Don’t Use These 13 Words In Your Professional Profile If You’re Trying To Get Hired

First rule of creating a professional profile on LinkedIn is to not post your resume. "They function differently and individually," says resume writer and career coach Rebecca Perrin. “If I were to oversimplify it, your resume is like a data sheet. Your LinkedIn is more about your personal brand. Your LinkedIn is more who you are at work, where your resume is. what you’ve done at work.”

So, don’t copy and paste your resume. Instead of the first word being your current job title, create a summary of the job you want next under the “About” section in your LinkedIn page. If you’re an entrepreneur or self-employed, Perrin says to use LinkedIn as a space to attract clients by letting them know you are credible, reliable and effective. Show off!

Start thinking like an SEO marketer, and use your LinkedIn profile with smart words. Scan the listings of the jobs you want. Look for words that are repeated more than once on a job posting. “Those are the words you want to make sure are repeated on your resume, your cover letter and your LinkedIn profile.” Don't waste space on filler words.

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If you’re career goal is to move laterally up, join a new team member, or get an external promotion, your key words matter. Be thoughtful with the words you choose to suggest movement.

Don’t just list your duties, like oversaw, produced, etc. – list your work movement in your resume. “Speak to your effectiveness and your ability to perform and deliver results,” says Perrin about the first two objectives. “If you’re applying for a managerial position, you want to talk more about your ability to lead, communicate, keep a team functioning and optimized for results.”

The best LinkedIn profiles don’t say managed. Why? Because your job duties are implied by your job title. Instead go for powerful verbs. Perrin says “You can be more creative with your verbs.” Instead try “coached.” This gives the picture that you’ve not only managed a team, but you led them towards the team’s and the company’s goals.

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Delivered used to be on trend as an effective word to suggest you brought results. But the meaning has become somewhat generic. It could mean anything, and it’s highly unlikely that a job title that doesn’t involve a truck or company vehicle has "deliver” on its keywords list.

To rank higher in the application process – automated on LinkedIn – Perrin says you have to be selective about your words. Instead, consider “communicate,” as used in her example. “I communicated a project that resulted in 25 per cent more sales.”

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Modified or pushed forward are okay. But you want your LinkedIn profile to be more than okay. Perrin says to use “adapt.” “It’s a good word. If there is an age-old problem at the company that you ‘adapted’ for modern technology or a modern workforce, that’s a very powerful verb to use.”

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Cut budget doesn’t sound creative or strategic. Use “optimized” instead. “That means you can take something that may be inefficient – cost or time-wise – and figure out a solution,” says Perrin. “If you can prove to a company that you know how to optimize older structures, then they will want to hire you.”

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Dealt with is a basic term that doesn’t say much. Perrin is a fan of the word “overcame” in her clients’ profiles. “If you can overcome something, it means you’re resilient,” she says. “Employers are looking for employees who can stay and be retained within the company. They are looking for people who have the capacity to overcome challenges. That’s a great quality.”

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Of course growth is good and says that you produce results. But you can come across as more strategic. Perrin recommends using “diversified” in your LinkedIn profile. “If you know how to take [a work project] and expand its reach into diverse audiences or diverse markets, it means you’re a creative thinker.”

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Don’t we all want that from our co-workers and bosses? Try “responds well” too, suggests Perrin. “A lot of times when we talk about communication, we talk about it as being outward.” But she says listening is just as important of a skill in all positions, particularly if you’re in management or in sales. “Your job is to make somebody’s job or problem easier for them. So being able to respond and implement a new idea is a great character trait to have on your profile.” Perrin offers a list of 429 verbs you can download.

Don’t start off your profile with your current job. Put the job title of the job you want at the top of your page – even if it’s not your current title, says Perrin. “The top [part of your profile] is a key word-focused scoring machine for getting you in front of an interviewer. Make it your headline and put it in the summary of your profile....Your headline can have a clear value proposition, lists key words or identifies your niche in a particular industry,” she continues. “I write my clients three different headlines that I have them refresh interchangeably every once in a while, depending on their goals.” And spice up your job titles too. You have over 100 characters to play with, so don’t limit yourself to the title on your business card or your email signature.

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A bonus is a sign of good performance at a job, but Perrin says to avoid listing how you were compensated for a job well-done on LinkedIn. It can come across as tacky, and you have better information to share on LinkedIn. “Tell that story in the interview,” says Perrin, adding that applicant tracking systems (ATSs as HR calls them) also scan for “signal to noise” ratio. “Extra information will dock you in the scoring.”

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Don’t make the mistake of relying on just the words in your profile, by missing the “Skills” section on the bottom of your LinkedIn profile. These words are used by LinkedIn and the HR professional who created the posting to rank you amongst other applicants. “The algorithm will score your profile based on that,” says Perrin. “And if you score lower than a certain benchmark, then it won’t upload your profile to the HR person of the company who is hiring. It’s a scoring system.” For more info on how to write an effective LinkedIn profile, check out Perrin’s professional courses.

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