Emotive Language in Careers and Recruitment Social Media

"Passionate... Hungry... Hot Shot..."

AKA: Emotive Rubbish.

I have come to hate words such as "passionate". I feel they are completely emotionally loaded, and to me they have been taken away from their true meaning. But even more so, the phrase is so overused that it seems to have lost all meaning. 

It is much akin to the fact that I don't like to use (or at least overuse) the words "Love" and "Hate". They are very powerful words. Think of them like diamonds. Diamonds are rare and because of this they are desirable, and therefore more valuable. Casual Economics 101.

I realise this may well be a subjective issue, but I would personally avoid using words that are highly emotive too much in applications and interviews. If you use them less so, and only drop in one or two then to me you would come across much more genuine. Secondly, you can add emphasis to the things that really "sell" you, what is your USP?

Don't be this person

Or this one:

My Inspiration

This week's post is more of a comment (or rant if you will) rather than advice. I was inspired to write this after seeing this advert come up on my Facebook newsfeed:

It was the use of the phrase "hot shot" which particularly caught my eye, though the overall tone of the advert was, in my opinion, a little demoralising.

Don't get me wrong, I know that there is a lot of competition out there for training contracts (or most professions) but in such hard times it is not helpful to use this sort of language in order to entice people to your site.
It is hard to put my finger on what exactly I don't like about this, but the overall tone of it seems to be

"If you aren't one of the elite then you can't be successful"

I will give them the benefit of the doubt, and say that perhaps this was not their intention. Most emotive language is simply put into advertisements or job adverts in order to persuade the viewer to click on a link/apply etc. 

However, when I researched "The Bright Network" further- this was their demographic:

As you can see from the bullet points, it looks to me as if this particular organisation has quite a small top-end demographic.

However, from these facts alone all we can deduce is that these people are, on average, very well qualified.

And that is exactly my point. 

Education isn't everything. Yes, it is very important. This is by no means an excuse to slack off. But it does mean that you have to take your education with a slight (and I mean slight) pinch of salt. The more work you get, and the older and more experienced you become, the less relevant education becomes. 

What this means is that education is merely a foot in the door. What matters more (in my opinion) is your work experience. Now I know as far as the law is concerned, if you haven't had a vacation scheme placement or similar then you pretty much won't be considered for any training contracts. This says an awful lot.

And I tell you what else says an awful lot- referees. My professional referee knows me a heck of a lot more than my academic one and therefore he can provide me with a much more valuable reference. 

So if you aren't "the best" academically, I know I certainly wasn't, make sure that you give yourself plenty of other opportunities that make your education slightly less crucial to your success. I know this is easier said than done, but it's all about persistence, and making sure you know an opportunity when you are faced with one, and you are open to all new experiences.

So if you take anything from today, know that you don't have to go to a "Times Top 20" or Russell Group University, or have straight As at A Level to be successful. Most of my friends and family are living proof of this.

I would go as far as to say that these "Hot Shots" are in the minority. Let them go off to firms which requires first class degrees and in return for a £90,ooo paycheck for which you give them your soul. You, on the other hand can be successful and happy in whatever you choose to do, as long as you take the necessary steps to achieve this and make sure you are realistic about your options. 

Hopefully this all made sense. Apologies for the early post, I have some family stuff to do this week. But hey, at least I am early this time and not late!