Do you have fire in your belly? Are you an action-oriented person? And do you have skills that you could bring to the table?
America loves its workplace jargon, but corporate cliches differ from state to state. Companies in Washington state, for example, want their workers to go through the roof, while employers in West Virginia prefer people off the floor. After reviewing the language patterns of more than 250 million job posts and hiring outcomes, the text analysis startup Textio identified the most distinctive jargon phrases for each U.S. state.
Patterns reveled include the prevalence of anatomical references (employers in Indiana want applicants to have fire in their bellies, and in Minnesota they’re keen on face time) and the popularity of sports metaphors.
Below is a full list of states and their favorite job listing cliches:
- Alabama — Value add
- Alaska — Corporate values
- Arkansas— Driven results
- Arizona—Build synergy
- California — Tee Up
- Colorado — Change driver
- Connecticut — Leverage expertise
- Delaware — Exhibits good judgement
- Florida — Win-win outcome
- Georgia — Hit your numbers
- Hawaii — Magic Happens
- Iowa — Exit strategy
- Idaho — Achieve alignment
- Illinois — Be action-oriented
- Indiana — Fire in the belly
- Kansas — Identify opportunity
- Kentucky — Possess strength
- Louisiana — Synergize
- Massachusetts — Thought leaders
- Maryland — Corporate alignment
- Maine — Goes the extra mile
- Michigan— Eye of the tiger
- Minnesota — Face time
- Mississippi — Bring to the table
- Missouri — Company value
- Montana — Strategic initiative
- Nebraska — Overachiever
- Nevada — Increase productivity
- New Hampshire — Manage escalation
- New Jersey — In our DNA
- New Mexico — Close the loop
- New York — Herd cats
- North Carolina — Good practice
- North Dakota- Drives change
- Ohio — Out of the park
- Oklahoma — Bleeding edge
- Oregon — Revolutioneering
- Rhode Island — Push the envelope
- South Carolina — Buy in
- South Dakota — Reach out to you
- Tennessee — Touch base
- Texas — Statement of duties
- Utah — Learnings
- Vermont — KPIs
- Virginia — Not intimidated
- Washington — Through the roof
- Washington DC — Shift the paradigm
- West Virginia — Off the floor
- Wisconsin — Blaze the trail
- Wyoming — Strategic communications