Should I Post Editorial Content In My LinkedIn Feed?

iStock | OhmZ

LinkedIn is one of the first "social networks", but with a singular focus on professional networking, professional branding, career development, and as a premier marketplace for job seekers and recruiters. LinkedIn boasts the following facts and statistics (2022):

• 810 million members.

• 57 million registered companies.

• Operates in over 200 countries and regions.

• 91% of LinkedIn users have college or advanced degrees.

• 44% of LinkedIn users earn $75,000 a year or more.

• 60% of LinkedIn's user base is millennials.

• 75% of LinkedIn users live outside the United States.

• 87% of recruiters use LinkedIn.

• 14 million open job postings (this number fluctuates).

• In 2016, Microsoft bought LinkedIn.

By social media network standards, LinkedIn is comparatively small, but its impact on the labor market is substantial. Like any other social media network, users can post original content on LinkedIn. However, not many individual users post on a regular basis or consume posts on a regular basis. The original content on LinkedIn, the currency of LinkedIn, is you - your professional history and story – not videos of cats playing the piano. *Full disclosure: Insider Career Strategies supports the cat piano playing community and says, "Rock on!".

LinkedIn users, new and old, can post whatever they want if they want. However, LinkedIn's culture does not revolve around the site's feed, likes/dislikes, or sharing. Users use the site to research companies and search for job openings. Recruiters use LinkedIn to find job candidates. Advertisers use the site to generate leads. That is not to say the feed algorithms aren't important. If you want to use LinkedIn for professional promotion, company promotion, or advertising, what you post, like, and share matters. So – do you need to post articles, videos, or other content (besides your profile) on LinkedIn?

1.     Are you a job seeker? If you are a job seeker who wants to improve your career, employers who pay to see "into the system" will find you. A LinkedIn presence that attracts attention and advances your career goals is born through your profile and professional story, not the content in the feed. A great LinkedIn profile is as far as you need to go. 

2.     Are you trying to get views? Posting on LinkedIn is a double-edged sword. First, you assume content drives people to your profile. Second, you assume the people who visit your profile are somehow positioned to help your career and will (best case scenario) reach out to you. Intelligent, creative, and well-conceived content related to your profession and skills may draw attention and increase visibility with people out of your network, but sloppy, offensive, or unprofessional content can do a great deal of damage to your professional brand. Only post if you have a definitive professional purpose, and do so with caution and care.

3.     What are your posts about? LinkedIn is not great for personal posts. Photos of your recent vacation are inappropriate and unwanted. LinkedIn's feed algorithm flags personal content as "low quality" even if shared by a kazillion people. If you take a content marketing approach and want to position yourself as an expert in your field, go all-in on your professional posts  (but for the majority of LinkedIn users posting is not necessary). To reiterate – no videos of cats playing pianos! That is not going to help your professional brand. *Full disclosure: Insider Career Strategies supports the cat piano playing community and says, "Rock on #2!".

4.     Do not post political content. Political content can be divisive. If you post content, it should relate to your profession and professional goals. Unless politics IS your job, it’s best to avoid the topic there – by posting your political views, you’ll only succeed in irritating half the audience. It’s best to keep content professional in nature.

5.     Are you using LinkedIn for business purposes? To revisit a statistic, LinkedIn has 57 million companies on its site, which means 57 million companies promoting brand awareness, generating leads, and company vying for job seekers' attention. If you are a business on LinkedIn, people will find you without posts. That is because they are actively searching for companies. A company profile is more likely to get a hit after a dedicated search than a post in the feed.

6.     Are there advantages to going all-in? Only 40% of LinkedIn's base are "active users." The majority of users are on the platform for only a short amount of time. If you are a regular content creator who generates "high quality" posts, it is easy to stand out and positively impact the LinkedIn community with a dynamite ROI. There are many advantages to expanding your professional network and opportunities. Just keep in mind the professional pitfalls. Keep to an "all business" script, and you could join the ranks of LinkedIn influencers!

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Work From home. Back To The office. Work From Home. Back To The Office. When Will It End?

iStock | venakr

Six months ago, the world's economic and labor markets were in a state of ambiguity. The back to the office movement's momentum increased after Covid's Delta wave receded. Major companies announced plans to "return to the office," and the Covid precautions planned to make it happen, such as vaccination requirements or weekly testing. Green Light. 

Wait! Not so fast! Just as back-to-the-office seemed to be inevitable for the majority of American workers, Omicron swept across the globe with alarming speed and consequences. Businesses postponed their return dates to "explore their options." Discussions about hybrid work models as permanent solutions took center stage. Whatever the circumstances, nobody was returning to the office. Red Light.

Fast forward to March 2022. There is once again cautious optimism that Covid's impact on "Work" with a capital "W" peaked with Omicron. Like Delta, Omicron receded, and related illness and hospitalizations recently plummeted. Unlike Delta, we now have vaccines and therapeutics that (fingers crossed) should force Covid into an endemic phase and limit its role in shaping our economic future. The pendulum swings, and what was once ambiguous seems clear. It's time to return to all-hands-on-deck. Green Light.

Here is the dilemma. Many professionals directed to return to the office want to work from home or, in a minority of cases, do not want to comply with new work requirements (read: get vaccinated). If you are one of the professionals, what do you do? Do you return to the office or forge a new path? Red Light.

Step 1: Assess your current job. Nobody needs to be told to leave a job they do not like or is a dead end. If you're discontent at your job, the work from home vs. going back to the office debate is an opportunity to jump to a position more suited to your desires. However, you may be comfortable at your current job – just more comfortable doing it from home. The decision to bounce isn't as easy. Make an honest assessment of your current job. Do you really like it? Do you have a future there? Is this the job from which you're going to build a long-term career? Consider the advantages and perks you have (and may have to sacrifice) and weigh them against the benefits of working remotely. If you decide you're committed to WFH, get the hell out of Dodge.

Step 2: Is the writing on the office wall? If you are confronted by an employer ultimatum to "return to the office under our conditions or hit the road, Jack," you may have to accept the writing on the wall. Sometimes your days are numbered, your position is weighed and found wanting, and your future divided. Dust off the resume and start writing your next chapter. However, do not make assumptions. Talk to your supervisor and/or human resources and find out if returning to the office is an intractable policy or if there is room to negotiate more favorable terms.

Step 3: Does working from home advance or inhibit your long-term career plan? Think beyond the here and now. The pandemic proved you work remotely at the same level as in the office, and that a different kind of work-life balance is possible. However, the jury is still out on the long-term effects of the office diaspora. You may have a Lone Ranger role tailored to work from home in which you thrive, but many jobs are collaborative, and working from home has a greater impact. Consider the visibility you have in the office. A major issue for remote workers is "out of sight, out of mind." Your absence may act as a professional riptide, slowly and silently pulling you further and further away from the inner workings of your company until you can't be seen at all. The results of collaborative work may be more effective and rewarding when all the participants are in the room. Since everyone's circumstances are different, only you can determine whether you should stay or go.

Step 4: Determine what you want and what you'll take. If you've reached Step 4, chances are you want to stay at your current job, work from home, and have credible information that your company's return to the office policy is negotiable. Now, what are you willing to accept? Negotiations are typically give-and-take. If you're not getting your ideal terms (e.g., full virtual remote), you should consider what you are willing to take (e.g., hybrid). What are your parameters? Figure out your deal breakers and where you're willing to compromise.

Step 5: What is your bargaining position? Do you have any bargaining power? Let's face it. If you're in the C-Suite, you have more bargaining power than the last person hired to answer the phone (even though you can answer the phone from anywhere). Do you have the metrics to prove you've been a top performer while working from home? What are your competitors' office policies? The greater your options, the greater your bargaining position. Do you have the money to walk away without serious financial consequences? Your bargaining position just increased. Many other factors may tip the balance one way or another. Determine your bargaining position and go in with confidence. Good luck!

Finally, remember that Covid is a continuously evolving situation. Six months from now, we may be playing the same game.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Jump Back Into The Job Market After Being On The Sidelines

iStock | Nuthawut Somsuk

One minute you’re in the job force, the next moment you’re not. Reasons vary.

• There’s a downturn in the economy that leads to a job loss or small business failure.

• Your job position is eliminated because of a buyout, merger, or general corporate restructuring.

• Your company relocates. You don’t.

• You leave your job to take care of a baby.

• You leave your job because of an illness.

• You leave your job to take care of a sick loved one.

• Due to forces beyond your control (e.g., recovery from an accident, housing crisis, war), you can’t earn a living.

• A novel pandemic throws the world into turmoil.

Temporary unemployment becomes long-term unemployment then – permanent? No matter the circumstances, entering the job force after a long absence has extra challenges. To make matters more difficult, the pandemic accelerated and magnified glaring deficiencies in our labor market that create additional barriers to returning to the workforce, most notably the lack of childcare, which disproportionally affects low-income women. In addition, some sectors of the economy suffered catastrophic losses that are still slow to recover.

We’re still at a point when everybody gets a Covid pass, but, if things keep moving in the current direction, that won’t last for very much longer. The job market is hot. If you’ve been on the sidelines and are ready to jump back into the game now is the time. That does not mean you can rest on your laurels. Job seekers may have the leverage now, but the one thing that never changes is you have to win the job in the room.

Here are some tips to catapult you back into the professional ranks:

• Resume, resume, resume. If it’s not on the page, it’s not on the stage. Find that old resume and update it. Updating your resume does not mean changing the font. Modernize it.

• What have you been doing? Catalog what you’ve done since your last job, including during the pandemic if you were affected. If you are engaged in any enterprise that can fill in the gap in your employment, detail it on your resume and frame it in professional terms. Volunteer activities are certainly appropriate – and applicable.

• Why have you been out of the job market for so long? Prepare to answer this question. Chisel the perfect answer in advance and practice it. Push the idea that you are ready to be back in the workforce full-time physically, mentally, and emotionally.

• Be interview ready. We push the basics because so many people ignore them! Get a haircut. Dry clean your best interview clothes. Print multiple high-quality copies of your resume on high-quality resume paper. Polish your shoes.

• LinkedIn. If you don’t have a LinkedIn profile, create one. If you have one, update it. Just like your resume, even if you have not been working in the traditional sense, highlight any training, volunteer work, or self-directed enterprises. Enable the “OPEN TO WORK” function on your profile and optimize your settings to alert recruiters you are actively searching for a job and what you’re searching for.

• ·Flood the job boards. Monster. Indeed. Glassdoor. LinkedIn. Career Builder. Zip Recruiter. Upwork. Simply Hired. Craigslist. Angels List. Snagajob. Just to name a few. It takes time, but create profiles and upload your resume to as many job sites as possible.

• Shake off the cobwebs. Get out there. Exercise those interview muscles. Do the advance work. The more prepared you are the more confident you will be in interviews and articulating why you are the best person for the job.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.