What 90% of Job Seekers Get Wrong About LinkedIn (And How to Fix It)
Did you know using LinkedIn solely as a job board costs you interviews and job offers? When you only apply to posted positions, you cut yourself off from most available opportunities. While you’re competing with 1,456 other applicants who applied in the first 12 hours for visible jobs, you’re missing out on the 65% of positions being filled that were never posted. 90% of job seekers aren’t using a strategic approach to LinkedIn or tapping into the 50+ features available to stand out and get discovered. Are you one of them? Let’s dive into three common LinkedIn mistakes job seekers make and how to fix them.
#1 – Common LinkedIn Mistakes Job Seekers Make: LinkedIn Is Another Job Board Like Indeed
When you treat LinkedIn like a job board, you miss out on the true purpose of the platform – a place to build professional relationships. You also shut yourself off from being discovered by recruiters using LinkedIn as one extensive candidate database. And you lose access to the hidden job market – all the opportunities filled via networking and word-of-mouth referrals.
Instead, see and utilize LinkedIn for what it is: a comprehensive professional network, a platform for building professional relationships, a place to show your subject matter expertise and a tool for industry research and insight. It’s also a place to tap into the hidden job market and be discovered by recruiters and hiring managers. I’m 100% convinced you can use LinkedIn to find your next role if you know how to leverage it strategically.
You need to make a mindset shift from thinking, “I need to find and apply for jobs,” to “I need to build a professional presence and network.”
LinkedIn is fundamentally a professional networking platform that has a job board, not the other way around. Success comes from understanding how to leverage it fully:
- Building meaningful professional relationships
- Showcasing expertise through engagement
- Conducting industry research
- Being discoverable by recruiters
- Accessing hidden opportunities through network connections
This represents a complete paradigm shift in how job seekers should approach and utilize the platform – moving from transactional job applications to strategic relationship building and professional presence development.
If you want to discover how to optimize your profile to be found by recruiters conducting candidate searches, I teach the five exact steps you need to take in my free LinkedIn Profile optimization video training – you can grab it here.

#2 – Common LinkedIn Mistakes Job Seekers Make: LinkedIn Is A Resume Placeholder
Another belief I often hear from job seekers is that LinkedIn is an online resume or resume placeholder. Manley, a senior technology Program Manager and LinkedIn Unlocked student, used LinkedIn more like Facebook or Twitter to keep up with colleagues. However, he sensed there was more he could do to make his time on LinkedIn even more effective. He just wasn’t sure what that looked like.
Using LinkedIn as a resume placeholder costs interviews, job offers, and visibility with recruiters. It also leaves the hidden job market untapped and fails to give you the best advantage in your job search. Did you know eight people are hired on LinkedIn every minute, according to LinkedIn’s Chief Economist, Karin Kimbrough? And that’s not coming only from job postings.
Many job opportunities on LinkedIn never appear on the official Jobs page. Instead, they surface across the platform in different ways. You’ll find them shared in people’s feed updates, embedded in recruiter headlines and profile information, discussed in professional groups, and mentioned in status updates from hiring managers and employees. This informal job market on LinkedIn often leads to hires before positions are ever officially posted.
Here’s the thing…if you’re not actively engaging on LinkedIn, you’re missing out on scores of opportunities that other active candidates are snatching up.
It’s not just that you’re not seeing them. It’s that recruiters don’t see you. You’re losing job interviews and offers if recruiters don’t see your profile, comments, or posts. It doesn’t get much worse than that. The opportunities are out there — to the tune of 8 every minute.
To successfully use LinkedIn as a job search tool, you need to shift your mindset away from “having a profile is enough” and “having my resume on my profile is enough” to: “I need to participate and leverage what LinkedIn offers actively.”
A static profile is like having a shop with no foot traffic. The real opportunities come from participating in the ongoing professional conversation on LinkedIn every day. Those eight hires per minute aren’t just going to the best resumes—they’re going to the most effectively engaged professionals on the platform.

#3 – Common LinkedIn Mistakes Job Seekers Make: Applying Is The Only Way to Find Jobs on LinkedIn
 Too many job seekers believe that submitting applications through LinkedIn’s Jobs tool is the primary or only way to find opportunities or job search on LinkedIn. But the truth is, it’s wasting your time on a low-yield strategy and increasing your frustration from the lack of responses. I had one job seeker message me with his frustration from applying to jobs on LinkedIn; he said, “I’ve applied to over 700 different jobs and haven’t received a single interview!”Â
The data supports his frustration. 65% of jobs filled using LinkedIn are from jobs posted to LinkedIn. These jobs are filled via relationships, referrals, and networking before they’re ever posted. LinkedIn’s primary value is as a professional networking platform. Your success will require a multi-pronged approach.
You need to:
- Build relationships with decision-makers
- Engage with target company content
- Leverage existing connections (power circle)
- Participate in industry discussions
- Direct outreach to hiring managers
Job seekers who rely solely on applications face higher competition, lower response rates, and a prolonged job search. When using LinkedIn, you have to shift your mindset from: “I need to apply to more jobs” to: “I need to build more meaningful professional relationships.”
Leveraging LinkedIn’s Most Powerful Feature
The power of LinkedIn depends on your engagement and activity on the platform. Read that again.
The power of LinkedIn depends on your engagement and activity on the platform.
If you want your network to grow, you want to be visible to employers, and you want to attract opportunities, you need to post at least three times per week and spend 15–30 minutes actively commenting on your connections’ and target companies’ posts (again, three times per week).
Commenting and engaging:
- Increases your network and recruiter visibility, meaning you get more interview invites.
- Expand your connections as you receive more connection requests and followers, which increases your network size and visibility with hiring managers.
- Creates a stronger and healthier network as you build solid, mutually beneficial relationships with your connections so that your network can lead you to positions that are not posted publicly.
If you’re wondering how to be more proactive in your outreach, here are ten opportunities to reach out to your network.
1. Someone viewed your profile. Send them a connection request. LinkedIn will show you if you have mutual connections. This is an open door.
2. Someone sent you an invitation to connect. Message them to say thanks and introduce yourself if you’re not familiar with each other.
3. Your invitation to connect is accepted. Follow up with a personalized message to thank them and introduce yourself.
4. Someone in your network posted about a job change. Congratulate them. Make a note to follow up with them in 30 days to see how it’s going and possibly ask how they made a successful career move.
5. Contact gets promoted. Message them or comment on their post to congratulate them.
6. It’s a contact’s birthday. Send them well wishes.
7. It’s a contact’s work anniversary. Send them well wishes.
8. The news mentions the contact — an excellent way to follow their work.
9. Your connection updated something in their profile — photo, summary, etc. Do you know who likes to hear that you like their new headshot? Everybody! Just keep it professional. Women do not want to be hit on. “I like your new profile picture, Betty.” is acceptable. “I love your new profile picture, Betty. You look gorgeous — great smile!” is unprofessional, and Betty will likely block you.
10. A contact liked your LinkedIn article. Thank them for their support. I appreciate it when people take the time to enjoy and comment on my articles and newsletters. It lets me know that the advice and information I provide are valuable to people and that my mission of helping others is succeeding.
Everyone enjoys appreciation and gratitude, even in small, simple gestures. Take the time to show appreciation to someone in your network today.
Now that you know the basics of engagement on LinkedIn, what about optimizing your profile to increase your profile views by 8500%, plus getting recruiters calling within 24 hours? I share the exact strategies I used on my husband’s profile to get those calls and views in this free 18-minute video.
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About the author
Jessica Hernandez, President, CEO & Founder of Great Resumes Fast
Hi, I’m Jessica. I started this company back in 2008 after more than a decade directing hiring practices at Fortune 500 companies.
What started as a side hustle (before that was even a word!) helping friends of friends with their resumes has now grown into a company that serves hundreds of happy clients a year. But the personal touch? I’ve kept that.
You might have seen me featured as a resume expert in publications like Forbes, Fast Company, and Fortune. And in 2020, I was honored to be named as a LinkedIn Top Voice of the year!
I’m so glad you’re here, and I can’t wait to help you find your next perfect-fit position!
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