As the largest social networking platform, LinkedIn remains the first resort for recruiters who want to find qualified talents through their social media channel. In order to achieve this purpose, leaders should be able to design a flawless strategy and distinctive concept in bringing their company profile to the potential candidates. However, the problem is, recruiters are often stuck using cliché recruitment terms, jargons and phrases in a job advertisement on their LinkedIn page.
When using social media as a means of sourcing and screening talents, companies need to be careful in presenting themselves, such that it would invoke people’s interest to join the team. Recruiters are required to manage and optimise their social accounts, since this increases their chances of standing out of the crowd and get noticed by best talent.
When more people apply for jobs, the chances of finding the best talent expands in scope as well. However, before achieving this goal, recruiters should avoid using overused recruitment buzzwords, since this can put talent off.
For hiring managers, recruitment buzzwords are not something new. There are particular specific words which are very popular, and those gradually become mandatory terms to be used on the recruiter’s profile page. But there are limitations on usage of these words/terms for professional development opportunities.
See: Targeted Approaches to Attracting Talent on Twitter in Just Few Words
Just because sometimes the buzzwords are used quite often due to their catchiness, they eventually become cliché serving no meaning or purpose in time to draw attention. This can get further get worse, when excessive clichés might put off best talents who are on quest for something more real and practical.
Based on LinkedIn’s latest analysis, below are the most overused buzzwords on the recruiter’s profiles:
On taking a closer look, these words seem familiar and harmless, so finding these terms in recruiter’s profiles is not uncommon. Then how do these buzzwords keep the best talents away?
These words are less effective because they are not specific. It means that the recruiters do not explain clearly what they refer to, when using certain terms. For example, when using words such as ‘specialized’, ‘passionate’, or ‘leadership’, recruiters do not need to explain clearly about the expected qualifications except these words.
While in fact, there are many types of specialization, passion, and leadership style. Due to this lack of clarity, talents often find themselves confused, not motivated to engage with the recruiter’s network and fall out from the talent fishing initiatives.
Potentially damaging another flaw of excessively using these buzzwords is lack of detailed information about the recruiter. This influences talent’s reluctancy in applying for the job. For example, use of words such as ‘experienced’ and ‘successful’ without further explanation will leave vague understanding on talent minds.
Unless the fields of expertise are specifically mentioned, candidates will not be sure on what recruiters are looking for. Therefore, it is important for the recruiter to provide more details on what they write. If they want someone with a specific expertise, it is better to state directly. Not only does this help in selecting the right candidates for particular job roles, it also helps talent to not invest their time, looking for something beyond their expertise.
‘Show, do not tell’ adage can be a great alternative for hiring managers to avoid clichés and overused buzzwords. Besides presenting their business through words, leaders should optimise other features available on their LinkedIn profile. Such as, recruiters can upload reassuring professional profile picture, create eye-catching headline, write brief and informative summary about the company, as well as display the achievements accomplished by the company within a certain period of time.
Towards the end, using buzzwords is not a bad idea, as long as recruiters know how to maximise its potential usage, such that the words will not backfire to them. If applied correctly, buzzwords can be a key to attract the best candidates who share the same vision and values of the company.
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