What you can (and can’t!) say on LinkedIn

Sharing frequent updates on your LinkedIn profile is a great way to showcase your expertise and create strong connections by giving your contacts greater access to your personality and professional strengths. Writing strategic, positive or thoughtful posts will boost your credibility. Inappropriate, negative or faux pas-filled updates, however, can destroy the good reputation you’ve worked so hard to build and cause readers to move on to the next candidate.

We know that LinkedIn is a valuable professional resource. But many LinkedIn users still struggle today with understanding what they should write, how they should sound and how much information should be shared publicly.

For more than 15 years I’ve been helping professionals create strong profiles for LinkedIn and strategic content for updates. Issues like corporate sensitivity, job search etiquette, and terminology that can send the wrong message are important to be aware of, and avoid, as you write. Here are some examples:

• Do share your involvement volunteering or supporting charities and non-profits.
• Don’t post inflammatory comments about controversial subjects that can come back and damage your relationship with your employers or colleagues.

• Do use terms like ‘reduced headcount’ and ‘restructured for greater productivity’.
• Don’t say things like “steered mass workforce reduction.”

• Do talk about money, but use terms like “multi-million dollar” or “23% increase” when talking about budgets, projects or other financial matters.
• Don’t give away specific dollar amounts, prices, or any other information your employer may not want the public to know.

• Do mention that you helped develop or market new products and what your general role or contribution was.
• Don’t talk about products in detail that are new to the market or not yet launched.

The key to giving away information and writing great posts for your LinkedIn profile is to tell enough to showcase your talents, but not so much that you step on other people or share information companies would not be happy to give away.

If you are struggling with your LinkedIn profile, we can help you create strategic content that will support your LinkedIn strategy and build strong connections with employers and professionals online. Check out our resume packages that includes LinkedIn bio help and professional coaching to help you post confidently and send the right message.