There are many shallow resume words that you should stay away from when you are setting down your resume for an opportunity for instance: aggressive, ambitious, and anxious. Aggressive is a word not to use as many employers believe this is a negative characteristic that can mesh badly with current employees at the firm and give into negative productivity. Do not use the word ambitious. Many people believe this shows you are willing to achieve your objectives by any means necessary. Not all companies are in this way and you do not want to make your potential colleagues feel uncomfortable. Anxious is another phrase to refrain from using due to negative connotations of being easily rattled.
Career consultants tout that generic hyperbole belongs on cereal boxes, not resumes. Empty resume words such as strong, innovative, and energetic have no meaning. They are also dishonest, because they tell what you want the reader to think; they do not show the circumstances so the reader can decide what to believe. A foundational rule in writing is to show rather than telling. This is no different when putting together a resume. You probably will not get a discussion with these empty words, and even if you do, you should see that the interview goes weakly and out of your control. Set a precedent of what terminology will be used in your interview with resume words.
In certain situations you may get into an interview by employing a few empty resume words. This is hardly likely, but if you are finding yourself in this situation then you are opening yourself up to an additional issue. You are leaving the interview too open ended. This may cause difficulties for your potential employer to understand the information in your resume and added to this, you can have big surprises by questions for which you do not have an immediate answer for. By not adding empty words and instead giving concrete examples in your resume, you can direct the pattern of the interview and be ready to talk about your accomplishments.