Five LinkedIn mistakes that show your age (and stop you getting hired)

Being absent from LinkedIn is now considered a cardinal sin for jobseekers. No profile means no proof you’ve ever been any good at a job, and no posts will have you overlooked for someone who is liking and commenting like mad to work the algorithm. The platform is one of the first things recruiters and careers coaches advise job seekers to get on top of, because, like Instagram, it’s where you can edit and present the shiniest version of your career to catch the eye of your would-be next employer. But amidst the startup founders bragging about their latest 18-hour day, the career climbers publicising their latest promotion, and the obligatory post from working parents fearing the next round of school holidays, could LinkedIn have its own forgotten generation – Gen X? Less than two per cent of LinkedIn’s global base of one billion plus users are aged 55 and up, but with people over 50 being the group most likely to be made redundant from their jobs last year, they’re expected to hit the platform in droves for that all-important “professional networking”. So how can they be cool, rather than cringe, while looking for their next role? The i Paper speaks to three career coaches on the most common mistakes midlifers make with their public posts – and why these faux pas are ageing them rather than advancing their careers. Shorts Focusing on years rather than skills and experience Simon Bucknell is the founder of GenX Talent, a careers consultancy with the aim of stopping ageism in recruitment. He’s seen many a losing LinkedIn post – with one of the worst offenders being headlining a profile with a line like, “35 years in IT”. “It doesn’t demonstrate capability; it just tells people you’ve been around a long time. It’s like a restaurant putting ‘established 1987’ on the menu instead of telling you the food’s good. Most employers care about your last five years,” Bucknell critiques. Sarah Bryer, a job search strategist specialising in mid to senior-level candidates, says that just because you’ve done a job for 25 years doesn’t mean you’re any good at it. Employers, she says, want to know how you spent that time adapting and becoming better. “If you’ve got statements on your LinkedIn profile, in your posts, or on your CV, like ‘led a team of five’, or ‘managed senior stakeholders’, ask yourself: so what? What did you do with the team? What made you really good at it?” Bryer says. “As you get more experienced, you have so much more to say, and often what happens is that it gets bland because you don’t just have two or three skills, but 10 or 20. You’re too close to your career to recognise which details matter. This is where getting some help with that can make a difference.” The photo that’s ageing better than you are People want to know what you look like now, not 10 years ago, points out Padma Knowles, a careers coach for senior marketing, PR and communications professionals. “A photo that isn’t fit for purpose is basically a public confession that you haven’t looked at this profile since you uploaded it,” she says. “What you actually need is simple, but it works: solo, clear, professional, good quality, and recent.” And enough of the wedding photos, selfies with the dog, or blurry ones where you’re wearing sunglasses. If someone meets you in real life and has to pause while they work out if it’s actually you, that means you’ve gone too far on the unnecessary, irrelevant photos, according to Knowles. ‘One critical post won’t damage your career, but if all you do is offload onto LinkedIn, a prospective employer who sees negativity may not know what a great person you are,’ says Sarah Bryer The ranty comment This can be both ageing and embarrassing, warns Bucknell. “I’ve seen the frustrated, angry reply left under someone else’s post on a bad day more times than I can count. It’s got a very specific tone to it – the digital version of an older generation’s outlet for venting, like a strongly worded letter to the council,” he says. That’s why Bryer recommends proceeding with caution if you need to get something off your chest. “One critical post won’t damage your career, but if all you do is offload onto LinkedIn, a prospective employer who sees negativity may not actually know you well enough to know what a great person you are and put it into context. “Employers want to see positive people. It’s not to say your criticisms aren’t justified. The actual question here is whether LinkedIn is the right place to put them.” Leaning into nostalgia Posts about VHS and Betamax tapes can work, says Bucknell, but only when they’re a bridge to something current – for example, editing your first film with an AI tool. If you’re simply reflecting on what you did “back in my day” that you believe was better, without bringing it back to something contemporary, it can leave you looking stuck in the past, he warns. And beware of interests that make you look out of touch, too. Bucknell says he once had a candidate rejected because his only listed interest was Morris dancing. “I still play my old ZX Spectrum games and I’m not embarrassed about it, but I’m aware it’s a tell. I’ve seen people go quiet about knitting as an interest, too. A Duran Duran reunion photo with the girlfriends should honestly come with a career health warning,” he adds. “Your hobbies list is more dangerous ground than people think.” Being vague and bland One pet peeve of Bryer’s is people taking to LinkedIn to announce they’ve lost their job, without explaining what they want their network to do for them. “If you post something like, ‘I’ve been made redundant, and I’m looking for a project manager job,’ it leaves the person looking at it with work to do. They’ve got to visit your profile, work out exactly what you do, what industry you’re in, what type of role you might want, and how they might be helpful. Who’s going to do that with everything that’s going on in their world?” says Bryer. “If you’re posting on LinkedIn, ask specific questions. For example, ‘Can anyone help me connect with somebody working in transformation at this level?’ Or, ‘Have you attended any useful industry events recently?’ If you make a proper request, it’s difficult because we feel like we’re being demanding, but it will make a huge difference.” It’s also about posting something that’s relevant. Bryer recommends going beyond just saying, “I’m open to new opportunities.” “Talk about your sector and explain how you approached a business problem. This is where you could practise your interview stories by sharing them or writing them. Give people a reason to think, ‘I want to talk to this person’,” she advises.