How NOT to Stand OUT!

LinkedIn just published a list this week of the top 10 most overused descriptions their subscribers use about themselves. The list was aggregated from more than 85 million user profiles. While many of these may sound like great things to have on your resume, because EVERYBODY is saying the same thing, you actually become LESS distinctive and more run-of-the-mill.

In order to be noticed, you need to be set apart from the Moldy-Middle. So, instead of using "generic" descriptors, use specific accomplishments. Example: Results Oriented: State, made over $50 million in sales / $10 million in profits for XYZ Corp in 10 months!!! Now that is results oriented. As another caution, no one really cares much what you did for someone else, what they want to know is what you will do for THEM, so state it. "I can increase profits where ever I go..." Get the drift? Now, do NOT lie, but just tell it like it is...

Oh, as a word of caution, if you are looking for a job, stet entrepreneurial... Only REALLY being an entrepreneur counts there.

BTW, here is the list if you are interested.

1. Extensive experience
2. Innovative
3. Motivated
4. Results-oriented
5. Dynamic
6. Proven track record
7. Team player
8. Fast-paced
9. Problem solver
10. Entrepreneurial (really?)

Comments

Joey McGirr said…

I love your "Really?" after Entrepreneurial. That was awesome!

December 16, 2010 at 10:52 PM

Profit Prophet said…

thnx Joey for the kind words...

December 17, 2010 at 8:47 AM

The Moldy Middle

While taking statistics during my quest to get an MBA and while earning my engineering degree, the professors always emphasized the importance of finding the statistical mean of any population by using the Central Mean Theorem (a.k.a the highest point of the Bell Curve). As an engineer, this was essential in order to maximize throughput, minimize cost and waste, and ultimately make a better, faster, cheaper widget. A funny thing happened on the way to the dark side of marketing. I discovered that the only thing in the middle of the road was quite literally dead road kill. I do not know if you remember stores like Bradlees, Ames and Service Merchandise (just to name a few), but they all folded because the environment changed and they were caught trying to service the mythological “average customer.” Part of that change came when Wal-Mart began its juggernaut with the discount department store. Wal-Mart did two things right: 1) Focused on “mobile” consumers, and 2) Fo...

Traits of an Entrepreneur

I will begin and end this article with two quotations. The first is from Edward Rogers: "You don't deserve to be called an entrepreneur unless you've mortgaged your house to the business." --Edward S. (Ted) Rogers This one sentence pretty much says it all. Entrepreneurs are not necessary gamblers, but they are willing to put everything they own, or go all in, in order to make it happen. In the classical sense an entrepreneur is define as anyone who has possession of a new enterprise, endeavor, venture or idea, and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks associated with the development, growth, and outcome. He or she is an organizer who combines land, labor, material resources, and/or capital to create and market new goods, products, or services. The term "entrepreneur" is loaned from the French and was first defined by the Irish economist Richard Cantillon, where the term was applied to the type of persona who was willing to take upon th...

I'd Rather Be a Pirate

Recently, I have had to make some presentations about what it takes to be an entrepreneur or start up a company, and what type of people I would hire or be associated with. When asked, I usually come back with this question: If you had a choice to sail the seven seas either with the Royal Navy or as a Pirate/Privateer, what would you choose? Incredibly, the answer to this simple question is really at the crux if you can be an entrepreneur or not. One choice offers the prestige and power of a great power, and known and respected entity, at the price of having to conform to a certain system of rules and regulations based mostly on seniority and position not necessarily performance and merit. The other offers a high risk lifestyle, but with some freedoms and the ability to join a group of liked minded individuals. To sail to unchartered, risky lands; to fight for what you believe in, and to seize opportunities wherever you go. How you answer this questi...

The Profit Prophet

Search This Blog