Your LinkedIn Profile: More You, Fewer Buzzwords

The end of the year brings a stack of business to-do items: updating record keeping, reviewing business plans, preparing for taxes. If you are also hoping and planning for more work or a different job in 2012, we have a great Tip for a more efficient job search. To go along with that, I have another teensy-weensy item to add to your list: de-buzzify your LinkedIn profile. 

LinkedIn just published the results of its 2011 profile-buzzword analysis. Using 135 million professional profiles from its site, it determined the top 10 overused buzzwords in U.S. profiles and the most overused buzzword for each of a selection of countries. Are you, like the majority of today’s LinkedIn users (in the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom) describing yourself as creative? Are you touting your extensive experience—the top buzzword from 2010 and number three on the 2011 list? Although 2011 LinkedIn users aren’t as likely as 2010 users to be team players or entrepreneurial, they are still motivated to have a proven track record of problem solving. 

Here’s a problem to solve: How will potential employers and clients distinguish you from the rest of the crowd if your profile communicates nothing unique? Take a look at the the 2010 and 2011 lists, dig down into your reserves of copyediting superpowers, and replace those words with dynamic examples and innovative phrasing that demonstrate your accomplishments, attitude, and potential. Use concrete examples when possible. That’s right—“show, don’t tell” works for professional profiles and résumés, too. 

As you gear up for great things in 2012, take a few minutes to make sure your professional profile is truly representing you, not your reliance on the current buzzwords.