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Looking for work? 5 mistakes that will hurt your chances of getting hired

Social media is a place where we can loosen up a little. You can post jokes, silly pictures, or whatever on Instagram, X, Facebook and more. Unlike most social media sites, our sponsor, LinkedIn, is pretty buttoned-up.

You always need to put your best foot forward. After all, it’s where you connect with coworkers and find new careers. That means you should avoid being too personal since that can damage your credibility.

But that’s just one of many common LinkedIn flubs. You may be guilty of a few more subtle errors without knowing it. Avoid these LinkedIn mistakes — they might hurt you in the long run.

Error No. 1: The net you’re casting is too wide

Filmmakers design blockbusters to appeal to a broad audience. They want as many warm bodies in the seats as possible, so they avoid plotlines that may alienate audience members. The plot is all very general: The good guy fights the bad guy, the bad guy loses, they all live happily ever after, and so on.

Your LinkedIn profile doesn’t have to follow general guidelines like that. You want to appeal to niche audiences.

Tailor your LinkedIn page to show people you’re a respectable professional in your industry. If you’re too vague and don’t include personal details, you may have general appeal … but lack individual distinction.

Bottom line: When job hunting, you want to stand out. Emphasize the experiences that make you different. Cast too wide a net, and the best fish will slip away.

Error No. 2: You say ‘yes’ to every friend request

You may get overly excited by the influx of friend invites when new to LinkedIn. You may think a surplus of connections shows recruiters you’re social and have a vast network. However, if they go through your contacts and find obvious scam accounts, that could be a strike against you.

Indiscriminate connections can be tempting, but inflating your numbers makes it more difficult for recruiters to understand who you are. They want to understand what drives you, which helps them determine if you’re a good fit for a role.

For example, if you’re a journalist and have 100 friends in the construction industry, they may wonder what’s going on. Are you considering a career shift? Are you more interested in carpentry than fact-checking?

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Tech steps to take before you die

It’s a grim topic, but we have to think about what happens to all our online accounts, data, notes, photos, videos, websites, playlists, blogs and subscriptions once we’re gone. Do your loved ones a favor and get this sorted out beforehand.

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So, you unwrapped something techy and you’re already having trouble. Before searching online for help, know it’s dangerous to Google tech company phone numbers.

Scammers work the system to get spoofed websites and numbers as the top search results via ads. Instead of waiting for a response to an online form, try calling the manufacturer or tech company directly. I’ve included links below in case you’d rather use a contact form or chat service:

Amazon: 888-280-4331; Amazon website
Microsoft: 800-642-7676; Microsoft support
Apple: 800-275-2273; Apple support
Google: 650-253-0000; Google support
Meta: 650-543-4800 (Heads-up: It’s hard to get someone to answer); Facebook support, Instagram support
Roku: 816-272-8106; Roku support
Samsung: 800-726-7864; Samsung support
PayPal: 888-221-1161; PayPal support

An older CEO, long past retirement, called IT for support. He asked, “How can I print this document?” IT said, “All you need to do is Ctrl + P.” The CEO replied, “I haven’t been able to do that for years!” (I heard you laugh!)

We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

Ex-con man Frank Abagnale: why AI is a scammer’s new best friend

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He was once considered one of the most famous imposters in the world. Now, he says, artificial intelligence is going to bring on a whole new wave of scams. Plus, a dangerous selfie fail, social media sperm donors, and robberies on Facebook Marketplace.

Drug dealers going digital: Instead of lurking on street corners, they’re sliding into DMs and posting ads on Facebook. They’d get flagged for using the real words, so one workaround is communicating with emojis (e.g., snowflakes for cocaine and love hearts for psychedelics). About one in 10 young people has bought drugs over social media. Talk to your kids.

75% of Facebook sharesHappen without clicking the article

75% of Facebook sharesHappen without clicking the article. Between 2017 and 2020, researchers checked 35 million URLs. Surprise, many people fell for clickbait headlines and short blurbs instead of actually reading the stories. Extreme political posts on both sides got the most shares. No shocker there.

Security tip: Next time you stay at a hotel, turn on your VPN

Did you know the average American spends more than 24 hours each week online? That is a considerable chunk of time.

If you’re one of many with multiple devices regularly accessing the internet, you probably know you need a secure connection to protect sensitive data. A virtual private network or VPN is the best way to do this.

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8 ways your phone is tracking you - That you can stop now

You understand that your phone knows where you’re located. This is how GPS works, how Find My sees your location and why you get local ads on Facebook and Google. Like other data on your phone, that location data is a hot commodity for internet marketers.

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So you’ve spotted a scammer on Facebook: Do your good deed and report them. Go to the scammer’s profile, and, in the top right corner, click the three dots. Select Find support or report, then follow the on-screen prompts.

🚨 “A state of emergency”: That’s what some lawmakers in New Jersey are calling for, saying the massive drones spotted in their state are coming from an Iranian “mothership” off the East Coast. Meanwhile, almost 30,000 people are swapping theories in a dedicated UFO Facebook group.

Attention, parents: Facebook Marketplace is a goldmine for deals on kids’ clothes and toys. In the search bar, type in what you need, like “baby gate.” Press enter and hit Notify Me so you’ll know when something pops up. Under Categories, click Free Stuff and check there, too. Remember, free doesn’t always mean safe. Check for recalls.

🫶 It’s a small world after all: A journalist in Georgia uncovered her own adoption story while exposing a baby-trafficking scandal. A DNA test coupled with a Facebook post led her to her biological dad, who, shockingly, had been her Facebook friend for years. Isn’t that strange?

⚾ Talk about a home run: A collector bought a trunk of old baseball magazines for $75 on Facebook Marketplace and hit the jackpot. Inside were rare Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson collectibles, including Goudey sheets worth over $35,000 and Bond Bread cards. Collecting baseball cards can be ruthless.

“Man cave on wheels”: That’s how Steven Shao described his Cybertruck in a viral Facebook post. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Cybertrucks turn heads, and that’s the point. The dentist says “loneliness” drove him to drop $100,000 on the over-the-top vehicle no one can ignore. Over 40 other owners commented they felt the same, which explains so much …

Facebook funeral scam warning

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Scammers have hit a sickening low. They use real obituary details to trick grieving families into giving their credit card info for fake “services.” Plus, tech phrases we’re done with, insurance companies using drones, and why you need an outdoor TV antenna.

Meta killed over 2 million accounts this year: Scammers were using them for pig-butchering schemes. The fake profiles lured victims into bogus investment traps. These scams mostly come from Asia, where 300,000 people have been forced to work for criminals. But why did Meta let 2 million scammers make accounts in the first place? Because they can’t “afford” to hire people since they only made $40.59 billion in the last quarter. Silly me.

There’s no fun in these funerals: Scammers are creating 24/7 fake funeral livestreams on Facebook and tricking people into handing over their credit card info. They use real photos and details about a person who’s passed, then they ask for a card “to verify your location” and secretly set you up for recurring payments.

Is your uncle always posting? Snooze him on Facebook so his posts won’t show up on your News Feed. Click the three-dot icon (top left corner) on one of his posts and select Snooze [friend] for 30 days. Don’t worry, you can still pick Unfollow [friend] for a more permanent solution.

💔 Another romance scam victim: A 77-year-old Florida widower lost over $100,000 after falling for “Julia” on Facebook. The two chatted for eight months, and she promised to relocate from the U.K. to the U.S. after paying off a debt to a man in Minnesota. Hoping to speed things up, he sent cash to a home and a bank in Minneapolis. The twist? “Julia” wasn’t real — it was a 26-year-old man in Minnesota the whole time.

Reset your social media algorithms

Still stuck in election season on your social media feed? Or maybe you bought one bottle of perfume and now Big Tech thinks you’re launching a beauty empire. Algorithms are smart, but they don’t know when you’re ready to get back to your regularly scheduled programming, like cat videos and memes. Here’s how to reset your feed and take control of what you see.

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