THE ONLY BLACK GUY IN THE OFFICE
My Love-Hate Relationship With LinkedIn
For every pro on the career-focused social networking platform, there’s a con
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
If your “new year, new me” plan for 2021 is to level up professionally, part of that process likely includes getting active on LinkedIn. At least that’s assuming you were sleeping on the professional social networking site, which would be understandable; if Twitter has lunch-table energy and Instagram gives off happy-hour vibes, LinkedIn has always felt more like a stuffy office breakroom. But while it may not be as sexy as Clubhouse, the latest social media time suck, it’s a real, tangible vehicle for career growth.
I’ve been on the internet long enough to remember when most of my connections on the platform didn’t have a profile photo, let alone a professional headshot. But LinkedIn has changed a lot since its nascent days, and today, it’s become an essential part of my career. Hell, it’s how I got my current job.
Once a friend passed me some credits to join LinkedIn Premium, I homed in on making my profile more presentable. I wasn’t about to pay for a professional headshot, but I…
