LinkedIn isn’t what it used to be

There was a time when LinkedIn made sense.

It was a straightforward platform: you built your profile like a beefed-up CV, listed your achievements, and used it to connect with recruiters or apply to jobs. And it worked. I remember when it launched. It actually worked. The jobs were high quality, the applications were clear and quick, and the platform served its purpose without the fluff.

But somewhere along the way, things changed.

Now, it’s become a hybrid of social media and self-promotion. Part job board, part content platform, part branding showcase. I saw a post recently calling LinkedIn “video first” and felt something drop in my stomach. Video? First? Why?

I get that some people love visuals. I get that short-form videos are popular. But we’re not all here to become thought leaders or influencers. Some of us just want a place to find work, or quietly explore career options, without turning our application into a showreel.

The most baffling part? I recently saw a vacancy that required a one-minute video to apply. One minute to introduce yourself, say why you're perfect for the job, and do it on camera. For a privacy and cybersecurity position, of all things. A field that’s literally about discretion and security ... and yet here I was, being asked to record a personal pitch and send it off into the unknown. No clarity on how the video would be stored, processed, or used.

But beyond that, I just… don’t want to make a video. I don’t like being on camera. I barely like attaching a photo to my CV. And the idea that this is the kind of effort we’re now demanding from applicants. Before they’ve even met anyone at the company, before they know what the company culture is like ... feels out of touch. It’s expensive, time-consuming, and emotionally exhausting.

And honestly? I don’t think it’s making hiring more fair. Or more human.

What it is doing, though, is feeding into this broader trend I’m seeing.

The death of reading.

On websites, in instructions, in product labels. It’s like we’ve trained ourselves to skim past anything that isn’t animated, moving, or voiced over. And LinkedIn has followed that path.

Today, the platform feels flooded with personal branding content. HR people telling dramatic stories to rack up engagement. Thought pieces with the same recycled phrasing. Motivational fluff. The occasional gem of insight is still there - and I’m grateful for it - but it’s getting harder to find. Meanwhile, regular users? People just doing their job? They're posting less. Or not at all.

And let’s talk about job seeking. I recently tried using LinkedIn to explore new opportunities, and it was… discouraging. The recommendations were completely off. Roles in the wrong industry, wrong seniority level, wrong everything. Entry-level suggestions for someone with 15+ years of experience. Is this really the best LinkedIn can do with all the data it has on me?

I tried Premium for a while. I didn’t care much for who viewed my profile, and I didn’t need AI to help write my posts. Especially not when I already use tools like ChatGPT or Gemini. What was I paying for?

What I’m missing is a real job seeker platform. One focused on actually matching people to meaningful work. One where the search isn’t cluttered with algorithmic fluff or marketing noise. One that respects both the candidate’s time and intelligence.

Instead, people tell me: “Don’t look on job sites. Just go to company websites directly.” But is that really the future of job hunting? Manually building a list of companies and checking their career pages one by one? That only works if I already know the company. What about the ones I’ve never heard of? The ones I could genuinely help? The ones who don’t have a flashy employer brand, but do have a challenge worth solving?

LinkedIn used to be that bridge. Now it just feels like another feed.

And I’m still wondering: for people like me, where do we actually go to find the work that fits?