This Is How to Get Your Next Job

#13: Don’t Use Buzzwords

I remember when the word “innovative” started popping up on everyone’s resume and then on LinkedIn profiles. So many people pasted it into their list of laudable virtues that in 2010, LinkedIn’s chief data scientist calculated it was the second most overused buzzword in its U.S. members’ profiles. In response to that discovery, resume writers warned: Get “innovative” off your resume and LinkedIn profile!

I say, not so fast. I dislike buzzwords immensely. But before you start chopping, let’s look at what you’re trying to say and how to replace it with better language.

The problem with what used to be perfectly fine words like “innovative” as well as “results-oriented” and “problem solver”—two others from LinkedIn’s list ...