Applicants often face word limits when writing a job application. This means that every word counts, so watch for unnecessary, irrelevant and redundant words.
Here are ten ways to avoid using more words than you need.
1. Use strong verbs
Verbs reflect the action taken. Using vague verbs not only wastes words, it undersells your case. ‘I have also done secretariat work for a committee’ can be edited to: ‘I provided secretariat support for a committee’.
2. Delete ‘required to’
Saying ‘I am required to’ do certain things in your job wastes words. If a task is part of your job you don’t need to say you are required to do it. ‘As part of my role I am required to take minutes for the committee’ can be edited to: ‘I take minutes for the committee’.
3. Delete ‘needed to’ and ‘able to’
Similar to ‘required to’ these words are usually redundant. ‘In my role I need to manage my daily workload and set priorities’ can be edited to: ‘I daily manage my workload and set priorities’. ‘I was able to arrange a meeting with key stakeholders’ can be edited to: ‘I arranged a meeting with key stakeholders’.
Similarly, ‘have to’ and ‘would have’ can be removed. ‘I have to edit my responses and would have to then make changes’ can become: ‘I edit my responses and make changes’.
4. Use one word for several
When reviewing your writing ask yourself if a sentence can be written with fewer words and still retain the meaning. The sentence ‘For the last three years I have been asked to train several groups of staff’ can be edited to: ‘Recently, I trained several groups of staff’. The sentences ‘I realised that joining this team was an opportunity I should get the most out of, so I got seriously focused on building my network. This made every encounter a chance to get to know my team members’ can be edited to: ‘I realised that joining this team was a chance to maximise my networking, making daily encounters a relationship-building opportunity’. These changes reduce 38 words to 19.
5. Use the active voice
Passive sentences tend to be longer and less effective. The sentence ‘The project was managed by the team’ becomes, in the active voice: ‘The team managed the project’.
6. Turn nouns into verbs
Nouns can often be turned into verbs, thereby reducing words and strengthening your case. Keep an eye out for nouns ending in ‘-ion’. The sentence ‘We made a decision to organise a focus group with stakeholders’ can be edited to: ‘We decided to facilitate a focus group with stakeholders’ or ‘We facilitated a focus group with stakeholders’.
7. Reduce modifiers
Modifiers are words that intensify or de-intensify action. The sentence ‘I am very eager to take on this really difficult project in this extremely challenging environment’ can be edited to: ‘I am eager to take on this difficult project in such a challenging environment’. The sentence ‘I would rather like to take on this quite difficult project in this somewhat challenging environment’ can be edited to: ‘I am keen to take on this difficult project in such a challenging environment’.
8. Cut empty phrases
An empty phrase is one that adds little to the sentence. Examples are: ‘at the end of the day’, ‘all things considered’ and ‘in the final analysis’.
9. Turn negatives into positives
Saying something in the negative may take more words than if the same thing is written in the positive. The sentence ‘It was not uncommon for staff meetings to last three hours’ can be edited to: ‘Meetings lasted three hours’ or ‘Meetings were long’.
10. Cut redundancies
Pairs of similar words can be a site for editing. For example ‘goals and objectives’ could become simply ‘goals’.
These are not fixed rules. It may sometimes be appropriate to ignore items on the above list. But when you need to write a succinct statement, these suggestions are well worth considering.
