Are You Over-Hyping Yourself with Adjectives on LinkedIn?

When I’m working with clients, particularly with their LinkedIn Profile, the question of their optimal distinction invariably arises. (If it doesn’t then I make sure it does.)

This is where we struggle with the limited characters available in Profile fields to make the clients stand out from the crowd.

Many clients like to use adjectives here.

Lots and lots of adjectives.

Myself, on the other hand, like to stick to the facts. (Frequently known as nouns.)

Let’s talk about the dos and don’ts of using adjectives on your LinkedIn Profile.

There are a few things that I have reservations about.

First, stay away from superlatives. Yes, maybe you are the “best” something or other but let somebody else say it for you and preferably not your mother.

Next, avoid words that don’t add to your reader’s understanding of who you and what you do.

Then, avoid using adjectives as filler. You’ll get your message across just as well with anyone of the three words describing this experience: “seasoned, experienced, veteran writer.” Save the extra characters to talk about what your writing was about.

Never give your opinion about yourself. (There are ways to get others to do it for you.)

Doing some or all of these can leave a potential client or employer wondering what you can really do for them and that you’re very full of yourself.

I don’t have any problems with any of the following approaches.

Using descriptors in a minimalist fashion.

For example, years of multiple experiences or being in one industry can be represented by one adjective such as “experienced” or “seasoned.”

Please note that I said one!

Then, there’s adding specificity to your experiences.

Saying you “managed six ERP implementations” says something from different than saying “managed several ERP implementations.”

Quantity and frequency are good uses of adjectives on a LinkedIn Profile.

One caveat here, while I’m OK with using adjectives just don’t let them outnumber your nouns!

Remember to use adjectives correctly with good grammar.

I always advise clients from going back to their university creative writing classes when crafting their LinkedIn Profiles.

Finally, reiterating this point made earlier, let others use as many adjectives, and adverbs too for that matter, when recommending you!

LinkedIn Profiles should be tightly written with good grammar and judicious use of adjectives.

From my own experiences as a hiring manager and in speaking with recruiters, nothing eliminates a potential candidate as quickly as an overly stuffed LinkedIn Profile which doesn’t really add to your understanding of the candidate.

That’s it for now!

Please check-out my 8 step approach for developing a social media program to get some more ideas on how to use social media.

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