Amazon Polly

I came across a post on LinkedIn the other day from a coach that really got me thinking. It was another one of those negative, “you shouldn’t do this” posts, this one specifically about LinkedIn video. It basically said that people in jobs search who are posting videos about themselves are shooting themselves in the foot. It literally started off by saying that LinkedIn video can ruin your chances of getting a job.

Kill. That. Noise.

I am a Human Resources Professional and an Executive Coach. I have helped people land awesome jobs, get promoted into Executive level positions and completely transform their teams and in turn, entire organizations. Not to toot my own horn, but I know what I’m talking about. My advice to you, the video makers and the ones on the fence, GO FOR IT!!

Don’t have awesome lighting? Who cares.

Not sure what to say? It will come to you.

Afraid you’ll look silly? We all do.

Don’t let anyone tell you that being yourself will stop you from getting a job. That is soul crushing and 100% not true. The world is changing and digital is king. If you are smart enough and brave enough to put yourself out there in a video format, I am pretty sure that there are companies out there that can look past any imperfections and see the unique strengths that you have.

Should you hop on and post any ole rambling message? Well, probably not but no one would advise you to send out resumes with grammatical and spelling errors either. Figure out what you’re good at, determine your personal competitive advantage. Take some time to think about what your ideal job looks like. What kind of company is it? What industry is it in? Then go do your thing.

I feel like videos are another form of diversity and progressive organizations who want to thrive embrace diversity. Never listen to someone who tells you to stifle who you are. If an organization isn’t inclusive, you don’t want to work there. If they don’t value diversity, including diversity of thought, they are still in business in spite of themselves, not because they are doing the right things.

I applaud anyone who has posted a video. It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there, to ask an organization to look at you as a person, not just as a random resume in a database.  The amount of vulnerability that comes with that is astounding. I’m going to walk to talk. I’m not in job search but I have some ideas for videos that I can post to help those in job search and to help leaders grow and develop.

Thank you to the nay-sayer who posted the negative thou shall not on LinkedIn post. It gave me the opportunity to think about what I can do to contribute to the positivity on LinkedIn. I can learn from just about any experience, I’ve developed that mindset. My learning from this:

• Just telling someone not to do something isn’t feedback and it sure as heck isn’t coaching
• Keep talking about diversity, many people still don’t get it
• Always challenge the status quo, it’s time for a new normal

Keep an eye out for my videos. They are coming soon!