From 'leadership qualities' to 'I'm excellent': Words you should NEVER use on your CV if you want a new job

By Riley Morgan For Daily Mail Australia

With just a fleeting moment to make a good first impression it is essential choose our words wisely.

This is why the world's leading social media site for professionals has made a list of the top ten overused buzzwords that Australians must remove from their CVs or profiles so they stand out from the crowd.

LinkedIn based the 10 overused words from millions of Australian profiles over the last 12 months.

If buzzwords such as specialised, leadership, passionate or successful are reappearing across your CV or LinkedIn profile, then it's time to removed them if you want to make a good first impression.

LinkedIn's top ten buzzwords to avoid:

-Specialised
-Leadership
-Passionate
-Experienced
-Strategic
-Focused
-Expert
-Creative
-Successful
-Excellent

Shiva Kumar, from LinkedIn Australia and New Zealand, said while we do not have to get rid of all the buzzwords in our profiles, it is important we explain why they are there.

'While it is unrealistic to avoid all of these buzzwords, I would suggest you look at your profiles and see how many you have,' Shiva Kumar told Daily Mail Australia.

'If you really need to have the buzzwords make sure you have evidence of why they are there. It adds credibility to the buzzword.'

Mr Kumar said when recruiters and employers are flicking through hundreds of profiles and applications it is important that your wording shows your personality.

'If you really want to make an impression with your profile make it authentic. Make it more about you and who you are as a professional,' Mr Kumar said.

'Don't use generalised words.

'You have five to ten seconds to impress an employer or someone looking at your summary. You want to make it engaging.'

'You are telling your professional story, so inject some of your personality into it.'

Mr Kumar's top tips in improving your first impression is adding visuals to keep it authentic and provide a mixture of both hard and soft skills.

'A key tip is adding lots of visuals. It adds a bit more colour and substantiates what you do.'

'Adding more depth and colour to your profile makes it more relevant.'

His other key was listing your personal attributes (soft skills) with more technical skills (hard skills).

'A lot of people, especially recruiters, they look at skills.'

'You can have technical skills or you can have soft skills. Employees are looking for both hard and soft skills. It is not enough to just have hard skills anymore. As a professional you have to have that balance right and list your skills.'

Original source: DailyMail