Language skills are vitally important to any CV and can often be the difference between getting hired and your paperwork falling to the bottom of the pile. In a mission to help job hunters improve the language used on theirs, Preply has analysed job search website Indeed’s CV database to reveal the most frequently used words featured in resumes in the past six months in the UK.
To do this, the online language learning platform created a seed list of more than 150 English words and phrases commonly used by job hunters in their applications. Each word from the list was searched on Indeed’s CV finder to discover the number of CVs updated or submitted in 2022 where it had been featured.
Alongside this, Preply also analysed Google Search volumes to investigate which of the 150 words job hunters have the most difficulty spelling to help raise awareness of common mistakes to avoid.
The top 20 words most frequently used by UK job hunters on their CVs in 2022
Preply’s research has revealed the top 20 most commonly used words job hunters use to describe themselves in their CV:
Rank |
Word |
Number of CVs this word appeared on in last 6 months |
According to Preply’s research, ‘skilled’ is the most commonly used word on CVs in the past six months - being featured on 2.18 million of them. ‘Responsible’ and ‘trained’ follow in second and third place on the list, being included in 1.30 million and 1.28 million CVs respectively in the past six months.
Job hunters are also keen to show their personable side, with references to ‘social’ and ‘friendly’ traits featuring on 617,000 and 446,000 CVs respectively. Despite not ranking among the top 20, more than 73,000 candidates have included the description of ‘fun’ and more than 20,000 job hunters have stated having a ‘good sense of humour’ on their CV in the last six months.
Other popular buzzwords used to describe achievements and responsibilities in the past six months include:
‘Managed’ (1,951,279 CVs)
‘Completed’ (992,386 CVs)
‘Maintained’ (983,841 CVs)
'Generated' (962,760 CVs)
'Planned' (798,530 CVs)
The top 15 most commonly misspelled words in CVs
Preply’s research revealed the top 15 words job hunters have the most difficulty spelling on their CVs when describing themselves and their achievements or responsibilities:
Rank |
Word |
Average monthly search volume for ‘how to spell...’ |
Common misspelling |
According to Preply’s research, ‘experienced’ was the word causing the most problems for job seekers writing their CVs in English with more than 2,400 people searching for the correct spelling on Google each month. ‘Successful’, ‘counselled’ and ‘succeeded’ also proved difficult for candidates due to their repeated letters, with more than 1,000 searches for the terms each month.
Words with American to English variations such as ‘behaviour’ and ‘judgement’ also proved confusing for candidates as both received more than 1,300 searches each month from people looking for spelling help. Outside of the top ten, ‘curriculum vitae’ also proved difficult for candidates, with more than 600 searches each month.
Expert shares six top tips for improving the language on your CV
Yolanda del Peso, marketing specialist at Preply, shares her top tips on how to improve the language used on your CV to make your application stand out:
Start your sentences with action verbs
Front-load your sentences so the most important piece of information is at the start and is introduced using a dynamic verb. For example, “answered customer complaints” might become “managed customer complaints”.
Omit personal pronouns
Avoid the use of “I” and “we” to make your CV sound more scientific and factual. For example, “I lectured every week to a cohort” might become “Lectured weekly to a 30-strong student cohort”.
Use the language of the job description
Adapt your CV for every job role and try to incorporate specific words and phrases from the job advertisement you are applying for the best chance of success.
Give specific evidence of your skills and achievements
To back up your claims give clear, specific, and relevant evidence. Where possible try to quantify achievements. For example, change “Developed a large Twitter presence” to "Grew Twitter account by 3k followers in Q2”.
Avoid unnecessary adjectives
Keep it simple and try not to use unnecessary adjectives or adverbs. For example, “skilfully negotiated contracts” would become “negotiated contracts”.
Thoroughly check for spelling and grammar errors
Formatting and grammatical errors can be the difference between success and failure. Make sure you check your resume at least twice, and if possible ask someone else to review it before you submit it.
