I finally updated my profile because everyone keeps asking for it

Getting back into the platform after three years

I honestly ignored my account for the longest time. It felt like one of those things you set up in your early thirties because everyone told you it was necessary for a professional career, but then you just leave it to gather digital dust. Last week, I finally logged back in because a recruiter reached out via email mentioning they saw my name on the platform. My password was saved in my browser, which was a relief. The interface looked cleaner than I remembered, but the underlying anxiety of maintaining a ‘professional presence’ was exactly the same. I spent about two hours trying to remember when exactly I left my project at that fintech firm. Was it March or April of 2021? I ended up checking my old bank statements just to confirm the date of my final paycheck so I could update my experience section accurately.

The weird pressure of writing about yourself

There is something incredibly awkward about describing your own achievements in the third person or with that weird, confident tone that everyone seems to use on LinkedIn. I found myself staring at the summary box, trying to sound like a competent industry professional without sounding like I was bragging. I spent 45 minutes just drafting a single paragraph about my technical skills. I kept comparing myself to a friend who is currently a developer at a major tech company. His profile looks so polished, with all the right keywords about AI infrastructure and caching strategies. Mine just feels like a list of tasks I completed while I was stressed out. I paid around 30 dollars for a premium trial because I wanted to see who was looking at my profile, but honestly, it was a waste. It just told me that someone from a recruitment firm in Singapore clicked on it, which didn’t actually lead anywhere.

Watching the feeds and the noise

Once I finished the update, I started scrolling through the feed. It is overwhelming. Everyone seems to be announcing a new position, a massive funding round, or sharing some vague, inspiring quote about leadership. I saw a post from an acquaintance who recently left a big cloud service company to start his own venture. He wrote this long, sincere post about the responsibility of taking seed funding. It’s hard not to compare your own slow pace to that kind of intensity. I just wanted to update my resume, but now I’m sitting here wondering if I should be posting updates about my ‘professional journey’ too. It feels like a chore, yet I can’t quite bring myself to delete the app again.

The security concerns that linger

Recently, I read an article about how some intelligence agencies use platforms like this to pose as recruiters and find people with specific clearance levels or sensitive project backgrounds. It made me feel a bit paranoid about who I accept as a connection. I used to just hit ‘accept’ on anyone who sent a request, but now I hover over their profile photo for a few seconds longer. Does this person actually work at the company they claim? Do they have a normal-looking history? It adds this layer of friction to what is supposed to be a simple networking tool. I had one request from someone claiming to be a headhunter for a project in a sector I know nothing about. I ignored it, but now it’s just sitting in my notifications, adding to that slight, unresolved feeling that I’m doing something wrong.

Nothing feels quite finished

I still haven’t reached out to anyone to ask for a referral or a chat. Every time I think about hitting that message button, I second-guess the tone. Is it too formal? Is it too casual? I keep telling myself I’ll finalize the profile when I have more time, but I suspect that time will never really come. I suppose the account is ‘active’ now, but it feels more like a static document than a living network. Maybe that’s enough for now, or maybe I’ll just end up ignoring it again for another few years until the next recruiter email forces my hand.