Using Linkedin (Without it Using You)

Wow! We’ve covered so much ground in this 12-week series of taking small steps to move forward in your job search. We started back in January with the idea of simply making space to begin a job search and have moved all they through updating resume and cover letter content. As we approach week 11, the next phase begins: LinkedIn.

Photo by Arina Krasnikova

LinkedIn’s platform is going through a great deal of change. The platform is still one of the first platforms that I visit when searching candidate profiles for open positions, but the sense of performative, non-original content, waning community, and application crowdedness is not appealing. You may have mixed feelings yourself about the platform yourself and where it fits within a job search but here’s a helpful reframe: LinkedIn is not your job search. It’s just one tool within your search.

Use LinkedIn to Stay Findable

Ramping up a search brings about enough pressure in getting your materials together, finding jobs to apply to, and mustering up courage let alone building in time to strategize an entire content calendar to promote yourself. An updated and current LinkedIn profile can be just as strategic as considering ways to become an overnight, AI-supported “thought leader” in your space.

Here are two questions you can start with when turning to LinkedIn:

• How do I want to use this platform?

• What feels manageable for me, right now?

Be honest with yourself with the answers that come from these questions. For many people, LinkedIn is most effective when used for these reasons:

• To research companies and roles

• To identify and connect with people

• To stay lightly visible to recruiters or others in your industry

You don’t have to have a robust, rotating content calendar to benefit from the platform.

You Don’t Have to Be Loud to Be Effective

It’s in LinkedIn’s best interests to promote, train, and instruct users to be regularly active in posting content to the platform in order to drive your visibility. However, that messaging can add pressure to a search and not encourage you to even want to promote or post content in the first place. You can show up though, and showing up doesn’t have mean posting every day. Here are some thoughtful ways that you can start to build your presence on the platform:

1. Comment thoughtfully (and positively!) on a post

2. Share an article that resonated with you along with your thoughts

3. Send a “hello!” message to reconnect with someone

Quiet consistency is still powerful.

Explore Your Content Platforms

Just last night I was scrolling through the platform and came upon three posts in a row that were written in nearly identical voicing, cadence, and line breaks. Each author brought a drastically different background yet their written posts sounded identical. It’s obvious that AI is creeping (or pounding!) in to the feed, creating eerily similar, generic post content that vastly diminishes the authenticity of the LinkedIn platform. I’m starting to explore other platforms to find and build community. Here are a few options:

Medium: Medium is a great place to spend time scrolling, reading, and writing! articles of your choice, flavor, or voice. It’s a wonderful way to find and build community.

Substack: Substack is another, similar, content platform to Medium however one unique feature of Substack is that authors have the ability to build their own brand, which is a unique feature. I actually wrote something on Substack this morning as I’ve been exploring this platform myself. Writing here felt slower and more personal. If you’re curious about my first piece, you can check it out here.

Slack: Slack is a great resource for finding niche, professional communities to start building your voice and connections. You can check out many professional communities that you can start to become a part of here.

The nice thing about these platforms is that you have the opportunity to share longer-form ideas in a more personal format. These spaces can feel slower, more intentional, and less performance-driven which can be a welcome respite from LinkedIn. These environments can make it easier to find your voice.

Return to What Matters

At its core, remember that your job search isn’t about mastering a platform. Your search contains the tenants of building relationships, knowing and communicating your value, and finding alignment. LinkedIn can support those tenants, but it doesn’t define your search.

You don’t need to figure out LinkedIn this week. Instead, choose one small action: update one section of your profile, engage with one post, or reach out to one person. That’s enough. One thing at a time. You’ve got this!

You can check out more articles here and here for a deeper dive on best ways to utilize LinkedIn. I’m always here to help!