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The 10 Most Overused Buzzwords on LinkedIn [infographic]

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LinkedIn, the social network of the job seeker and the career advancer, offers opportunities to display your experience and skills in a way that is sure to impress future employers. On the other hand, it’s also a good way to show that corporate-speak has completely hijacked your vocabulary.

linkedin 

(Photo Credit: A Name Like Shields/Flickr)

It’s not LinkedIn’s fault; after all, the site’s purpose is to allow you to build a sort of resume on steroids. It’s no wonder, then, that the same problems that bedevil resumes crop up on LinkedIn profiles.

Do You Know What You're Worth?

What’s the biggest problem in resumes or profiles that take the place of resumes? Not communicating effectively. This takes many forms, of course, from formatting poorly to neglecting to correct typos to failing to use action words to describe what you’ve done at previous jobs. Cramming in as many meaningless buzzwords as possible is just another way to confuse the issue.

What should you do instead? LinkedIn suggests that you:

Consider the opposite: Would you ever call yourself irresponsible or impatient? One of the quickest ways of deciding whether or not to select a word that may describe your professional brand is to consider the antonym. In the case of “effective,” its opposite is “ineffective,” making “effective” one of those descriptors that is a given. Your entire profile can show that you are responsible and effective without having to include the overused words.

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(Infographic Credit: LinkedIn)

Tell Us What You Think

Which resume or LinkedIn buzzwords make you cringe? Leave a comment or join the discussion on Twitter.

Jen Hubley Luckwaldt
Read more from Jen

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