Ten Words Not to Say In Your Job Interview

It’s the worst job market in half a century. Don’t let your mouth ruin a good opportunity. Every prospective interviewer has a list of banned words in his drawer…or in his head. Include this office filler in your vocabulary and you will be shown the door.

1. “Thinking Outside the Box”
Spouting this horrid cliché reveals your thinking is limited to one very small box.
 
2. “Deliverables”
Unless you’re applying to be a pizza boy, purge your skull of this threadbare term.
 
3. “First and Foremost”
Hacky phrases popularized by politicians must be cut from all sentences. Don’t say them First – or Last.
 
4. “Touch Base”
Best to keep all references to touching out of interviews.

5. “Prioritize”
One of those touted “power words” that will only prove you can’t speak like a normal person.
 
6. “Offline”
Always irritating. Now that we’re all wireless, this awful remnant of the early days of computing will only prove that you’re obsolete.
 
7. “Mission Critical”
Critical missions deal with landing on Mars or nuclear devices. Describe your work with this clunker and you’ll sound self-important, delusional…or both.

8. “Core Competencies”
Repeat this gobblety gook and risk being labeled as an incompetent.
 
9. “Conceptualize”
Here’s a thought: Try thinking instead.
 
10. “Bandwidth”
Don’t. Just don’t.

— Jonathan Littman and Marc Hershon

Comments

[Diane Levin]

I get a kick out of this blog (as well as some good insights - relieved to see by the way that "insight" didn't make your list).

Got a question though..."deliverables" and "thinking outside the box" I get. These are annoying cliches, as are most of the others. But what exactly is wrong with "prioritize"? If I'm looking to hire someone, I want to be damn good and sure that that's something they actually know how to do. Help me out here, guys.

By the way, if you're planning on a "10 Words to Avoid" Part 2, may I suggest one of my all-time most hated cliches, "human capital"? Gaaak!

At any rate, glad to see that humor is among your core competencies.

[hershco]

Thanks for your comments, Diane! Jon and I appreciate your question about our putting "prioritize" on the list. And what do you know: We both have something to say on the matter! Surprise. Here we go...

Jon: "Speaking in sentences and not clinging to the dead wood of office
buzzwords shows your mind still functions: 'I believe in setting priorities. I think it's important to keep to a schedule.' It proves that you actually know what words mean. Compare that to someone who just parrots -- 'I always prioritize.' Falling too often into 'ize-speak' demonstrates a lazy mind."

Marc: "It's great to be able to prioritize -- but saying the word over and over doesn't mean you know what it means. The order in which you mention things about yourself is an indicator of your prioritizing ability -- mentioning how much you like windsurfing when asked about your accounting skills speaks volumes."

[Eric Raynard]

Wonderful post, very insightful. Liked it so much I linked to it on my website, www.raynard.us.

Unfortunately, you nailed me. I use one of those dreaded expressions on my site.

Would like to keep the ball rolling and suggest two more for Part 2:

A. Circle back - To check with others and respond to a question.
B. Stakeholders - Other participants in getting a product or project to completion.

[hershco]

Thanks, Eric! And great idea, to start "The Next Words Not To Say In Your Job Interview".

Thanks to Eric we've got two: "Circle Back" (one of my all time least faves!) and "Stakeholders". Diane gave us our third: "Human Capital."

Now we just need seven more...

[Ms.HRBosslady65]

I guess I’m in the minority when I say that there is simply too much psychology behind what should be a simple task of a potential employer seeking work, and a employer seeking a good employee. We all know that no one is perfect, yet and still, with all this advice on appearing to be so during the hiring process, it appears that that simple bit of sagewisdom has gone out the window. Please read this article, “A Criticism of Employers in America” (http://beyond-the-political-spectrum.blogspot.com/search/label/Hiring%20Practices)

[Exurban Jon]

A fine list. Here are a few more...

- "Utilize": Just say "use" instead.
- "At the end of the day...": More politician speak.
- "Leverage": See "utilize."
- "I give 110 percent": Learn math.

[Leilani C]

Another phrase that shouldn't be uttered in interviews, or in everyday discussion, is "Does that make sense?" Asking if it "makes sense", insinuates and assumes that the other person already doesn't understand what you're trying to say. Maybe the real issue is that you don't communicate as well as you think you do. Instead of this offensive phrase, ask if the person has any questions.

[OutSideTheBoxThinker]

These ten words, and the next one that followed, if true, are clear signs that INTERVIEWERS are mostly comprised of THE MOST INCOMPETENT IDIOTS who lack basic logic and know very little about human psychology. Although I am "guilty" of using some of these words/phrases in my resume, cover letter, and during my interviews, but I blame 1.5 year of my failure to secure a position in my field (I.T. Manangement) with Masters Degree and 18 years of continuous experience and some mind blowing achievements is none of these nonesence, but the following:
1- Racism, Prejudices, and incompetency of the Interviewing panel.
2- Current economic situation which adds to the insecurities of interviewer(s) and not wanting to hire "stars".
3- Colossal failure of Corporate America in hiring practices and consequently causing the economical meltdown.
4- Not fitting "American Idol" or "Apprentice" image. Our shallow minds are poisoned with supermodel images fed to us.

Please do not get me wrong. In 88 interviews which I have had during the past 18 months, there's been about 10 or so that I have screwed up or did not have the right credentials (under/over qualified), but there has been about 20 or so which I thought those who wrote the job description copied it from my resume. LOL.

If the stupid idiot who should be able to see my ability to do the job, the long list of my accomplishments, and a long list of prominent business leaders as my references, but instead is rulling me out since I used, "Prioritize", or "best practices",.... this person, and people like him/her are brining down the economy. If corruptions is the leading cause of financial institutes failure, the incompetent, beer drinking, golf playing, nine-to-fiving, American Idol/deal-no-deal watching, ....resume-glancing hiring managers are the traitors who are brining the corporate america down.

A job interview should never be like "walking through a landmine". What kind of sick concept is that? We should be ashamed of ourselves for having such a corporate culture. If 25+ years of my academic and professional accomplishments, along my long list of charitable community involvment can be blown into pieces by using the word "mission critical", then it is "mission critical" for the corportate america to get a f... life, or it'll be learning Chinese as the first language in 10-20 years from now.