And boy has it accelerated. Previous to the introduction of LLMs, many LinkedIn posts consisted of well-researched and insightful information regarding people’s careers or helpful information for their client base about their product offering. I used to find a lot of those posts annoying. What I wouldn’t give for that to be what is posted on LinkedIn now.

If you’ve been laid off, you’ve probably gotten conflicting advice about LinkedIn’s green “Open to Work” banner. Some recruiters say it makes you look desperate. Others say it’s the single fastest way to get noticed. Both sides have a point, and the right answer depends on your situation, not on a one-size-fits-all rule.

When you are looking for work, LinkedIn is one of the few places where you can reach almost anyone in your field directly. The challenge is that it does not work the way in person networking does. There is no body language, no shared coffee, and no easy small talk to break the ice. Instead, you are building relationships through profiles, comments, and short written messages.

My messages at times were too long, sometimes too vague, and sometimes I was reaching out to a complete stranger and expecting them to hand me the world. I learned that getting a reply is mostly a matter of structure, and structure is something I could fix.

Here is the good news. Networking does not actually reward the loudest person in the room. It rewards people who follow up, who listen well, and who build a small number of real relationships over time.