Five mistakes to avoid on LinkedIn

The professional social network LinkedIn has been popular for several months. Here's how to use it, whether you're looking for a job or not.


More than a decade after Facebook, LinkedIn reached the symbolic milestone of one billion users worldwide last month. This concludes a good year for the social network, which also recently announced that its engagement rate had doubled since 2021 (subscribers are therefore twice as active as before).


Perhaps more importantly, while Facebook, pulls it pretty well. Several media outlets even called it cool this year.


If you plan to ride the wave, however, it would be better to avoid these mistakes. 


1.Don't just use it as a resume


Many people tend to visit LinkedIn and update their profile only when looking for jobs or contracts. This is what I did for a long time, and it is a mistake.

Those who stand out the most are those who publish content (the LinkedIn algorithm particularly favors educational publications, such as the popularization of one's field of expertise). Not only will you increase the size of your network, but researchers at Harvard Business School even recently observed a correlation between the wealth of a profile and the importance of salary increases in users' next job.

You can even sometimes publish slightly personal content there, ideally while maintaining the professional nature of the social network. If you announce the arrival of your child to your loved ones on Facebook, for example, you could announce the start of your parental leave on LinkedIn.


2.Don't limit your relationships


LinkedIn sometimes sends notifications to find out if you know a person or another. When the social network recently asked me if I knew Marianne, a childhood friend, I hesitated to send her an invitation. We have dinner planned for the next few weeks and our girls love playing princesses together. She's a close friend. But our professional worlds will never intersect.

Until now on LinkedIn, I added friends who asked me, but I didn't take the initiative, as if the idea made me uncomfortable. “It's normal to feel like this, it's a bit like inviting a personal friend to a professional event, where you don't necessarily act in the same way as usual,” believes Bree McEwan, associate professor at the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology at the University of Toronto, interested in the intersection of interpersonal communications and technology.

“But it's definitely a good thing to add diverse people to your network,” she explained to me recently when I wanted to know whether I should invite Marianne or not. His connections are probably different from mine, and whether it's to one day find another job or to gain credibility on the platform, it's best to add him. And the advice applies to everyone: so don't hesitate to include your knowledge.


3. Don't let your guard down

The advice applies to all social networks, but LinkedIn is conducive to large-scale scams, especially since the rise of teleworking.

Imagine the situation: a headhunter contacts you there and invites you to an online interview with an American company. You participate in the first meeting with flying colors, then in a second, with another recruiter. You get the job, which comes with a nice pay bump, from the comfort of your home office. All you need to do to get started is fill out a hiring form with your personal information.

This scam has haunted me since I first heard about it at the start of the pandemic. For what ? Because even with my generally pretty good reflexes on the Web, I could have been fooled.

And this is not the only possible scam on LinkedIn, which is increasingly targeted by fraudsters. Note that the social network launched a few months ago the possibility of uploading a photograph of proof of identity to the site in order to allow the network to verify our identity (and thus obtain a small blue checkmark), this which could facilitate the detection of scams originating from unidentified users.


4. Do not publish portraits retouched by AI

Some online services allow you to generate photos of yourself using generative artificial intelligence.

This is the case, for example, of AI SuitUp . Simply upload photos of yourself to create 150 professional-looking fake images where you're well-lit, well-groomed and wearing proud clothes, for around $50.

The idea may appeal: not everyone has a professional photo. Unfortunately, the quality of these images leaves a little to be desired. Even if their realism is astonishing, it is generally found that they are a fake. To a prospective employer, this doesn't really give a good impression.

If you want a truly professional photo — which may be worth it in some areas — simply have your portrait taken by a professional photographer. It will be a good investment.


5. Do not pay without professional reasons

I was a subscriber to LinkedIn Premium, the paid version of the social network, for a year, until the beginning of fall.

A paid account has certain appreciated advantages (like knowing who is viewing your profile), and sometimes even very practical ones, depending on your profession. The ability to write a direct message to any user has repeatedly allowed me to contact contributors for articles who were difficult to reach otherwise. Others could use it to find new customers.

If your company offers you a Premium account, take advantage of it. But the price of around $50 per month (depending on the plan) is way too high for what it's worth for the vast majority of users.


Making a mistake on LinkedIn can happen in various ways—like profile errors, posting inaccurate information, or communication slip-ups. To fix these, you can edit your profile for minor errors or delete/edit posts/comments. If the mistake is significant, consider apologizing or sending a clarification message. Learning from the mistake helps prevent similar issues in the future. Remember, acknowledging and rectifying mistakes is a part of professional growth on LinkedIn