Use Elegant Variation in Your Resumà © By Guest Author This is a guest post by Debra Wheatman. If you want to write for Daily Writing Tips check the guidelines here. W. Fowler coined the term â€Å"elegant variation† to denote the unnecessary use of synonyms to denote a single thing.   One of his examples was a newspaper excerpt in which the writer referred to the same person, the King of England, as Emperor, His Majesty, and the Monarch.   Fowler’s objection to this kind of â€Å"elegant variation† was that â€Å"the effect is to set readers wondering what the significance of the change is, only to conclude that there is none.† When it comes to drafting a strong resumà ©, elegant variation is not only acceptable, but desirable. Your resumà © is a marketing document. The product being marketed is you. The death knell of any marketing campaign is boredom. Boring products don’t sell. If your resumà © comes across as uninteresting, so do you: you probably won’t get put in the short pile; you probably won’t get interviews, and someone with a more exciting resumà © will get the job. Many resumà ©s use the same verbs and phrases over and over again. You can use â€Å"elegant variation† to engage the reader with the use of compelling, absorbing, engrossing, gripping, riveting, and fascinating action verbs and descriptive words. Here are some examples of â€Å"elegant variation† in action – Why say â€Å"led† when you can claim to have spearheaded, propelled, pioneered, orchestrated, officiated, optimized, instituted, inspired, headed, governed, enacted, directed, crafted, controlled, championed, built, or supervised. Why say you â€Å"developed† something when you can use cultivated, advanced, evolved, fostered, amplified, promoted, expanded, actualized, refined, augmented, enriched, extended, magnified, or strengthened. Why â€Å"handle† something when you can address, advance, alter, apply, centralize, compile, conduct, construct, coordinate, determine, execute, exhibit, formalize, govern, oversee, or establish it. Obviously, these words cannot and should not be substituted without understanding context and nuance. It behooves you to spend the time to find alternates whenever possible. There are numerous tools that can help your resume be more stimulating. I have a dog-eared and coffee-stained copy of Roget’s International Thesaurus. This book was a gift from my father when I was in college and is still without a doubt, the most useful resource for writing – period. When I am writing for clients, including business documents, resumà ©s, and cover letters, I keep this book very close by to help me identify synonyms to avoid repeating the same words over and over. The Internet is a wonderful source of new words to use in your career documents. Some examples that I use regularly are dictionary.com and visualthesaurus.com. Job descriptions can provide a plethora of phrases and key words that you should review. Part of what draws the attention of a hiring manager is the use of key words that are related to the job vacancy. It is very easy to identify positions online; review the roles in connection with your rà ©sumà © so you can create some compelling content as you draft your document. Employ some creativity when creating your focused, succinct, cogent, inspirational, targeted, exceptionally results-focused rà ©sumà ©. (How’s that for a few adjectives?) Entice your reader with a taste – not the plate of what you have to offer! Debra Wheatman is a human capital management strategist and the founder of Careers Done Write, a career services firm. Debra is also the Career Doctor, a career advice blog for business leaders and executives. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Business Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Comma After i.e. and e.g.75 Idioms and Expressions That Include â€Å"Break†Sentence Adverbs