Do NOT Do These 4 Things on LinkedIn If You Want a Job

I've spent 20 years coaching careers on LinkedIn, and I've been a LinkedIn Top Voice for the last 13. In October of 2025, LinkedIn made an algorithm change that quietly rewrote the rules for job seekers. Most people have no idea it happened, which is exactly why they keep applying and hearing nothing back.

Here's the good news. Recruiters are on LinkedIn right now, actively searching for people like you. If you stop making these four mistakes, you make it dramatically easier for them to find you and land in your inbox.

1. Stop writing a "clever" headline

I see it constantly: "Results-driven, proven self-starter in marketing." It sounds polished, but out of that entire headline, the only word a recruiter could actually search was "marketing." Recruiters hunt by keywords: hard skills, tools, titles, and skill sets. They load those terms into the search, and the algorithm serves up the profiles that match. Every fancy adjective you use in place of a real keyword pushes you further down the results. Worse, that kind of self-praise reads as narcissistic. You'd never walk up to someone and say "I'm results-driven and proven." So don't let your profile say it. Fill your headline with real keywords, separated by the vertical line divider, and nothing else.

2. Stop writing an epic novel in your About section

Your About section is not the place for 15 dense paragraphs, and writing it in the third person makes it worse. Recruiters want a fast, clear summary. The move that works is three short sentences that roll up your experience in numbers. How many years do you have in your field? How big were the teams you led? What was the range and size of the projects you ran? Roll up the total, because numbers are the easiest thing for the human eye to catch and understand. This is not the place for your key accomplishments. Those belong in your work history. Under your quick summary, add a clean vertical list of your core skills. That triggers what I call the check-mark effect: the recruiter scans down, validates each skill, and keeps scrolling to see where you earned it. Short, numbers, skills. That's it.

3. Stop letting your resume and LinkedIn disagree

This one is a bigger deal than it used to be. Your resume bullet points must match your LinkedIn work history. Because so many people are now generating fake resumes with AI, recruiters have started cross-checking. When a resume looks like a fit, they jump to your LinkedIn to confirm it's legit. If the two don't line up, you look like a risk. Your bullets also need to be quantifiable, measurable results, not a description of how you did the work. Recruiters can't evaluate "responsible for managing campaigns." They can evaluate "grew qualified leads 38% in two quarters." Facts and results, matched in both places.

4. Stop treating your profile like a "set it and forget it" page

This is the mistake almost nobody understands. LinkedIn is now sifting through 1.3 billion profiles based on activity. You can polish your profile all day, but if you're silent on the platform, you stay invisible. LinkedIn runs on a give-get model. You give by commenting thoughtfully on other people's posts, real perspective, not "Great job." You get by posting about your own industry and expertise. That activity is how the algorithm understands you, validates you, and confirms you're a real human being. LinkedIn is quietly becoming an authentication platform, and your activity is the proof. My clients skip the line and land recruiters in their inbox because they build a simple, manageable credibility footprint that keeps them in the search results.

Two ways to put this to work

If you made it this far, I have two things for you.

The first is 100% free. I recorded a short video breaking down the exact posts one of my clients used to land his job: the anatomy of the ideal LinkedIn post that gets recruiters to reach out. It takes under five minutes to watch. Grab it in the free resources at workitdaily.com. Just drop in your email and I'll send it over.

And if you want to speed this up and close the implementation gap, check out my LinkedIn Recruiter Attraction Plan. It's a one-time payment, and I build it for you personally. Using three job descriptions, your resume, and your LinkedIn profile, I create a fully customized 20-plus page report on how to position yourself and the next 20 things you should post to feed the algorithm and get found. You'll also get the chance to join a private group coaching call with me to get your questions answered. It will be the best money you spend on your job search. Go get 'em.