how do you want candidates to describe themselves

Quite recently the Youth Employment Taskforce Report stated that the main goal of employers is to find people with the right attitude and ability to work with others. It should follow that jobseekers try to convey the attitude and team work aspects the most on their CV's. I haven't gone through our database of CV's to be able to confirm whether our candidates and employers are roughly matched up in this aspect, but Linkedin has done some research on their user profiles. Last year the top word was "motivated" - pretty powerful and one that I would use a lot as well. It conveys attitude more than anything else. In 2011 the top 10 list is: 1. Creative 2. Track record 3. Motivated 4. Effective 5. Extensive experience 6. Wide range 7. Innovative 8. Communication skills 9. Dynamic 10. Problem solving Does this suggest that people are trying to portray themselves in a certain way, whilst employers are actually looking for something different? That "creative" is at the top of the list suggests that jobseekers think recruiters are looking for people who can come up with solutions outside the box. Track record is all about the experience, and this is something that employers have explicitly stated is not their main driver when recruiting. Motivated - yes, that fits with what employers are asking for. The team work aspect is only covered by "Communication skills" though. This is so important - but only comes in at number 8. It would be interesting to ask a range of recruiters directly about this list. Does this sum up what they look for? I doubt it does somehow.