Right words attract the best talents

DUBAI — The word ‘aggressive’ in job description shoves away over 44 per cent of women from applying to the position, according to a new global survey.

The research, Language Matters: How Words Impact Men and Women in the Workplace, found that 44 per cent of women would be discouraged from applying for a position if the word ‘aggressive’ was included in the job description, as is the case with over 50,000 job listings on LinkedIn. The global report surveyed over 12,000 employees and 3,000 employers, and analysed enormous data points created by over 645 million members on LinkedIn.

According to the research, one in four women would be reluctant to work in a post described as ‘demanding’. In terms of self-description, men and women appear to assess themselves differently at work. While both genders apply the same top three attributes to highlight their abilities in a job interview — ‘hardworking’, ‘good at my job’, and ‘confident’ — women are 40 per cent more likely than men to want the interviewer to perceive them as ‘qualified’, ‘smart’, and ‘competent’.

“Vocabulary can tell us a lot about a personality. It’s great to see LinkedIn play an active role in sharing research which increases the public’s awareness of how different people interpret and respond emotionally to words. We’ve recognised that women are less likely to boast about achievements than their male counterparts which can lead hiring managers to bias their hiring decisions in technical positions,” said Sahiqa Bennett, CEO of Searchie. “Equally, more research is becoming available, specifically from US researcher Pam Heim, which suggests teams over perform when there is increased female intervention. We believe this is, in part because, women tend to carry a disproportionate share of the collaborative work burden.”

Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, said: “Paying attention to word choices during interviews, in communication and branding materials, as well as on social media can go a long way in attracting more inclusive talents.”

Vocabulary can tell us a lot about a personality; it’s great to see LinkedIn research on how people interpret and respond to words.” Sahiqa Bennett, CEO of Searchie