The inflationary used buzzwords of the Swiss marketing industry

New Year, new resolutions: For many, the start of the year marks a time to take a critical look at their career and set new goals. Anyone looking to make a career change in 2017 should also take this opportunity to review their online profile. First things first: An online profile is no substitute for a cover letter and resume. However, hiring managers use professional networking sites to learn more about candidates and their personalities beyond what’s in their official applications.

So what can you do to stand out from the crowd and give the recruiter a “aha” moment with your self-presentation? HR experts love specifics. That doesn’t mean a buzzword like “specialized” can’t appear in your profile at all. However, your area of specialization—or expert knowledge—should be clearly explained and backed up with examples.

Ideally, the sales specialist should mention their specific professional experience, the industry contacts they’ve built, their achievements, and their above-average quota fulfillment—rather than simply referring to their many years of experience. The more specific the examples, the better!

Beware of «leadership qualities»—especially if you can’t back them up

Even those who boast of their leadership qualities cannot avoid explaining exactly why they consider themselves a top employee: What exactly makes them so special? visionary, motivating, willing to take on responsibility, value-driven – exactly highly capable? If you can't back this up with experience and examples, you're better off staying away from this term. However, you can certainly express your willingness to take on responsibility for a project or lead a team.

Strategic It remains firmly in the top 3 of popular buzzwords in 2017 and ranks first among terms used by Swiss marketers. Whether and how someone actually thinks and acts with the necessary foresight is best demonstrated using a concrete case study. Those who cannot provide one should emphasize qualities such as analytical thinking, goal orientation, and the ability to visualize.

The buzzword ranks 4th in Germany and 6th in Switzerland (Marketing: 9th) focused – another new entry in the Top 10 for 2017 that is likely to soon start annoying recruiters. Suitable synonyms are: concentrated, results-oriented, systematically and purposeful.

Other long-term buzzwords round out the current Top 10: learn, passionate, innovative, creative and responsibly – all of which are qualities that every HR professional certainly wants to see in a candidate, but no longer wants to read about. Specific examples of work—described in as personalized a way as possible—are what really catch the reader’s attention here as well.

Conclusion: Obvious clichés and trite phrases leave a bad taste in the mouths of HR experts. To make a lasting impression with your online profile and spark genuine interest, you need an approach that’s just as personalized as the one required for your cover letter and resume. It’s definitely worth investing the time—after all, you’re aiming for your dream job.

Differences in occupational groups

Another interesting aspect of the study was how different occupational groups describe themselves. According to the findings, marketing professionals predominantly see themselves as strategic, while sales specialists tend to take on a particularly large number of Leadership skills attribute. HR professionals, on the other hand, are specialized and students prefer to describe themselves as passionate. The Swiss and German top 10 lists largely overlap with the global ones. The global lists also include the following attributes: outstanding and certified in high demand.

For Advertising Week, LinkedIn not only analyzed the entire professional landscape of each country, but also specifically examined the profiles of people working in marketing in Switzerland.

The Top 10 Overused Terms in Swiss Marketing Profiles:

1 strategic
2 Leadership Skills
3 specialized
4 passionate
5 Expert Knowledge
6 creative
7 innovative
8 learn
9 focused
10 Success Story

Different countries, different buzzwords

As a global career network, LinkedIn has, of course, also taken a closer look at other countries. What stands out is that Swiss, French, and British professionals—just like Germans—currently emphasize their specialized skills, while candidates in Singapore and the U.S. primarily highlight their leadership qualities. The buzzword “certified” also appears only in the U.S. and in Asia’s booming “Tiger Economy”; for Europeans, however, it seems to be less significant. (pd/hae)