What is a Narcissistic Resume and Do You Have One?
A "narcissistic resume" is a term used to describe a document that is filled with grandiose language, words that sound meaningful but mean nothing, and a focus on self-importance over the employer’s problems. It's a document that's meant to make you appear as the best, the most qualified, and the most experienced person for the job. But, in reality, a narcissistic resume is a turn-off for potential employers and will damage your chances of getting an interview. Below are four characteristics of narcissistic resumes, and what you can do to avoid them - or fix yours!
The resume is all about the candidate
This may seem strange at first, but a resume shouldn’t be centered around ourselves, the job seeker. After all, this is the textbook definition of a narcissist. In fact, most resumes are centered around the person behind the resume despite very few of them being narcissists. Cole Sperry, Principal Resume Writer at OptimResume.com states that this is the biggest problem job seekers face with their resume when he does free resume reviews.
Imagine going on a date with someone and for the first 15 minutes, they only talk about themselves. For many, you don’t have to imagine, we’ve been there. How did it feel? Awkward? You’re sitting there listening to the other person rambles on about how important they are, but what they don’t realize is that you’re sitting there thinking about how bored and self-absorbed the person is. It’s a terrible experience and sadly, many resumes read exactly like this.
Many professionals think they have to tell their entire story, they have to explain their entire career path, and so they keep talking about themselves because they think that is how you impress a hiring manager or recruiter. This is not how you hook an employer and get called for an interview. You hook them by starting with their problems.
If your resume is all about you, you may have a narcissistic resume and lose job opportunities. To fix this, start with the employer’s problems and write a resume centered around how you solve a very specific set of problems.
The resume is full of adjectives
Most resumes contain a lot of adjectives. In one study done by reviewing 200 resumes, the average resume had over 50 adjectives. Adjectives are easy to write. They require no storytelling, no proof, and very little thought. The overuse of adjectives can come across as narcissistic in a resume.
We’ve seen it time and time again. Many professionals use words like innovative, creative, excellent communication, and proven experience. But where is that proven experience? Where is the innovation in the resume? Where is the excellent communication in the resume? It comes across as narcissistic because the resume doesn’t do anything to back up the claim. They are empty claims. In fact, many times, the resume screams the opposite of the adjective.
Think about it. You write that you are an excellent communicator, but your resume is a laundry list of bullet points with no organization and no story for the employer to follow along. If this is your resume, try dropping the adjectives and think of ways you can show the reader that you possess these skills. Think of stories where you’ve used them and concisely, briefly, and clearly write about those.
The resume looks more like notes for an award speech
Similar to the first problem, this often happens when we overdo accomplishments on our resume or have the wrong accomplishments on our resume. Many of us have read a resume where it’s accomplishment after accomplishment, bullet point of awesomeness after bullet point of awesomeness. But this often has the opposite reaction and looks self-centered, out of touch, and unorganized. Accomplishments are an important part of a resume because they help fulfill one of the three criteria for a successful resume - they substantiate our claims. But with the wrong accomplishments, we look like we don’t understand the role and the employer’s problems. And with too many, we simply look self-absorbed.
If your resume reads more like notes for an award speech than a proposal of how you solve a specific set of problems for a well-defined audience, you may have a narcissistic resume.
The resume is verbose
Never sacrifice clarity for sounding or looking smart in a resume. Verbose, lengthy resumes filled with insider language and “smart” words do not provide clarity. Rather they can appear narcissistic. Writing this way also runs the risk of forcing the hiring manager or recruiter to burn too many brain calories and when that happens, they often shut down and move on. It’s best to keep things simple, factual, and concise. A good rule of thumb is to keep your blocks of text no more than 3 lines and keep your bullet points under 2 lines of text. If you’re writing more than this, chances are your resume is too verbose.
In Summary:
Narcissistic resumes are all about the reader instead of about the employer and their problems
Narcissistic resumes are full of adjectives
Narcissistic resumes have too many accomplishments or the wrong accomplishments
Narcissistic resumes are verbose and sacrifice clarity for sounding smart
Are the big career sites duping you?