Thinking of Being Critical on LinkedIn?

A short while ago I came across a post on LinkedIn from someone who worked for a large, multinational corporation.

This individual has a fairly impressive track record in his career.

Knowing the individual, I was aware that he expected to be looking for a new position soon with another company through no fault of his own due to yet another restructuring.

Essentially, he didn’t want to relocate his family across the country.

Why do I tell you all this?

I do because this person posted on LinkedIn that he’d had several managers during his tenure with his current employer and only one of them had bothered to work on his career development plan with him.

He criticized almost all the managers he worked for at this company in one go.

See what’s wrong here?

Let’s talk about it!

The problem here is that this individual is taking a shot in public at every manager but one that he’s worked for during his tenure at his most recent employer.

If any of his former managers are first degree connections and get this comment in their feeds like I did then they’re not going to be too impressed.

This person doesn’t seem to realize that when he goes looking for employment in the future, hiring managers are going to be looking at his LinkedIn profile and his activity.

Who wants to hire someone who has criticized almost every single manager that he’s worked for at his last employer?

Here’s another point.

I, like many people I know, believe that I’m responsible for my own career development.

If my managers happened to have been helpful along the way that’s a bonus and I’m grateful to them.

But, how successful I am in my career is on me.

What should this individual have done?

First off, he shouldn’t have made the comment.

Next, if he felt that he should have made the comment then he could have made it into a positive.

Something like “My best experiences in my career occurred when my manager assisted me with my career development plan.”

He practically gave the phone numbers and room numbers of his former managers in his comment. (I’ve generalized his comment to avoid piling onto a rookie mistake and to protect his identity.)

Finally, he should have realized where he was working.

I’m familiar with his employer.

World class career development is not a strong point of this company despite what their HR people claim.

He did get some terrific practical experience while he was there and he should be grateful for that.

The lesson learned here is to positive in your engagement on LinkedIn and other social media channels.

Create and share content that demonstrates that you’re the subject matter expert that you claim to be.

Never let them know that you’re angry!

That’s it for now!

Please check-out my 8 step approach for developing a social media program to get some more ideas on how to use social media.

Also, never forget to reach out to either ask questions or to ask for help from someone like myself!

In the meantime, thank you for following and reading my blog!

I look forward to any and all comments that you may have. I will reply to any comments made to this blog post as promptly as I can.

And, remember!

I do this for a living and if I can be of any assistance to either you or your organization, please feel free to call on me. Our initial discussion will be of no charge to you.

I can also be reached at conpsweeney@someddi.com.

My Twitter handle is @conpsweeney.

Stay well!