LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, scours member profiles to uncover which words and phrases are most overused. Termed as Buzzwords, LinkedIn believes that usage of these words could actively harm members’ prospects for career and economic opportunity. More than 1 million member profiles from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were studied in 2015 to identify the Buzzwords among the nation’s professionals.
LinkedIn reveals that ‘organization’, ‘motivated’, and ‘leadership’ are the top three most-commonly used words in Saudi Arabia. Interestingly, the buzzword ‘organization’ tops the list despite making its debut appearance this year, alongside other brand new buzzwords such as ‘leadership’, ‘successful’, and ‘strategic’.
The top 10 LinkedIn Buzzwords in the Saudi Arabia for this year are: Organization, Successful, Motivated, Creative, Leadership, Track Record, Dynamic, Extensive Experience, Responsible and Strategic For the first time, LinkedIn has also identified the ten most overused ‘buzzwords’ on the millions of LinkedIn Company Pages. The list shows businesses and brands that by using Buzzwords, they are failing to differentiate themselves from their competitors and peers, and this could be working against their talent and customer acquisition efforts. The full list for Buzzwords on LinkedIn Company Pages globally can be found here.
Nada Enan, Senior Manager Marketing & PR, LinkedIn MENA, said: “Curating a LinkedIn profile should receive as much attention to detail and quality as creating one’s professional resumé. Buzzwords actually make our member profiles stand out for their lack of creativity and their uniformity. LinkedIn has consciously created the opportunities for our members to demonstrate their creativity, passion or successes by uploading images, documents, and links so that the profile is made richer and brought to life. We hope that our members in Saudi Arabia take this opportunity to set their professional profiles in order in 2016.”
Below are some LinkedIn lessons for those looking to perfect their profile:
1. Stand out from the crowd: Your summary is the first thing people look at after your profile picture. You may know you’re capable of demonstrating ‘leadership’ with a ‘great track record’ but too many buzzwords make it hard for your profile to stand out. Use examples of your experience, focus on how you’ve demonstrated leadership with specific examples and highlight those great results with real numbers.
2. A picture’s worth a thousand words: Instead of saying you’re ‘creative’, why not show people by including presentations, design work and projects you take pride in? Remember, you’ve only got five to ten seconds to impress.
3. Share views and news: So you have ‘extensive experience and great communication skills’? Tell the world by publishing a post on LinkedIn. By offering your opinions on industry matters, you’re positioning yourself as a thought leader and sharing your knowledge.
4. Get to know people like you: If you want to show you are ‘motivated’ about succeeding in your industry, join a group. Share your thoughts on news or articles to show you care about the sector and widen your network. Members who are active in groups get 15x more profile views than members who don’t take part.
5. Recommend a friend: If you think someone’s ‘exceptional’, why not say it? Spend time writing meaningful recommendations using specific examples. Not only does this show you really know them, it also means they are more likely to return the favor. A couple of glowing recommendations are worth a hundred buzzwords.
