Warnings issued to passionate, motivated, enthusiastic worker bees

If you are responsible, ambitious, motivated, driven and enthusiastic with passionate communication skills and a track record in creative enterprises and extensive experience in whatever it is you do to earn a crust, you might think you’re absolutely brilliant.

But you should probably come up with a new way to describe yourself on social networks if you are to have any hope of attracting the attention of future employees.

Today is the day that the most Irish people will log on to professional networking site LinkedIn, with thousands seeking to update their profiles and make themselves more attractive to future employees.

To mark the day, LinkedIn has examined the online behaviour of more than one million Irish members and published the most overused ‘buzzwords’ on users’ profiles last year. It says that such words are guaranteed to lose the interest of would-be employers.

Top of the pile is “motivated” – a ‘catch all’ description that is now officially the laziest and most overused career cliché. Hot on its heels are “enthusiastic”, “passionate” and “driven”.

“It’s really important that people are authentic on their profiles but you can help yourself – and boost your professional brand – by painting a more colourful picture and steering clear of the most predictable buzzwords,” said LinkedIn spokesman Darain Faraz.

He suggested that it had “never been more challenging to stand out from the crowd” and encouraged people seeking to tart up their profiles to show “individuality by including charity work and interests”.

The top 10 most overused words and phrases on LinkedIn’s Irish membership last year:

1. motivated

2. enthusiastic

3. passionate

4. driven

5. track record

6. creative

7. extensive experience

8. responsible

9. communication skills

10. ambitious