Why becoming a LinkedIn lunatic might save your career
In today's economy, 'go direct' isn't just for founders any more. It's for the entire workforce — as long as you don't slop it up.
As professional posting on LinkedIn becomes more common, many workers are jumping into the world of professional sharing without proper guidance. Some turn to AI for help with writer's block, while others face scrutiny for sounding too robotic. In today's job market, LinkedIn has evolved beyond being just a résumé page and Easy Apply job portal. It has become a crucial networking tool, essential for both job seekers and those potentially facing layoffs.
Patrick, a sales professional who also dabbles in real estate, recently discovered that posting about his side hustle on LinkedIn led to a manager requesting him to align his LinkedIn presence more closely with his 9-to-5 job. This pressure made Patrick more cautious about sharing his outside work on the platform.
Career coach J.T. O'Donnell emphasizes that relying solely on a single company network for job search is short-sighted, given the declining job security and tenure. Recruiters have shifted from loud, public hiring to more discreet, "quiet" hiring, relying on LinkedIn to discover potential candidates. The more people share their skills and expertise on LinkedIn, the more likely they are to be noticed.
LinkedIn is taking steps to address the issue of "sloppy" content, incorporating AI tools to edit résumés and generate comments. However, the platform is also striving to maintain authenticity and genuine conversations. Suzi Owens, senior director of product communications at LinkedIn, stresses the importance of showcasing a polished, workplace-ready version of oneself on the platform.
As LinkedIn continues to grow in popularity, users have increasingly mocked its verbose, performative posts, leading to a rise in what some call "LinkedIn lunacy." The platform's integration of AI into its features, such as job matching and content creation, has raised concerns about the ease with which AI-generated content can proliferate.
In response, LinkedIn has implemented an AI-driven job match feature to help job seekers gauge their fit for a role and a flag for identifying AI-sloppy posts, which has successfully reduced the visibility of such content.
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