Is posting on LinkedIn really worth it?

Whenever we mention building a personal brand, the main objection we hear is “but I don’t like LinkedIn.”

Firstly, you can build your personal brand on whatever platform you like (it doesn’t need to be on social media, or even online, for that matter). But should you be active on LinkedIn?

Listen, I get it. LinkedIn can feel like a dusty wasteland of new job announcements and finance bros bragging about how they make £10k a day and sleep on a pile of cash.

In this article, we weigh up the pros and cons of posting on LinkedIn, and whether it’s worth giving it a go.

Pro: It can help you get a job

I recommend that everyone at least keeps their LinkedIn up to date, even if they don’t post there, because recruiters and interviewers will check out your profile (as someone who often interviews new hires, I always do a bit of internet sleuthing to check the vibe).

I actually got my current job through LinkedIn. A tech recruiter sent me a DM asking if I was open to work as I was a perfect candidate for a role he was hiring for, I sent him my CV and within a week I had a job offer (and a £20k pay-rise).

Con: It’s boring

LinkedIn just doesn’t seem as fun as Instagram or TikTok, does it? The layout and the fact that most of your connections are likely to be current or former colleagues and old classmates means it simply doesn’t draw you in in the same way as other social media.

However, you can make your LinkedIn feed more interesting by finding creators who post about topics relevant to your interests. You can start by following your favourite creators on other platforms on LinkedIn, and researching who’s good to follow in your industry (you can literally Google “best LinkedIn creators [your industry]” and you’ll see tons of results).

Pro: It’s easier to get noticed than on other social media platforms

Yes, LinkedIn does have an algorithm, but at the moment it’s much easier to be noticed and grow your presence on there because a lot of people use LinkedIn for work purposes but don’t actually post content, and they tend to follow fewer people as well.

Plus, if someone’s connection engages with your content, your post will show up on their feed, meaning you’ll get more exposure.

Con: it feels braggy and fake

It can seem like every post on LinkedIn is showing off about making an eye-watering amount of money or a story that’s clearly made up, with a moral or story jammed in there to give it a breadcrumb of relevancy (shout out Best of LinkedIn for collating the most ridiculous ones in one place).

However, you can train the algorithm to show you content that you’re actually interested in by engaging with posts you enjoy and clicking “not interested” on those you don’t.

Pro: you can go more in depth than on TikTok and Instagram

While it does allow for images and has recently started promoting video content, LinkedIn is still mostly a text-based platform. Most of the posts I see are fairly long, almost like mini-blog posts.

This means that you can go much more in-depth on a topic than you can in a 90 second video. Just keep in mind that most of your post will be hidden unless the user clicks to see more of it, so make your opening line a good one!

Con: You might receive spam and annoying messages

Let’s be real, you will receive annoying messages from recruiters on LinkedIn, often inviting you to apply for insultingly low-paid roles.

But here’s the thing: you can just block and ignore them.

Pro: You can post less frequently and still grow

LinkedIn is one of the few social media platforms where you can post pretty inconsistently and infrequently and still grow.

Yes, you will grow faster the more often you post, but you won’t be punished if you don’t.

Apparently, only 5% of LinkedIn’s 830 million members actually post, so the platform is much less saturated and does seem to actually show content to your followers and connections, unlike certain other platforms…

Conclusion

I think it’s well worth posting on LinkedIn.

It requires much less of your time and effort than other social media platforms, for higher reward. Plus, most people are on there for work-related reasons, so you’ll find yourself in a career-focused community who are interested in your work and might even be looking for someone who does exactly what you do…