Linked In or Linked Out?

My 'portal' to my dream job.

The first thing I did when I started college was create a Linkedin account. Like many other “bright-eyed, bushy tailed” freshmen, I strongly believed that my profile was my portal to my dream job. When I entered the recruiting minefield, I was nervous yet excited to see what I could accomplish. My use of Linkedin skyrocketed. Yet, as time passed, I noticed that whenever I was on Linkedin, I felt differently about myself and where I stood. And it wasn’t a good feeling.

My reaction when I encounter an
"I am thrilled to announce" post.

Linkedin, like other social network sites, lends itself to social comparison. As humans, we have a fundamental need to compare ourselves to others, amplified in contexts like recruiting. While we try to remain level-headed, it’s sometimes hard not to stress when we see “I am thrilled to announce” posts with logos of big tech giants like Google, Facebook, or Microsoft. The excitement we had a minute ago about our interview with a small startup turns into shame as we scroll endlessly, worrying about our future prospects. We begin to feel ‘linked out’. 

But, like many others, we fall into the classic social media trap; we believe that what we see online is the complete picture. In her paper Social Networking Technology and the Virtues, Shannon Vallor, a philosophy professor at Santa Clara University, states that honesty on social media can be compromised as the “idea of a profile encourages members to construct a carefully edited version of themselves”. We only portray our best selves, hoping that this “perfect” version allows us to build relationships. Or, find employment.

We only see pieces of the puzzle, never
the whole picture.

Similarly, Luciano Floridi, a philosophy professor at the University of Oxford, writes in his Ethics of Information Transparency that transparency can become an impairing factor, particularly as partial or misinformation is disclosed to the public. The “I am thrilled to announce” posts on Linkedin only reveal the end result of that person’s recruiting journey, not the amount of rejections they received or interviews they attended. Because of this lack of transparency, we never get the complete picture. Even then, we negatively evaluate our professional lives, impacting our own well-being in the process.

Now, let me be clear: I am not saying that we should delete Linkedin. Rather, we should be aware that what we see on there isn’t always the entire picture. Even if everything is not what it seems, it’s important to focus on our own professional goals and accomplishments. How will you stay ‘linked in’ to you?