Photo by Greg Bulla on Unsplash

I will cover a few things most people might not realise they are doing wrong. You will want to read this and ensure that you won’t be making these mistakes when it comes time for your job interview or for someone in your company looking at hiring new employees. This article will give you the knowledge of what not to do on Linkedin so that when it’s time for them to hire someone, they can see all of the good qualities about yourself and how valuable an asset you would be.

LinkedIn is a business-oriented networking service. Its 364 million members are supposed to use it to find new business connections and check each other commercially before trading. It is bad form to Twitter about it, post selfies in your page book, or prattle on about stuff other people already Reddit. It would help if you also were sensitive to other cultures because its members speak twenty-four different languages. LinkedIn will link you out if it can pin rude behaviour on you.

The Dumbest Things That You Could Do on LinkedIn

Some people do dumb things in real life, too, like painting graffiti under the eye of subway cameras, telling airport check-in clerks they have a bomb in their suitcase, and selling sleazy Volkswagen engines that lie under test. They do similarly crazy things on LinkedIn, too, because the click of a mouse makes them feel so all-powerfully stupid that they become their worst enemy.

1. Crazy Mismatched Photos

While you can be quirky on LinkedIn if you are a comedian looking for a gig (or perhaps even a tad salacious if you are a night owl in them that way), the general idea on LinkedIn is to show you take your business activities seriously and are someone others can trust. You have to start with the correct photo because that is where we always look first. People have done even crazier things than posting this photo on LinkedIn.

So what’s the problem? Everybody likes dogs, and this person is trying to come across as excellent. But, I will tell you what, brother or sister, this dude’s picture tells me nothing about their business. They look positively poverty-stricken, judging by the neglected state of the deck, and the puppies are overdue for a visit to the beauty parlour.

2. Irrelevant Stuff About Ourselves

While I will grant you the right to think you are indelibly cute — and even I was once, according to my mother — there is a time for everything, and everything has its place. Showing off your dashing good looks is unlikely to get you the job you want when your next boss visits you on LinkedIn. Unless that is they are after someone too cute to wash their car.

So think carefully about your LinkedIn profile. Does it go with the job you are chasing? Does it stick to business passions only? Does it speak well of your current and past positions: does it talk about the contributions you want to make in life?

3. Staying Under Cover on the Web

When I was still a nipper, my nana told me, “Never hide your light under a bushel, boy”. I stayed confused until I realised grandma was not talking about a burning bush. She was telling me to walk tall and achieve my full potential. The internet and social media are a treasure house of potential. We must stand out from the crowd like these dancers in the Aladdin ballet and pick the jewels.

Aladdin had a jewel of a job because he had the keys to the treasure cave. Your LinkedIn profile could bring a dream employer to you, too — if you work it, #hashtag it right, keyword it cutely and splash it everywhere you can on the internet; that’s not entirely black hat. Then, when you include a link to it on your CV, and the boss sees how many connections you have, you could move from maybe to shortlist in a nanosecond flat.

4. Mixing Up a LinkedIn Profile

A LinkedIn profile has two bits: a personal profile and a business page. I knew a fellow who got the content the wrong way around. He put his details on his business page and ended up looking like a one-person show that he was not because he had a fleet of vehicles—Bye-bye business. Talk about a dumb blonde! Move over for the himbo of the month.

Another big mistake is when they have a regular job plus a business ticking over in the background on their employer’s time. I knew a girl who loaded her business on her personal LinkedIn page. Her boss was considering promoting her to the management level and visited it to discover more about her. Guess who went from hero to zero in the time it takes to polish your nails while the boss is watching.

5. Staying Dumb in the Conversation

When it comes to dumb, dumber, dumbest, the LinkedIn idiots that take the cake are those who forget that social media is a conversation, post their page and then sit back wondering why nothing ever happens. Passing out new contacts and contributing to the discussion is the most powerful way to get new business — including the dream power job you always wanted! Stop dreaming. Get your career lift-off now.

8 Rules for a Better Linkedin Profile That Will Get You More Connections And Leads

1. Add a professional picture

2. Write a great headline that will grab the attention

3. Fill out your profile completely, but don’t oversell yourself

4. Keep the length to the minimum required by LinkedIn

5. Make sure you have something in common with other professionals on your network, or else they won’t accept your request

6. Use keywords in your summary and make sure you use them in your posts

7. Use keywords to connect to other professionals who are not connected to you yet

8. Connect with people at events and network with them

If you want to be successful on Linkedin, avoid these common pitfalls. Your profile must be well-rounded and up-to-date so people can see what you have accomplished for them to take the next step with you. Don’t forget to include a professional headshot too! These simple steps will help ensure success on Linkedin! Do you agree?