1. What you say: "I'm very adventurous."
2. What you say: "I regularly volunteer."
"Please go play with your brother. That's basically the reason we had him."
What you mean: "I regularly have to babysit my younger brother."
3. What you say: “I’m a critical thinker...”
4. What you say: “...and I enjoy taking part in intellectual debates.”
5. What you say: “My part-time job has taught me how to manage my time effectively.”
What you mean: "I've perfected the ability to turn up to work with seconds to spare."
6. What you say: “The job has also taught me how to resolve conflicts.”
7. What you say: “I have demonstrated strong leadership skills..."
8. What you say: “...but I'm also a team player.”
9. What you say: “I’m a problem solver.”
Don't ask me how I managed to take this because I'm not entirely sure
What you mean: "I completed The Legend of Zelda in less than three hours."
10. What you say: “I learned a lot during my two weeks of work experience.”
11. What you say: “I respond well to criticism.”
12. What you say: “I hope to learn everything there is to know about [NAME OF COURSE].”
13. What you say: “I look forward to taking part in extracurricular activities.”
14. What you say: “I am a great communicator.”
I'm not even going to bother reading this
What you mean: "Sometimes I actually respond to texts."
15. What you say: “I work well under pressure.”
16. What you say: “I want to study at [NAME OF UNIVERSITY] because it matches my high expectations.”
17. What you say: “Please find my personal references at the bottom of this application.”
Anytime a company asks me for a personal reference I'm going to refer them to my 5 star über rating
What you mean: "Please find details for two individuals who I'm hoping won't have anything bad to say about me."