Résumé words · Traits and self-description
Another word for “Think outside the box”
What it is trying to claim: That you approach problems unconventionally.
Why it underperforms
The phrase is itself the most conventional thing on the page, which is a contradiction a reader notices immediately and enjoys noticing. It is also thirty years old as business idiom, so it dates the writer. And like every creativity claim it inverts the burden: unconventional thinking is demonstrated by the unconventional thing you did, never by announcing the disposition.
What to write instead
This one is not fixed by a better adjective. Each of these replaces the claim with evidence.
| Instead | Use it when |
|---|---|
| (name the unusual solution) | What you actually did that nobody else was doing. |
| (name what you rejected) | The obvious approach you chose against, and why. |
| (name the constraint) | Creativity reads as real when the constraint is stated. |
| (name who copied it) | Adoption by others is external proof it was a good idea. |
A real bullet, fixed
Before
Able to think outside the box and bring creative solutions.
After
Cut translation costs by shipping the app in English first and paying users in three markets to submit corrections; two of those communities still maintain their own strings.
An approach a reader would not have thought of, with the outcome that proves it worked.
When “Think outside the box” is the right word
Nowhere. There is no context in which this phrase outperforms the example it is standing in for.
Common questions
- What can I say instead of "Think outside the box" on a résumé?
- Replace the phrase with evidence rather than another adjective. An approach a reader would not have thought of, with the outcome that proves it worked.
- Is "Think outside the box" bad on a résumé?
- The phrase is itself the most conventional thing on the page, which is a contradiction a reader notices immediately and enjoys noticing. It is also thirty years old as business idiom, so it dates the writer. And like every creativity claim it inverts the burden: unconventional thinking is demonstrated by the unconventional thing you did, never by announcing the disposition.
- When is it fine to use "Think outside the box"?
- Nowhere. There is no context in which this phrase outperforms the example it is standing in for.
Fix these next
- PassionateThat you care about the field and are motivated by more than pay.
- Results-orientedThat you focus on outcomes rather than activity.
- InnovatedThat what you made was genuinely new.
- Go-getterThat you act without being pushed.
All 125 words are on the résumé words index. For the verbs grouped by what they claim, read résumé power verbs.
After the résumé
Fixing the words is the easy half. The applying is the slow half.
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