At the start of the pandemic, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands, given my business had effectively vanished overnight.

I decided to use that time to speak to job seekers and share what was common knowledge to me, yet proved uncommon knowledge to them.

(If you have any form of expertise I recommend taking time out to mentor peers, it’s very validating, especially when you question your capability in a long job search).

One thing my job seeker calls taught me is how common many issues are, and I decided to share this by writing regularly on social media.

But I was also ambivalent to its nature as professional social media for a number of reasons.

One being that people on social media behaved differently to real life.

Another being the gamification of social media interactions creating a dopamine loop that both can trap you in the system, and inform how you behave.

I strongly recommend watching the Social Dilemma on Netflix which, aside from the dubious story that runs through the documentary, shows how social media platforms work.

I wasn’t alone in launching myself vigorously into sharing my ideas online.

Indeed, while much of the employment market seemed broken, the silver bullet of ‘better use of LinkedIn’ and personal branding saw a lot of people immerse themselves on the platform.

Yet something strange happened.

I saw people talk about getting jobs from their personal branding. Then I saw many of those same people leave those jobs soon after, because the role wasn’t what they expected.

It’s almost like the excitement of those inbound leads led them not to qualify them fully, in the same way you would when applying for a role.

I’m sure the fact they had a job offer, one which pays the bills, was important too, even if the outcome wasn’t what they may have hoped for.

For the most part I use it intentionally, and it’s a key part of my day-to-day role as a recruiter. It’s on in the background all the time, although some of the systems I use, such as Recruiter and Job advertising are accessed in a different way.

However every once in a while I find myself behaving like an addict.

If I get a couple of posts that fly, that feeling of those notifications can become a potent fix.

And the ensuing posts that sink make me feel like I’m doing something wrong.

It’s a quick path to adjusting my content to try and get consistently high engagement.

Even if those posts don’t actually start constructive conversations, or attract the right people.

I’m a middling content writer, in terms of coverage. This year so far I’ve 8 million views of my posts, with more than half of that from three viral posts.

Two of these viral posts started 0 meaningful new conversations with someone I can help, although their visibility no doubt helped with awareness.

The third proved very divisive, and became an opportunity to share additional insight, albeit with very angry job seekers. You can read it here if you’re interested.

It certainly triggered a lot of people, few of whom read the post fully.

Yet the post that had 800 views, supported me getting a retained project that was quite lucrative.

These figures aren’t what they purport to be - vanity metrics that can work against you.

Never forget that while LinkedIn is many things, most of all it’s a business that optimises its user base to deliver shareholder value.

These gamifications are intended to keep you in the system, not necessarily to achieve your goal.

This brings me to the point of this message:

Keep your goals clear in mind, and work towards them intentionally.

Need a job? Most of your activity should support either your job search or your goal.

Need to socialise? Definitely do that, as long as it doesn't disenable your goals.

Want to air a grievance? By all means. You can always delete it later.

Consider LinkedIn like an open plan office - do what you want, say what you want, just remember decision makers might hear you, from behind their partition wall, and make their decisions without you knowing.

Be mindful of make-work - if you see LinkedIn as a platform to get a job, and all your activity doesn’t support your goal - you might feel busy yet be wholly unproductive.

Turn your notifications off, so you aren’t being prompted to check in every other minute, and so that you are in control.

Slip into unintentional behaviour and you might get in your own way of finding work.

Use it intentionally, and it’s an excellent tool and platform, one which will support your job search and professional life.

Thanks for reading.

Greg