This week’s podcast episode is about the seven LinkedIn questions my clients ask me most often.
And before you roll your eyes and think, “Not another LinkedIn episode,” I want to say something that may make this newsletter feel more useful to you.
Most of my clients do not want to become LinkedIn influencers. They do not want to post every day. They do not want people to think they're showing off or turning every thought they have into content.
They just want LinkedIn to support their next career move. And that is a very important goal.
If you have worked for 20, 30, or 40 years, you may have built your reputation through work, relationships, results, and trust. You may not be used to having to explain yourself publicly online. You may feel that your experience should speak for itself. I understand that.
But the problem is that experience rarely speaks for itself on LinkedIn. It needs to be translated.
Someone may look at your profile before deciding whether to interview you, refer you, contact you, invite you to a board conversation, or introduce you to someone in their network. They may only spend a few seconds forming an impression.
In those few seconds, will they understand what you do?
Will they understand the level at which you operate?
Will they understand what you are known for?
Will they understand what kind of opportunity makes sense for you now?
That is where many LinkedIn profiles fall short. They are accurate, but not clear. They are complete, but not positioned. They describe the past, but do not support the future.
This week’s episode covers the seven questions I hear again and again. What should I post? What should I include in the Featured section? Which skills should I add? Should my LinkedIn profile match my CV? What should my About section say? What should my headline say? And the big one:
Why are recruiters not finding me?
That last question is usually the most emotional one.
Because when someone has had a strong career and recruiters are not reaching out, it can feel personal. It can feel like the market has decided something about them. It can trigger all the fears that come with job searching later in life: am I too old, too senior, too expensive, too niche, or no longer relevant?
But often, the issue is not the person’s value. It is the signal.
LinkedIn works through signals. Job titles, keywords, skills, location, industry, activity, and clarity. If those signals are weak, outdated, inconsistent, or too vague, the right people may not find you. Or they may find you and still not understand where you fit.
That is why I don’t like treating LinkedIn as a digital CV.
A CV can be tailored to one role. LinkedIn has to do something broader. It has to help the market understand your professional identity.
And for experienced professionals, that usually requires editing. You do not need every detail from every role, every skill you have ever used. You need to bring forward the parts of your experience that support where you are going next.
Here is a simple exercise for this week.
Open your LinkedIn profile and focus only on the top section: your photo, headline, location, current or most recent role, and the first few lines of your About section.
Then ask yourself: if someone knew nothing about me and spent ten seconds here, what would they understand?
Not what they would eventually understand if they kept scrolling.
What would they understand immediately?
Would they know what kind of work you do? Your seniority? Your sector or function? What problems do you solve? If the answer is unclear, that is your starting point.
Then look at your headline and ask: is this only my current title, or does it also include the words someone might search for if they were looking for a person like me?
That does not mean stuffing your headline with keywords. It means using the language of the market, not only the language of your current employer.
After that, look at your About section and ask: does this read like a biography, or does it help someone understand my value now?
This is where many people go wrong. They either say too little or write a long life story. A good About section should give context, credibility, and direction. It should help the right person keep reading.
And finally, look at your Skills section. Are the skills listed there supporting your next move, or are they leftovers from an older version of your career?
Sometimes the issue with LinkedIn is not that you need to do more. It is that you need to make better choices.
What to emphasise.
What to remove.
What to make clearer.
What to stop hiding.
What to bring into alignment.
That is the deeper work.
LinkedIn does not need to become your whole job search strategy. But it does need to support it.
Because if your CV says one thing, your LinkedIn profile says another, and your networking conversations say a third thing, people will struggle to help you.
Clarity makes you easier to refer to, remember, and find.
The Job Hunting Podcast Episode 339: The 7 LinkedIn Questions My Clients Ask Me Most Often
I hope this episode and the blog help you review your profile with fresh eyes, especially if you have been wondering why LinkedIn is not producing the results you expected.
My LinkedIn Audit Service
And if you are looking at your profile right now and thinking, “I don’t know how to make all of this fit together,” that is often a sign that the problem is not only LinkedIn. It may be a positioning problem. And that is exactly the work I do with clients who book the LinkedIn Audit service.
Time Out:
- I downloaded the new Lena Dunham memoir, Famesick, today. I need a break from Outlander. Book 3 is almost done, but I don't think I can carry on to Book 4 right now. As someone who was recently diagnosed with EDS, I'm interested in learning more about this condition, and I heard that Lena describes her diagnosis and (lack of) treatment in the book. Plus, she's a great writer.
- I watched the Netflix documentary about Kylie Minogue, and it was a trip down memory lane, since we're almost the same age and I grew up listening to her music, as well as INXS and even Nick Cage. I also lived only a few blocks away from her parents' house for many years.
- I think we will be doing a Sam Neill (R.I.P.) movie marathon this weekend. I am not a fan of Jurassic Park (it makes me too nervous), but I love The Dish, The Piano, and my favorite, Hunt for the Wilderpeople. I once sat next to him on a plane, and he was reading a script the entire flight. I let him be, but wish I could have told him how much I enjoyed his movies and his wines.
Reach out if I can help you today. Otherwise, thank you for reaching out, and I will be back next week with another newsletter.
Warm wishes
RBX
