{"id":1128,"date":"2018-10-16T12:22:35","date_gmt":"2018-10-16T11:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/?p=1128"},"modified":"2025-10-22T15:56:43","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T14:56:43","slug":"cv-tips-watch-your-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/2018\/10\/16\/cv-tips-watch-your-language\/","title":{"rendered":"CV Tips: Watch your language!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lady<\/a><\/p>\n

It is a busy time of year for students; you\u2019re tackling job and placement applications alongside completing your academic studies and you\u2019re also trying to juggle your social life and extra-curricular activities too.<\/p>\n

So don\u2019t make things harder for yourself by not telling employers what you have actually <\/strong>done!<\/p>\n

Avoid the passive<\/u><\/h3>\n

Time and time again, I see students write phrases such as \u201cI was responsible for organising\u201d <\/em>or \u201cI participated in a collaborative project\u201d <\/em>or \u201cThis job involved serving customers\u201d<\/em> But this kind of passive language is far too vague and downplays what you have actually done.<\/p>\n

Active language<\/span><\/h3>\n

Instead, take responsibility for your actions! Speak with an active voice, so that the employer can visualise you at the centre of the action. \u201cI organised\u201d <\/em>or \u201cI collaborated with a team of six to complete a design project\u201d <\/em>or \u201cI worked as part of a team of 5 in a busy city centre retail store, interacting with a diverse range of customers\u201d. <\/em><\/p>\n

For a handy list of active verbs, see Page 4 of the University\u2019s guide https:\/\/www.bath.ac.uk\/publications\/application-cv-and-cover-letter-guide\/attachments.bho\/application-cv-and-cover-letter-guide.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n

Replicating language<\/u><\/h3>\n

When applying for different roles, it\u2019s also a good idea to replicate the language used in the job description within your own CV, cover letter or application form. E.g. if they stress on good leadership skills, talk about when you have led <\/strong>a team or have mentored <\/strong>a student or managed <\/strong>a project. Try not to be too repetitive. A thesaurus will become your best friend.<\/p>\n

Make yourself the subject<\/u><\/h3>\n

And remember, this is all about you. Emphasise on activities you <\/strong>have done, or skills you <\/strong>have learned, regardless of whether it was within a team. Make yourself the subject of sentences. There should be no \u2018we\u2019 in replacement of \u2018I\u2019<\/strong>. E.g. \u201cWithin a team of 5, I researched and analysed data to be used to present to our clients\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Key points:<\/u><\/h3>\n
    \n
  • Write using active verbs<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Replicate the language used in job description<\/li>\n
  • Sell yourself! Talk about your <\/strong>actions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It is a busy time of year for students; you\u2019re tackling job and placement applications alongside completing your academic studies and you\u2019re also trying to juggle your social life and extra-curricular activities too. So don\u2019t make things harder for yourself...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1177,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[748],"tags":[16,384,22,378],"class_list":["post-1128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","tag-applications","tag-cover-letter","tag-cv","tag-language-careers"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1177"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1128"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1128\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1128"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1128"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bath.ac.uk\/careers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1128"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}