How Soon Should You Update Your LinkedIn Profile

You want EVERYONE to know. But … Are you wondering:

After starting a new job … How soon should you update your LinkedIn profile?

Of course … You are excited. You really want to tell everyone.

However, give yourself two weeks.

Yes, two weeks.

When you start a new job you definitely want to let the world know that you started and you want to share that news on LinkedIn. However, you will have a lot to do in the first two weeks in your new job.

Respect the job you took (and your contacts on LinkedIn)

Take Two Weeks

The people that need to know you started a new job will figure it out quite quickly. You, your manager, your peers, and those are really close to you. They will all know that you started a new gig. They will also know to respect that time so you can really focus on getting a great start in your new job.

Updating your LinkedIn Profile

When you do decide to update your LinkedIn profile – put in the information about your new job, your new title, and anything else that you think is relevant or salient.

Food For Thought – Set your LinkedIn Profile to update your whole network. That way, everyone you are connected with will know. Normally, I suggest turning this option off so you don’t spam your connections with minor changes. But this is big news. Share it widely.

When you press enter be aware that your update will go out to your entire contact list (if you have it set up that way) and this is fine. Your friends as well as people you know across your network will start to send kudos and congratulations to you. Which is also fine and expected.

Updates Lead to Questions

Many will also ask questions that you want to answer. You want to share your great news. Of course, this is a good thing. However, you don’t want to take that time in your first two weeks on your new job to respond to those comments and kudos. Not because they don’t deserve a response, but because you’ll be focused on your new job. You’ll want to take those first two weeks to insure you are really kicking everything off smoothly and in a strong fashion.

Added Bonus – You can use these two weeks to send thank you notes to the companies that DIDN’T get your services. See The Power of the Pen

This is not to shut you down

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t update your LinkedIn profile. All I’m suggesting is that you take two weeks. By then you’re settling into the rhythm of your new job and you’ll be able to respond in a reasonable timeframe to the kudos and accolades that your friends will inevitably be sending you.

By doing this you’ll be able to really enjoy the comments and respond to people in a manner that they won’t think you are ignoring them. And, this small step of taking 2 weeks is just one more way you’ll stand out in your career.

Congratulations on your new job. I look forward to hearing about it in two weeks.