LinkedIn recently analyzed 187 million user profiles to see which words are most commonly used.
Turns out professionals use many of the same words to describe themselves. Here are the top 10 most overused words and phrases found on LinkedIn profiles:
- Creative
- Organizational
- Effective
- Motivated
- Extensive experience
- Track record
- Innovative
- Responsible
- Analytical
- Problem solving
Source: Leslie Kwoh, At Work Blog, WSJ.com
I’ll have you know I checked my LinkedIn profile and found I’ve not used any of these terms. You may want to check your profile, too.
Notice that eight of these 10 terms are adjectives. Only two are nouns: “extensive experience” and “track record.”
I can already imagine how these would appear in a profile…
I have extensive experience in __________ and a track record of results.
Makes me want to barf just typing that out.
If you want to persuade somebody of your skills, better to show them what you’ve done (with real stories, outcomes, awards, etc) than use banal descriptors like “creative.”
There is so much irony in saying you’re creative instead of actually demonstrating it.
Even more irony using the word “analytical” without analyzing LinkedIn profiles to discover millions of other people are saying the same thing.
Words matter.
Choose them carefully.
-Ryan M. Healy
P.S. You’ll find me on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rmhealy
About Ryan M. Healy
Ryan Healy is a direct response copywriter. Since 2002, he has worked with scores of clients, including BoostCTR, Alex Mandossian, Terry Dean, and Pulte Homes. He writes a popular blog about copywriting, advertising, and business growth, has been featured in publications like Feed Front magazine, and is a regular contributor to WordStream.com, BoostCTR.com, and MarketingForSuccess.com.
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