Bingo!
It's been a good December for top ten lists, and online professional profile company LinkedIn has come up with one of the more amusing ones - CV clichés.
There's something toe-curlingly contrived, artificial and cliché-ridden about the white-collar workplace. Why is it, for example, that the word ‘time' becomes ‘bandwidth' in a professional environment? Or ‘meet' becomes ‘interface, ‘use' becomes ‘leverage', and ‘later' becomes ‘going forward'?
While much of the blame falls on our unquestioning adoption of US corporate culture, and its love of euphemisms and oblique language, there's no escaping this is the reality we're faced with. Probably correctly assuming many of the people vetting CVs are exactly the kind of bluffers who most use buzzwords to conceal their own lack of substance, when creating their LinkedIn profiles we apparently season liberally with cliché.
"We have the opportunity to uncover interesting workplace trends given the high volume of people with profiles on LinkedIn," tip-toed DJ Patil, LinkedIn's chief data scientist. "In this case, we wanted to reveal insights that help professionals make better choices about how to position themselves online whether they are looking for a job or not."
Here's the list of the top 10 most commonly used words and phrases in professional profiles for members based in the UK:
1. Motivated
2. Extensive Experience
3. Innovative
4. Proven Track Record
5. Dynamic
6. Team Player
7. Proactive
8. Entrepreneurial
9. Skill Set
10. Problem Solver
Don't hate yourself too much, we all do it. To be fair to the Yanks, there's only so much you can say when trying to convince a prospective employer of your employability. You want to sound like a dream employee, but you also want to seem like a bit of a catch. You want to appear perfect for the job, but also versatile and adaptable.
But Katie Ledger, the former TV presenter who has set herself up as some kind of communications guru, reckons there's no need for all this bullshit bingo. "Phrases like ‘extensive experience' and ‘proven track record' can appear empty to a potential employer and may do more harm than good when you include them in your profile or resume," she said.
"If you're using any of these ten terms, wipe them out. Instead, note that you have eight to ten years of experience or that you increased sales by 300 percent. Include meaningful phrases that apply specifically to highlights you've achieved in your career. Remember, potential employers and collaborators care more about what you have actually done than what may appear on your business card."
So there you go. Leverage that feedback to optimize your professional showcase, and going-forward you will upscale your employer-centric brand and fast-track your ROI.
