Does your résumé have the punch it needs to help you stand out? Is your cover letter well-written and convincing? Are you conveying professionalism in the e- mails you write to recruiters or hiring managers?

The job market is intensely competitive. Simply having the job qualifications, education, and experience required is not enough to help you land the job in this market. Just getting past the résumé pile and landing an interview can be quite an accomplishment.

So, to help you get past that first step in the process, you can give your résumé a little boost by using words that help employers see you have the extra skills they’re looking for. The top soft skills employers want out of today’s worker, a strong work ethic, a positive attitude, and good communication skills are at the top of the list. So, here are 30 words you can use to show you’ve got what it takes for the demands of today’s world of work.

Diligent Vision Negotiated Reliable Presented
Encouraged Collaborated Achieved Outcome Concise
Improved Motivated Shared Contributed Persistence
Thoughtful Results Solutions Success Valuable
Published Spoke Innovative Created Conveyed
Consistent Accurate Timely Thorough Inspired

Exercise

Open the exercise to begin the activity. Follow the instructions in the document.

keyboard_arrow_up