Your LinkedIn profile is your place to shine in the digital world of professionals, and keywords can often make the difference between a hit profile and a profile recruiters pass on. While it’s essential to sprinkle industry buzzwords throughout your profile to ensure you appear in relevant searches, it’s also important to use words that make you stand out. And if you’re using one of LinkedIn’s top 10 overused profile buzzwords of the year, it’s time for you to give your profile a makeover!
The Top 10 Overused LinkedIn Profile Buzzwords in 2013
This year the word “responsible” was overwhelmingly the most overused buzzword on LinkedIn profiles – it was used twice as much as any other top overused buzzword! Here are the top ten:
- Responsible
- Strategic
- Creative
- Effective
- Patient
- Expert
- Organizational
- Driven
- Innovative
- Analytical
Of these words, responsible, creative, effective and analytical have been overused for some time now: they were all on the overused buzzwords list in 2012, too.
During its study of the world’s most overused buzzwords, LinkedIn found some interesting trends. The word “sustainable” was an overused buzzword only in the Netherlands, “enthusiastic” only in Great Britain, “passionate” only in Australia and New Zealand and “patient” only in the U.S. In fact, U.S. profiles account for 50% of the uses of patient in all LinkedIn profiles!
Removing Unwanted Buzzwords from Your LinkedIn Profile
With the new year rolling in, now is as a good a time as ever to spruce up your LinkedIn profile. When replacing overused buzzwords like “responsible,” make sure to tie your new buzzwords to actual results that demonstrate your competence. For example, don’t just say you are creative. Demonstrate your creativity by writing about your most recent project. Make sure to use active language throughout your profile. For example, instead of saying you are “responsible for” recruiting top talent in personal finance, state that you recruit top students from leading universities around the world and 90% stay on past their first year. Finally, let others vouch for you. Ask former employers and others who know you to leave recommendations on your profile and to endorse your skills. Letting others do the talking can be one of the best ways to convince someone of your job worthiness.
For more information about buzzwords on LinkedIn, check out this infographic:
Which buzzwords are overused on your own LinkedIn profile?
Source: LinkedIn
Featured image via Sheila Scarborough
This article is dead on. I find the over-use of many of these words to be annoying, and they seem to signal that a Linkedin profile is just a pack of lies.
But seriously, are resumes and CV’s any more misleading than annual reports or personal ads?
Thesaurus Rex Nope – we live in a world that seems to reward puffy self-representation! I’d totally hire someone who put something really honest in their resume, like “I kind of sucked at this job, but it paid the bills for a year”