LinkedIn isn't just a job board anymore.
- Srishti Sanjay Daiv
- Oct 2
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 5
Passive Linkedin job applying is a lottery. Active presence is leverage.
Remember when LinkedIn felt like a promise?
You uploaded your CV, polished your headline, hit “Easy Apply,” and waited for an opportunity to knock.
Fast-forward to now: applying for jobs on LinkedIn feels less like knocking on doors and more like lobbing your CV into a canyon. You throw it in, it echoes back, and then… silence.
And who are the 100 who have already applied in the past three seconds!??
Every job posting has hundreds, sometimes thousands, of applicants. Most don’t even get seen by human eyes. An algorithm scans your file, ticks boxes, and discards you like yesterday’s toast.
It’s brutal, but let’s call it what it is: passive applying for a job is a lottery ticket. You might get lucky, but mostly, you’re staring at the rejection void.
Meanwhile, everyone’s doing the same thing. Clicking. Applying. Refreshing their inbox like it owes them money.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth.
LinkedIn as a job board is broken.
It’s crowded, faceless, and increasingly pointless.
So if it’s not working as a job board anymore…
What is LinkedIn for?
Globally, it’s past the billion mark. But guess what? Less than 3% of them post regularly.
Let that sink in.
That means 97% of people on LinkedIn are essentially lurking. Watching, scrolling, saving, maybe liking. The digital equivalent of standing at the edge of a party, drink in hand, silently observing the dance floor while others stumble, shine, and embarrass themselves.
This is where it gets interesting.
The moment you post , even once, you’re no longer in the silent 97%. You’re in the noisy 3%. You’ve walked onto the dance floor :-)
It doesn’t take genius to stand out when everyone else is quiet. It just takes showing up.
Most people never will. They’ll keep scrolling, wishing LinkedIn would magically deliver a job, while their profile collects digital dust.
But if you’re reading this, you’re not “most people.” You’re already curious about doing more. About being visible. About using LinkedIn differently.
In a world full of quiet profiles and “Open to Work” banners, the person who posts, with intention, stands out. That’s not just visibility. That’s personal branding.
Whether you’re looking to get hired or land clients, personal branding is no longer optional.
It’s the handshake before the handshake.
Passive = cold applying. You click “Apply.” You wait. You get ghosted. Active = showing presence. You post. You share. You tell stories. You show proof of what you know, and more importantly, you. One is a shot in the dark. The other is planting seeds in public.
Think about it: a recruiter sees your resume → maybe 5 seconds of attention.
A recruiter sees your post in their feed → suddenly you’re more than a bullet list. You’re a voice. A personality. A perspective.
Clients, too. Employers, too. Colleagues, too.
Active presence is like compound interest. You don’t see the payoff immediately, but it builds quietly. One post gets you noticed. Ten posts build trust. Thirty posts later, someone DMs you: “Hey, saw your posts, we should talk.”
That DM? That’s the door everyone else is still knocking on with their CV.
Personal Branding ≠ Self-Promotion
You’re not “marketing” yourself in a cringey, sales-y way. You’re showing up with intent.
You’re not posting to go viral.
You’re posting to build recognition.
You’re not showing off.
You’re building trust.
And over time, people start remembering you.
Let’s talk about visuals.
Your words matter, deeply.
But LinkedIn’s feed? Looks like a waiting lounge. An endless airport terminal of grey blocks of text.
Nobody stops unless something makes them.
Visuals are that something.
They don’t make you smarter.
They make you readable.
Think of visuals like plates. Would you serve dal straight into someone’s hands? You could. But on a plate, it becomes a meal.
Visuals don’t need to be fancy.
Sometimes it’s just colour.
Sometimes it’s space.
Sometimes it’s your face.
They don’t replace your message.
They carry it.
Visuals don’t make you smarter. They make you readable.
Applying on LinkedIn is passive. Posting is active.
When you apply, you’re competing with hundreds of faceless profiles. When you post, you’re building a portfolio in real time.
Every post is proof-of-work. Every visual is a signal of confidence. Every comment, every share, every DM is leverage.
This is not about becoming an “influencer.” Please, no. It’s about turning the platform from a cold lottery into an active stage.
The jobs aren’t hiding in the job board. They’re in the network, in the conversations, in the visibility.
And if you’re not posting, you’re not visible.
If you’re just beginning, it feels awkward. You overthink: what if no one likes it, what if it’s cringe, what if it’s not smart enough.
Good. That means you care.
But here’s the secret: confidence doesn’t come before posting. It comes after.
You’ll write messy. You’ll fumble. You’ll post something and then cringe three hours later. That’s normal.
What matters is you show up anyway.What matters is you give your words shoes before you send them out into the world.What matters is that instead of firing blind job applications into the abyss, you’re creating small, undeniable proof-points that you exist, you know, you can deliver.
That’s leverage.
Let’s make it stark.
Passive LinkedIn (Old World):
Fill out a CV.
Apply to 100 jobs.
Get 5 auto-responses.
Land nothing.
Feel invisible.
Active LinkedIn (New World):
Post twice a week.
Share what you know in your domain.
Add a simple visual touch.
Build slow trust.
Land a coffee chat, then a DM, then a referral.
Both take time.
Resumes are lottery tickets. Posts are seeds. One gets thrown away. One gives you compounding returns.
LinkedIn isn’t just a job board anymore.
It’s a stage. A network. A silent opportunity.
And personal branding?
That’s your mic. That’s your spotlight. That’s your edge.
So here’s the real question.
Do you want to keep throwing lottery tickets into the void?
Or do you want to plant seeds in public, build your brand, and grow the career you’ve been chasing?
The platform has already decided. Passive applying is a lottery. Active presence is leverage.
Personal branding is how you win, whether you’re looking for a job or creating your own.
I’m offering a free 30-minute Google Meet session to help you find a little more clarity.
Srishti Daiv
Comments