10 words you should never use on LinkedIn

Josh Dreller
Websites Posted on March 22, 2012

Guru and visionary

Unlike some others, I'm not so fed up with the term "expert." Yes, it needs to be qualified to what extent your expertise lies, but terms such as "guru" imply that you're beyond an expert in something; that folks should be showering you with rose pedals or sacrificing goats in your honor. And, hey, if you're a guru, why do you need a job? Self-appointed royalty titles only make most people feel like you're going to be a huge pain-in-the-butt to work with.

 

More articles from Websites

 

Comments

Jennifer Mutchnik
Jennifer Mutchnik March 22, 2012 at 6:18 PM

So where do I submit my LinkedIn profile for your stamp of approval?

Deborah Kania
Deborah Kania March 22, 2012 at 4:24 PM

funny...and good advice. soooooo, this make me wonder...what words should we be using in our Linkedin profile?

Miles Austin
Miles Austin March 22, 2012 at 4:06 PM

I would like to add "RockStar" to the list and put it right at the top.

Chris Bernard
Chris Bernard March 22, 2012 at 1:44 PM

Friends, coworkers, partners and clients...bring out the duct tape! I use 30% of these every week on LinkedIn #in.

Nick Stamoulis
Nick Stamoulis March 22, 2012 at 1:39 PM

I've never been a fan of the word guru. I do think that people can call themselves experts (provided they have the years of experience to back it up), but I feel like there can only be one "guru" in an industry (if there can be one at all) and it's probably not you.