10 words you should never use on LinkedIn

Mature and seasoned professional

This actually isn't something that I personally feel is a red flag but when I was doing research for this article, I found that this came up a lot. Conversely, "young" and "energetic" is also frowned upon by a lot of people. The notion here is that you're giving people a reason to immediately bucket you into a group that actually might have a negative reaction than a positive one. "Mature" could imply that you're stuck in your ways and too old to change. Personally, I think the digital industry should have a few more seasoned folks in their ranks, but this is a huge "no-no" listed by many hiring professionals so I would avoid it.
 

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.