Recruiters can spot a weak CV bullet in under a second. After thousands of applications, certain phrases become invisible — not because they're unfamiliar, but because they say nothing specific enough to act on.

Here are the 10 phrases that appear most often on rejected CVs — and what to write instead.

The 10 Worst Offenders

1. "Responsible for…"

This describes your job description, not your performance. Replace it with a strong action verb + what you did + what it achieved.

Instead: "Rebuilt the client onboarding process, reducing time-to-activation from 14 days to 4."

2. "Worked closely with…" / "Collaborated with…"

Vague and unverifiable. What did you actually produce together?

Instead: "Co-led a cross-functional team of 8 to launch a new pricing model, contributing £1.2M incremental revenue in Q3."

3. "Assisted with…" / "Helped to…"

Minimising language. Own your contribution.

Instead: "Built the reporting infrastructure used by the sales team to track £4M in pipeline — previously tracked manually."

4. "Strong communication skills"

Every CV claims this. Show a situation where communication mattered.

Instead: "Presented quarterly business reviews to C-suite stakeholders across 3 enterprise accounts, retaining 100% of contracts at renewal."

5. "Team player"

Meaningless as a standalone claim. Context makes it credible.

Instead: "Coordinated across product, legal, and finance to close a compliance requirement blocking 4 enterprise deals — resolved in 11 days."

6. "Detail-oriented"

Prove it by showing a result that required precision.

Instead: "Audited 3 years of financial records for a GDPR compliance review, identifying and correcting 47 data handling violations before a regulatory audit."

7. "Passionate about…"

Fine in a cover letter. On a CV, show what that passion produced.

Instead: evidence of initiative — a project you started, a skill you self-taught, a result you drove without being asked.

8. "Results-driven"

This is circular. If your CV has actual results, you don't need to claim it.

Instead: just have the results. Let them do the work.

9. "Managed a team of…" (with no outcome)

Management without outcome is a job description, not an achievement.

Instead: "Managed a team of 6 — grew average deal size by 34% in 12 months through structured coaching and pipeline reviews."

10. "Proven track record of…"

If your track record is proven, prove it. Don't meta-claim it.

Instead: the specific record itself, with numbers.

The rule behind all of this: Every bullet point should follow the structure Verb + What + Result. If you can't identify the result, the bullet isn't finished. A quantified result doesn't have to be a revenue number — it can be time saved, error rates reduced, processes improved, or scale reached.