Resume Clarity: Ditch the Word 'All' for Impact

I shared a while ago how "the" is a word that typically clutters your resume and you really don't need it, unless the sentence makes absolutely no sense without it. There's another word you shouldn't use on your resume - that has synonyms, and I wanted to share that one today along with my thinking.


The word is "all." Synonyms (at least on the resume) are "every" and "each."

Why aren't these helpful?

Because without context, they don't mean much to the reader.

As you move up the ladder, it becomes more and more important to show the scope and scale of your role.

Employers want to see that you've had success in similarly sized companies, with similar budgets, and leading similarly sized teams.

Makes sense, right?

So saying you supported "all projects" is a lot less informational than sharing that you supported "20-30 projects annually with $50K-$2M budgets."

Huge difference, right?

Managed all employees ➡️ Managed 15 employees across Comms + Marketing Teams.
Led all product initiatives ➡️ Led 3 major product initiatives within first 2 years.
Handled every safety and compliance issue ➡️ Cleared ~25 safety and compliance issues annually saving over $30M.

Scan your resume and your profile, and see if you can replace "all," "each," and "every" with a number (an estimate is fine) and additional details.

I know making these changes will help you open the door to new opportunities.

#jobsearch #resumetips #resume