how to make LinkedIn a little less awful.
I stumbled across an article promising to make “searching for a job” a piece of cake, and got into it, half-hoping for solid advice, fully knowing it was clickbait.
Unfortunately, my scepticism was confirmed.
Job searching mostly sucks—even if you have a thousand safety nets and a ton of optimism.
And the more surveys I read about networking being the ultimate job search strategy, the more I think: sure, go for it—but you can’t ignore job boards and LinkedIn entirely.
So, if you have to be here, why not make it as cosy and welcoming as possible? That’s my humble suggestion for making job searching a tiny bit less awful.
Start by sorting through your follows and connections—if they don’t spark joy or at least seem helpful to your mission, let them go.
Now set boundaries. Decide how much time you’ll spend scrolling through your feed and the open jobs tab. Some smart filtering can help. And stick to your limits.
Then, tweak your profile until you feel proud to be out there. Make your impact easy to spot, and don’t try to sound too professional. People connect with people, even on LinkedIn. You can always look for some support to get this done.
And last but, definitely not least, don’t worry about needing a break. Even better, schedule them to begin with. Maybe today, you skip LinkedIn but reach out to that colleague who always cheers you up. Or you go to a little networking event and then take time to regroup and recharge.
What really makes a difference is being intentional with your time here. And that’s tough when the platform is designed to keep you scrolling for a dopamine hit.
I only started appreciating LinkedIn once I figured out how to make it a space where I feel somewhat inspired.
Now, my feed is a safe bubble of mind-opening, authentic content that doesn’t leave me exhausted when I log out.
And I keep adjusting my boundaries to make sure it stays that way.
about the author:
Hi there! I'm Silja, the founder of the wholesome growth club, an inclusive hub for career coaching with a soft spot for introverts and perfectionists. I’m an Amsterdam-based expat, but I love connecting with people worldwide. With a background in recruiting, I know the struggle of crafting a career path that feels truly yours. At the wholesome growth club, we're all about fostering sustainable growth, meaningful engagement, and authentic connections. Our blog is dedicated to making coaching accessible and sharing insights to approach work and life with an extra dose of confidence, slow productivity, and self-compassion. If you are curious to make things happen for yourself, get in touch—we offer personalized coaching journeys that will get you closer to your (dreamy) goals in no time.
