#18 – The LinkedIn Projection

Yes I see the irony of posting on LinkedIn to decry LinkedIn superficiality, but hear me out.

I’ve caught myself scrolling through LinkedIn and rolling my eyes. Every display picture is a curated smile, every employee unequivocally pleased to be part of their organisation, every new certificate a profound (and often wordy) life lesson.

Are we working for our CV, or is our CV helping us work?

Our LinkedIn accounts are our CVs. We list skills, boast about achievements and keep ourselves at our most polished and infallible.

Beneath every account is a real person. Even the happiest employees and entrepreneurs could use their vast, inter-disciplinary and diverse LinkedIn networks to help solve issues or dilemmas. They can take advice to increase their performance, create initiatives, or improve their work-life balance.

Our networks are our greatest resource, but we fall back on presenting ourselves as model employees. We struggle through work and other commitments to feed our online image because we don’t want to compromise our image.

Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Instead of living our careers for LinkedIn content, we should be utilising LinkedIn to improve our work lives.

Of course, prospective employers check our LinkedIn profiles – but are employers really impressed with unlocking achievements and broad statements?

If I was an employer I’d be more impressed at seeing someone who can communicate, collaborate, solve problems and help others. Bringing these into a workforce is invaluable next to someone who silently nails their framed diplomas on the wall.

Beyond LinkedIn we have to ask ourselves: are we living to expand our CVs, or are we working toward a more fulfilled life? I’ll dig into this more next week.

Next week: What do you do?