LinkedIn is a popular professional networking platform used by millions to connect with other professionals, build their brand, and explore career opportunities. One of LinkedIn’s key features is the ability to share updates about your career, such as starting a new job or getting promoted. However, sometimes a shared job update may not show up in your connections’ feeds as expected. There are a few potential reasons why LinkedIn may not be sharing your job updates.
You have limited your profile visibility
LinkedIn allows you to control the visibility of your profile and activity. Under the Privacy & Settings option in your account, you can limit profile visibility to only your direct connections, exclude your profile from search engines, and customize visibility by segmenting connections. If you have limited the visibility of your profile, your job updates may only be visible to your 1st-degree connections and not wider audiences.
Solution
Review your Privacy & Settings and ensure your profile visibility is set to the option “Visible to everyone”. This will maximize the reach of your job updates.
Your connections have muted you
Individual connections can mute your activity, including your job updates, so they no longer see your posts in their feed. If several of your key connections have muted you, it can significantly limit the reach of your job updates.
Solution
There is no way to know exactly who has muted you on LinkedIn. The best approach is to continue posting valuable content that your connections would find worth engaging with. You can also directly communicate major career updates through messages to ensure important connections are notified.
Your post is flagged as promotional
LinkedIn’s algorithm automatically detects posts that seem overly promotional or spammy and limits their distribution. Things like over-using hashtag, posting too frequently, and using attention-grabbing phrases may cause your job update to be flagged.
Solution
Carefully craft your job updates to provide value, insight and useful information to your connections rather than simply broadcasting achievements or job titles. Share updates sparingly and highlight how new roles align to your professional brand and goals.
Your engagement level is low
How often you engage with other content on LinkedIn affects how widely your own updates are shared. If your engagement is low, your job update may not reach a broad audience. Low engagement signals to the algorithm that your content may not be valuable.
Solution
Become a more active member of your LinkedIn community by commenting on posts, liking content, joining groups, and building relationships. Increased engagement will improve the visibility of your own posts.
You have a limited network size
The wider your LinkedIn network, the greater potential audience for your job updates. With only a small network, your updates may not spread as far. Most of your connections may not be actively engaging with the platform to see your posts.
Solution
Expand your LinkedIn network with meaningful connections in your industry and location. Engage new connections by liking and commenting on their content. A broader, active network boosts the visibility of your job updates.
You are new to LinkedIn
If you’ve only recently created your LinkedIn account, your profile and engagement may need time to establish authority in the platform’s algorithm. As a new user, your job updates may have limited initial visibility.
Solution
Actively participate in LinkedIn for several weeks, steadily building your network and engagement. Over time, as the algorithm detects more signals that you are a real user generating valuable content, your job updates should gain more visibility.
You posted at a bad time
When you share your job update can impact its visibility. Posting during business hours when engagement is usually higher may help more connections see your update rather than late at night or on weekends.
Solution
Pay attention to when your updates tend to get the most traction and aim to post job-related updates during peak activity windows for maximum visibility.
Your connections are not your target audience
If your network consists of connections who are not the right target audience for your job updates, your posts may not resonate or spread effectively. Your industry colleagues are more likely to engage with career updates than personal connections.
Solution
Evaluate the makeup of your LinkedIn network. Focus on building more connections with professionals in your specific industry to boost engagement and visibility for career updates.
Your update contained errors
Typos, grammatical errors or inaccuracies in your job update post could undermine its credibility and limit visibility. Maintaining a polished, professional presence on LinkedIn is key.
Solution
Proofread all LinkedIn posts carefully before publishing. Ask someone to double check important job updates to ensure there are no mistakes before you share the news more widely.
You haven’t optimized your profile
A complete, optimized LinkedIn profile signals professional credibility to the algorithm and community. An incomplete profile may restrict the visibility of your job updates.
Solution
Ensure your LinkedIn profile is 100% complete with a professional headshot, headline, summary, experience, education, skills, recommendations etc. An “all-star” profile amplifies the visibility of your posts.
You shared too many updates in a short time
Flooding your connections with too many posts at once, especially if not highly relevant, may cause your job update to get lost in the shuffle or seem like over-posting.
Solution
Stick to sharing only your most important job updates and space them out. Avoid posting too many times in a day or week to prevent your connections from tuning out.
You need to nurture relationships
If you haven’t invested time in engaging with your connections, they may be less inclined to actively share or react to your job updates. Nurturing relationships is key for visibility.
Solution
Don’t use your network only to broadcast. Spend time liking others’ posts, commenting thoughtfully, and sharing valuable information before posting your own updates.
You have competitor company followers
If you have followers from competitor companies in your industry, they may deliberately not amplify or react to major job updates from you to limit your visibility.
Solution
Review your followers and consider removing competitors who may try to undermine your job updates. Focus on building followers with colleagues and professionals who will actively support your career news.
Your update wasn’t shareable or engaging
Posting a job update that is dry, lacking in substance or compelling information diminishes its ability to spread organically. There needs to be a reason for people to share.
Solution
Craft your job updates to tell an interesting story, share insider details, provide useful takeaways for your industry, or highlight exciting future plans in your new role. Make it informative and shareable.
You lack influencer connections
Well-connected professionals with large follower bases, aka LinkedIn influencers, have a wider reach for amplifying updates. If you lack influential connections, your job news may stay within a smaller bubble.
Solution
Follow relevant LinkedIn influencers within your industry and location. Engage with their content regularly and consider politely asking them to share your job update if appropriate.
Conclusion
A job update on LinkedIn not receiving expected visibility can be frustrating. But in most cases, it simply requires some troubleshooting of your account settings, approach, and network makeup to resolve. Focus on building meaningful connections, nurturing relationships, and crafting high-quality updates to see your career news reliably reach your target audience.