LinkedIn Etiquette

Every.Single.Day I am blown away by the sheer stupidity, narcissism and outright delusion present on LinkedIn. Social media platforms have a tendency to bring out the worst in people, and LinkedIn is no different. Please read the below guide in order to avoid ending up on LinkedFlex and being laughed at by literally everyone.

What is LinkedIn?

First, let me orient you to what the LinkedIn is. Essentially, LinkedIn is a social networking site for professionals. It is kinda like facebook, but centered around work and careers. In practice, the site is mostly used as a universal rolodex and also as a way to stay informed on what is going in your professional acquaintances (and friends) careers.

Let me say this as loud as possible. YOU NEED A LINKEDIN PROFILE. It is absolutely critical for other professionals, recruiters and colleagues to stay abreast of your professional activities and experience. Unlike the military, there is no centralized human resources function across companies. Recruiters can and do look at your LinkedIn profile to determine if they want to contact you regarding career opportunities. Your old colleague has the perfect opportunity for you? They will probably look at your LinkedIn or pass it off to someone in their office. Your LinkedIn is basically your officer or enlisted record brief. PEOPLE WILL LOOK AT YOUR PROFILE AND JUDGE YOU ACCORDINGLY. So lets go down the basics.

Elements of a LinkedIn Profile to Consider

A LinkedIn profile needs to establish trust and credibility. In order to do this you need to have several elements of your profile filled out. These include…

A Professional Profile Photo

REPEAT AFTER ME. P-R-O-F-E-S-S-I-O-N-A-L. This means a suit, a sport coat, a button down. NOT A PICTURE OF YOU IN UNIFORM OR GOD FORBID YOUR DA PHOTO WITH THE SSN COVERED UP. Throwing up your DA photo is mega cringe and screams that you are an amateur. Also, try to avoid looking super intense. Smile. People in the civilian world like friendly people, if you come off as Hank from Me, Myself and Irene people will be very afraid.

A Concise, Impactful Profile Headline (No Military Jargon)

This comes right below your profile picture and is basically the headline for your profile. For most people transitioning out of the military it should read something like this…”Transitioning US Army Officer. Available xxx date” (if you are going straight into the workforce). Don’t use this as a space to self-aggrandize, call yourself a VP, CEO, COO, CIO, or Director of anything. Those are very senior positions within firms and you will come off as extremely cringey and unaware.

For my MBA brothers and sisters. Please take heed. Even if you have been accepted to Wharton, HBS, Columbia or some other elite school do not put anything that would mark you as a jackass. This includes the following phrase….“ATTENTION RECRUITERS, I AM OPEN TO PRIVATE EQUITY, INVESTMENT BANKING”. I have seen this before and it made me want to barf. Posting something like that shows you are completely unaware of how the recruiting process and timeline works for that industry.

Also just keep it to plain text. Do not not include stars, *****, or anything else that looks weird. Keep it simple. Please.

DO NOT PUT THAT YOU ATTENDED Harvard Business School if did HBX or one of their certificate programs. It comes off as disingenuous and people WILL laugh at you.

A Well Written / Developed Summary

This is where I see profiles really start to go off the rails. Let me be straight, no one gives two shits about your super detailed military experience. Really, no one cares unless you had some super technical transferable skill that required certifications or something. An example would be a Pilot, Medicine, Intel or IT. In that case it becomes important to list your transferable skills as they are the prerequisites for the job. For the rest of you, keep it simple. No civilian is going to understand the difference between a company commander, a battalion commander or the supreme commander of Middle Earth. Seriously, just give a short background of your education, your main skills, and how many years you had in the service. You can also include your security clearance level, any NOTABLE awards you held. This would include Bronze Stars, Silver Stars, anything with a V attached it (make sure you explain what that is) and the MoH. No one in the civilian sector knows what an ARCOM, AAM, MSM, LOM, Air Medal etc is. This is just the reality of the military civilian divide. My example below is a little short but gets the point across. No need to go nuts.

A Well Constructed List of Professional Experience

While you are still in the military, list briefly the different “jobs” that you held. Once you are in the civilian sector, ditch that shit. No one cares. Just list that you were in the military and some broad description of what you did.

Also, don’t put anything such as “aspiring” or “incoming” or anything else as experience. It is ok to put short veteran to civilian internships (Like Goldman Sachs VIP for example) or other cool one time things that were selective. Don’t put things that are not appropriate here, if you have to question it, then do not put it. If you have been accepted to an MBA program it is ok to put MBA candidate before you start school. It helps recruiters understand that you are not interested in any JMO jobs and you are looking for MBA level jobs (or internships).

Include any volunteering experience on here as well. Just don’t self-aggrandize over over-exaggerate. People will pick up on it.

A Well Developed Skills & Endorsements section

People can endorse you on LinkedIn for different skills that you list. You will see a lot of of “operations”, “leadership”, “defense** skills listed. Those are fine but try to keep it under control. You are not Rambo/Patton. Try and list skills that employers might actually care about. Put leadership though, everyone loves that shit.

Recommendations from Customers, Peers & Colleagues

If you are connected with any friends, peers or old commanders then it might be a good idea to have them write a short blurb on how great you were to work with. This helps add credibility to who are you since your experience will be foreign to most civilians. If you have other military folks talking about how you excelled as a teamplayer, leader or planner, that will go a long way in establishing you a serious professional and not just another wannabe veteran with professional experience that no one understands.

Education Background

Short and sweet, don’t list your high school (unless it is a super elite one that people in an industry would know. List your undergrad, major, honors, etc. Masters degree as appropriate. Remember, your LinkedIn will tell a story. Think carefully about what you put on here. To much education and you might come off as someone who can’t make up their mind. If you have been running after certifications or have three degrees (in basket weaving), maybe leave that shit off. When employers look at resumes and LinkedIn profiles they are looking for patterns. They are familiar with what a “normal” profile in their industry looks like. They know the type of person who works there. Try and find some of those profiles and mimic them. Keep it short and sweet.

ALSO. Do not list your basic course, captains course, ILE, CGSC or whatever in your profile. No one cares.

Highlighted Projects

If you planned the Bin Laden raid maybe put that shit on there. Otherwise leave it off. No one cares about the projects you did in the military right now (this will become important later once you are a professional).

Publications / Written Works

If you have something published in a REPUTABLE magazine, include that stuff. Some of my classmates from West Point have had articles featured in the New York Times. Also anything in a professional Army (or military esque) magazine. That’s cool too.

POSTING

LinkedIn gives the ability post facebook esque status updates. Like all REALLY POWERFUL TOOLS THAT CAN BROADCAST YOUR THOUGHTS TO MILLIONS OF PEOPLE you must respect this feature. Be respectful of the other people that you are impacting by smashing that post button fam. Have something that resembles self-awareness.

Examples OF WHAT NOT TO DO

You have seen it, you know you have. The one person that posts to much…the one person that does nauseating humblebragging? Yea, don’t be person. HERE ARE SOME REALLY GREAT BAD EXAMPLES THAT I FOUND RANDOMINGLY OF WHAT NOT TO DO.

Connections

The other most dangerous thing that LinkedIn gives you is the ability to send “connection” requests to almost anyone on LinkedIn. This is similar to sending friend requests on facebook or follow requests on instagram.

A few rules

1. It is OK to send a request to someone you have never met. This includes veterans who are in high level positions in civilian organizations. Try to start at the bottom though, and find people who are a couple years of ahead you. Work your way up the food chain. If you do want to talk with someone who is fairly senior, make sure you do plenty of prep work so you do not waste their time

2. As a rule, unless you have met someone in real life, you should include a note stating your intention of why you are initiating this connection. This might include a question, a request, help, or simply wanting to learn more about a industry

3. Be polite and to the point

4. Don’t immediately start off with a request, briefly introduce yourself. Try and find some commonality between you and the person you sending a message too

5. Respond to LinkedIn messages in a timely manner. When you do not it pisses people off

Here is a good example

“Hello, My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

1. Very polite short introduction of who you are

2. State why you are reaching out

3. Manage expectations

Here is a more practical example

“Hi Some Dude (most likely a vet) I want to connect with,

My name is so and so. I am a transitioning Army/Marine Corp/Space Force whatever. I am interested in some career that I have no idea about, but would like to learn more about. Do you have time for a brief chat? I am available at these and such times in the next week. My phone number is this and my email is this. Please let me know if you are available and I will send you a meeting invite to your email.

Thank you!

YOUR FIRST NAME”

You are giving the recipient some great info here. Who you are, why you are contacting them. A request and a call for action. You are also volunteering to do some of the leg work in facilitating the connection between you two. In business, if you reach out, it is expected that you do the admin work of setting up the call, coffee, meet up, whatever.

Ask to send them an invite from your calendar. This is polite because the business day is hectic, and your calendar is critical to keeping you on track and letting people know when you are free or not.

Conclusion

Overall, Linked is a great tool. Just remember that you must be professional and polite. Rules don’t go out the window when you are online. There are some great starter guides on what a good LinkedIn Profile looks like here and here. I know this is ironic coming from a meme lord, but whatever. I don’t act like a jackass on LinkedIn.