Increase Your Bandwidth To Grow Eyeballs And Value-Add

What in the world does that even mean? Who knows. But if you're a desk-jockey, it is likely that you  have heard these terms. It is also possible that you have drank the kool-aid and actually used them.

Alright, enough of the buzzwords.

I've seen many cover letters and resumes lately full of buzzwords like the ones in the title of this post. I've even heard quite a few during interviews.

Buzzwords, idioms, and metaphors, can help us communicate. To be most effective, however, you need a commonality with the person you're talking to. And that's where the problem is. Most of the time, you don't have the familiarity with the interviewer to use buzzwords.

The greater risk is that the hiring manager may think you're using creative language to hide the fact that you have no idea what you're talking about. Use everyday language during the interview. For me, I use the teenager test, since we just happen to have a 13 year old in the house. I asked her if she knew what "low hanging fruit", "herding cats", and "mindshare" were. Of course, she did not. But when I described what they meant in regular language, she completely understood.

So, dump the buzzwords.

There can be an exception to the rule.

If you're interviewing with someone that uses a lot of buzzwords, not just an occasional one, then it might be okay to use them sparingly. Even then, it is still better to avoid buzzwords altogether.