After 12.5 years as a full-time parent based out of the home (new title, same job), I have decided to check in on LinkedIn. Let’s see what we got here…
The first thing I notice is a stranger expressing excitement that they are going to the same university that I did to pursue an MA in International…something. I cringe because the financial burden they are strapping onto their back is massive. Will it be worth it?
The weirdest thing to see, but also not the most surprising, is that people I went to grad school with are now thirteen years into a career (related or not to International Studies), but with titles like Manager, Director, Sr. Editor, etc. I get caught up in comparing (“the thief of joy” – TR) their post-grad life to mine. In most cases these people were much younger, single, and untethered to a location upon graduating. They have a polished LinkedIn presence with professional headshots and a work history that begins in 2013 right around the time mine ends.
A lot of people get on LinkedIn to just “like” posts about open positions at their company, a co-worker’s retirement announcement, or a co-worker who is starting a new role at the same company or a new one, but other than this they are ghosts on the site.
Then there are the people that seem to treat it as a personal blog, oversharing of their field-related articles, and opining away, filling up the feed with posts that always end in a linked “more.” No thanks.
What has bothered me before about the site is still there, the self-promotion (I guess that’s the biggest use of LinkedIn, its purpose?). It’s endless. Everyone angling for a promotion, a raise, a new job. It’s a humble brag career site. I guess it’s “career-relevant” ejaculate that I’ve never been good at, nor cared for. I see it from people and it’s an immediate red flag, which makes sense for me because the most successful and admirable people in my life don’t post on LinkedIn and likely don’t even have a profile here.
But I have a profile here. I was told I absolutely needed one in 2010. I would use it to network, make meaningful, lasting connections which will launch my career and then help me up the corporate level to unknown riches at the top. Okay, maybe I put a little flourish on that, but there are delusions of grandeur tied to what a LinkedIn profile can do for you especially coming out of the mouths of your school’s career development office.
The most I have used this site for is another location to share a link to my own personal blog. So, at times, I am guilty of what I was just criticizing, but I used it very sparingly and I have abandoned all hope of the social media site providing me a path to employment.
For real though, logging onto LinkedIn is a reminder of all things that have flown by me and disappeared beyond the horizon while I have been in the depths of parenting for these almost thirteen years. I don’t feel like I’ll ever run fast enough to catch up. It’s the rat race and LinkedIn desperately wants you to run in it. Resist the urge, I say.
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