LinkedIn Profile Buzzwords
The LinkedIn blog features the top 10 buzzwords (read: vacuous terms) US Americans use in their LI profiles to describe their personal and professional qualities. Here are the top 10 most overused words:
1. Extensive experience
2. Innovative
3. Motivated
4. Results-oriented
5. Dynamic
6. Proven track record
7. Team player
8. Fast-paced
9. Problem solver
10. Entrepreneurial
Now, for the cross-cultural analysis:
While members from the USA, Canada and Australia tend to emphasize their ‘extensive experience’, Brazilians, Indians and Spaniards identify themselves as ‘dynamic’ professionals. Members in the UK call themselves more ‘motivated’ and the French, the Germans, the Italians and the Dutch see themselves as ‘innovative’.
The ways in which we position ourselves through resume’s and CV’s in addition to the way we think our potential employers look for top notch candidates is informed by a certain measure of “culture.” In this case, we’re looking at national units, so we can refer to this concept as national culture, or the accepted forms of behavior that we can see across a broad base. My question is: why do North Americans and Australians put forward their experience while Brazilians, Indians and Spaniards highlight their dynamism?
Cliché or not, it seems the former group bases competency on experience rather than a personality trait, while the latter’s best strategy is to project themselves as vigorous, energetic multitaskers. “Innovative” is the most overused buzzword in most of Western Europe, which may be connected to the continent’s reliance on brainpower rather than manpower in the post-manufacturing era. In any case, culture is a strong informant of how we perceive and brand ourselves in the marketplace. In most cases, understanding the cultural background of an individual is just as important as recognizing their qualifications.
Sean
