These 3 Most Commonly Misspelled Words Are Sabotaging Your Job Search on LinkedIn
Updated: Aug. 09, 2023
Don't undermine your job search with a typo-ridden LinkedIn profile!
Whether you’re job hunting for the first time, changing careers or rage applying after a bout of major burnout, you’ve likely found yourself in a common situation: sending out endless résumés, fielding tricky interview questions and hoping you finally hit the jackpot. It’s not the most fun you’ll have with a computer and an internet connection, but it’ll all be worth it when you land your dream job.
Of course, you can up your chances of getting a job offer by giving both your résumé and LinkedIn profile a final once-over. That’s right: Using proper grammar and spelling on your résumé and cover letter isn’t the only thing that matters. LinkedIn is one of the most popular job-hunting sites out there, and even something as small as a spelling error on your profile can keep you from getting a job.
So, which words are most likely to trip you up? E-learning site Preply recently released an analysis of the most common spelling mistakes on LinkedIn profiles—read on to see if any of them are on yours.
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A study of spelling (errors)
In May 2023, Preply carried out a study of misspellings by collecting data from LinkedIn’s interface across thousands of profiles. First, they had to narrow down the list to words that were actually misspelled. After all, the dictionary may quibble with the name Lyft, suggesting it’s a spelling mistake and should be lift. With that in mind, Preply removed acronyms, people’s names, business names, industry-specific words and phrases, pop-culture-related words and phrases, and words and phrases in other languages.
They picked 25 industries in which people are likely to have a LinkedIn profile, then they used Merriam-Webster, Dictionary.com and Grammarly’s English Grammar Guide as references for spelling and grammar. They also analyzed monthly Google search volumes to find the top words that people were checking spellings for.
The top spelling mistakes on LinkedIn
Once the minds behind Preply crunched the data, they learned the top three words people misspell:
- Management: Misspelled managment
- Programming: Misspelled programing
- I’m: Misspelled Im
But those weren’t the only flubs. The study zeroed in on some other misspellings, with the words below following closely behind the top three.
- Realtor: Misspelled relator
- Skill set: Misspelled skillset
- Board member: Misspelled boardmember
- Company-wide: Misspelled companywide
- Food service: Misspelled foodservice
- Team building: Misspelled teambuilding
- Video games: Misspelled videogames
A couple other words regularly make it past spell check (or warrant the use of spell check in the first place!): Entrepreneur is commonly misspelled entreprenuer and enterpreneur. And people in the accounting industry often write that their position is an accountnat—a misspelling of accountant.
On a whole, people tend to combine words that belong separately—think board member and video games. (Pro tip: When in doubt, check it out.)
“These frequent misspellings are not necessarily due to specific language rules but rather a combination of factors, such as unfamiliarity with spelling patterns, typos and lack of attention to detail,” Sylvia Johnson, Preply’s language expert, said in a statement.
The top grammar mistakes on LinkedIn
The Preply team also looked at common grammar errors on the site and pointed to these top three mistakes:
- Bachelors
- Softwares
- Is vs. are
Chief among grammar issues is the use of bachelors. The word requires an apostrophe, so be sure you’re writing bachelor’s degree. (The same rule applies to a master’s too.)
If you’re in the software field, know that there’s no plural form of the word software. And no matter what career you’re in, be sure you’re using is and are correctly. Sentences like “The measures I implemented is responsible for saving the company $50,000” will turn off a hiring manager. Because measures is plural, the verb should be are.
“Native speakers learn grammar intuitively,” says Johnson. “As a result, they may not be aware of specific rules or may not have a deep understanding of them, leading to occasional mistakes.” That’s all the more reason to learn grammar rules that will make you sound smarter and more capable.
How to proofread your LinkedIn profile
You do everything you can to avoid résumé mistakes that could cost you a job, so why not take the same care with the profile hiring managers will check first? Besides, the words topping Preply’s list aren’t the only ones that people commonly misspell on their LinkedIn profiles. If you’re not getting hired, it may be time to proofread your profile once more.
You can read through it yourself to catch common misspellings, but it’s always best to ask a friend to proofread it again to ensure that you haven’t missed any typos. If you want to be absolutely thorough, you can also copy and paste the text into Microsoft Word and run the spell-check function, or add the Grammarly extension to your browser to catch anything you might miss while editing your profile.
With your newly typo-free profile, you’ll prove to hiring managers that the whole “attention to detail” part of your resume was no joke. But before you go for that all-important interview, read up on the supposedly polite habits interviewers dislike.
Source:
- Preply: “‘Managment’ among the most misspelled words on LinkedIn, according to analysis”
Originally Published: July 31, 2023
