160 Adjectives and Personality Traits for Your Resume to Stand Out

 

It can sometimes become somewhat difficult to find the proper words to describe yourself and your skills in your resume, without repeating the same words over and over. For writing your resume, you’ll, of course, want to try to emulate the vocabulary used by the employer from both the job description as well as the employer’s web site, but you still need to vary the vocabulary in order to show you understand basic principles of writing (i.e., not repeating the same word numerous times within the same paragraph for instance) but also to try to use a variety of words–buzzwords but mostly relevant keywords–for the Applicant Tracking System.

When using adjectives to describe yourself, your skills, your accomplishments or anything else, you are essentially telling the reader how you are, how your skills are and how you accomplished things… adjectives are words used to describe after all! But the power of using adjectives in your resume resides in how you are different from the other applicants… because let’s face it, you are not the only one who can… let’s say coordinate. The interest of an employer for you would be in the how you coordinate.

160 adjectives and personality traits to use to describe and differentiate yourself from others

Absent-minded

Accurate

Adaptable

Aggressive

Alert

Aloof

Altruistic

Ambitious

Analytical

Angry

Appreciative

Approval-seeking

Aspiring

Assertive

Astute

Authoritative

Bold

Calm

Candid

Cautious

Change-oriented

Charismatic

Charming

Cheerful

Clever

Cold

Compassionate

Competent

Compliant

Confident

Conforming

Conscientious

Considerate

Contemplative

Cooperative

Courageous

Creative

Cruel

Curious

Cynical

Decisive

Deliberate

Dependable

Diligent

Diplomatic

Disciplined

Discreet

Dramatic

Driving

Dynamic

Economical

Effective

Emotionally stable

Empathetic

Energetic

Enthusiastic

Exceptional

Exhaustive

Expansive

Experienced

Expert

Extroverted

Fast

Firm

Flexible

Focused

Forthright

Friendly

Frugal

Generous

Goal-oriented

Gregarious

Honest

Human-oriented

Humble

Impulsive

Independent

Innovative

Interested

Introverted

Invested

Involved

Irritable

Kind

knowledgeable

Loyal

Mature

Methodical

Modest

Moody

Narcissistic

Neat

Obedient

Objective

Open to experience

Open-minded

Optimistic

Orderly

Organized

Outgoing

Outstanding

Patient

Penetrating

People-oriented

Perceptive

Persevering

Persistent

Pioneering

Practical

Professional

Protective

Punctual

Quick

Rational

Reactive

Realistic

Reliable

Resilient

Resourceful

Responsible

Responsive

Rigid

Risk-taking

Safeguarding

Self-confident

Self-control

Self-directed

Self-disciplined

Selfish

Selfless

Self-motivated

Self-reliant

Sensitive

Serious

Shy

Sincere

Sociable

Solid

Sophisticated

Strong

Stubborn

Supportive

Systematic

Tactful

Thorough

Thoughtful 

Thrifty

Tidy

Timid

Tolerant

Trusting

Trustworthy

Understanding

Unique

Unpretentious

Unusual

Versatile

Vigorous

Warm

Willing