Top 10 Icks That Could Put Off Any LinkedIn Employer

 

If you don’t know already, LinkedIn is a form of social media designed for businesses and networking. It was intended to be a professional network, find work, learn skills, and, most importantly, build relationships. And although most content sticks to these guidelines, we’re finding that that’s not always the case.

Whether it be the rise of Linkedinfluencers, sharing that becomes oversharing, or constant sales DMs, together with The Audit Lab we passed around an office survey, gathering our top LinkedIn employment icks so you can make sure to keep your professional persona polished. 

Similar to a cringe, a full body shudder, the ick is that unsettled feeling you get when someone does something that makes you feel uneasy or downright repelled. Anything could be an ick from a mannerism, to driving habits – but today we’re going to talk about icks specific to LinkedIn that you should avoid doing at all costs… Please, we beg you.

Your name should be just that: your name. Don’t start adding all those letters from qualifications of years gone by. Yes, you may be proud of your degree, but a BA has no place in your title. And sure, you want to stand out and make sure that potential hirers notice your excellence quickly but your profile should speak for itself without going overboard – so let’s keep those certificates to the appropriate ‘about you’ section. 

LinkedIn messaging can be a great tool for connecting yourself and your brand to your network. However, when reaching out to people you don’t know, make it genuine. Long, spammy sales pitches are a guaranteed turn-off, and a potential reach for the mute button – especially if that person has only just accepted your connection request. 

This isn’t the early days of Facebook. Yes, LinkedIn is all about growing your network, but let’s keep things organic. Adding anyone and everyone to your network without any prior interaction can come off a bit eager, and stalker-ish. While there are exceptions to this, try to keep your requests to those you know IRL. 

Sometimes, simplicity is key. Nobody is a ‘sales ninja’, a ‘head of happiness’, a ‘growth exec’, nor a ‘digital rockstar’, so maybe tone it down a little. 

 

There is a time and place for pictures, and by that place we mean Instagram or even Facebook if you still have one. We’re all for a bit of self-love and expression, but any type of photographic content other than conference and work related images should probably be kept off your LinkedIn profile. Negative points if you accompany a random selfie with a novella of a post.

 

Although it probably comes from a good place, repurposed inspirational quotes have no place on anyone’s feed. Anything from ‘strive for progress not perfection’ to ‘pain is weakness’ or ‘missing 100% of the shots you don’t take’ won’t induce that life-altering awakening you’re aiming for. 

It’s admirable to pick the positives out of a negative experience. However, asking others to follow your lead and ‘work hard’ and keep a ‘winners’ mindset’ in response to difficulties that occur in the modern workplace can overlook employees’ potential struggles. So let’s stop conforming to corporate (and toxic) positivity. 

Adding a touch of your personality to your posts on LinkedIn is a great way to create genuine connections within your network, but there’s no need to go overboard. Oversharing about your personal life can give people the wrong impression. So we’ll stop you there before you inevitably TMI. 

The general rule is to post on LinkedIn one to two times a day. Posts generally live in the LinkedIn feed for a long time, so over-posting can give you or your brand a bad image. And the next time you put something live, we’ll probably just scroll straight past it.

Interacting with your network and building relationships is key to social media and business development alike however, there are times when this can be overkill. Over-interacting with people’s posts in the hopes that they will do the same for you is really not a good look – it’s giving MySpace pc4pc and like4like vibes. Plus it’s always REALLY obvious when the person hasn’t read the post.