10 overused words on LinkedIn that will bury your résumé

Once again, LinkedIn searches its 135 million résumés and tells us the clichés to avoid. For starters, ‘creative’ and ‘effective.’

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Are you a creative and effective organizer, with extensive experience and a proven track record?

Are you a motivated, innovative problem solver who boasts dynamic communication skills?

Your mother would be proud, but forgive LinkedIn for pointing it out: You’re also a cliché in a business suit.

LinkedIn today released its 2011 list of the most overused professional buzzwords and phrases in profiles, no doubt sending people around the world scurrying online to revise. Creative tops the list of most overused words in the United States, followed by organizational and effective, LinkedIn reports. Last year, extensive experience led.

The social network has 135 million members worldwide, including (it wishes you to know) executives from every Fortune 500 company. It’s not the place to sound like a freshman communications major who is proud to have mastered the jargon.

Differentiate yourself

“It’s a very competitive market, you want to be able to differentiate yourself,” says Nicole Williams, LinkedIn’s connection director and author of the book, “Girl on Top.”

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