Inside LinkedIn: A Recruiter Reveals What Actually Works (And What Doesn't)
As UX consultants, we've spent months investigating why LinkedIn feels broken for users. Now we're talking to the other side: the recruiters who use LinkedIn every day to find candidates.
What we learned was shocking, validating, and eye-opening. This isn't corporate PR—this is the real story of how LinkedIn actually works in 2025, straight from a recruiter who uses it from both sides.
Meet Lindsay Adams: Recruiter, comedian, and someone who's currently experiencing LinkedIn as both a hiring professional and a job seeker after wrapping a freelance position.
Her insights reveal why job seekers are struggling—and what you can actually do about it.
The Cold, Hard Truth: Most Applicants Never Get Seen
The brutal reality:
- Recruiters receive hundreds of candidates for every role
- Applications go into ATS (Applicant Tracking System) software
- Recruiters manually sort by date of application—otherwise AI pushes "best qualified" to top
- AI tools are often really incorrect about who's qualified
- 90% of hires come from outbound outreach, not applications
Let that sink in: If you're just clicking "apply," you're probably wasting your time.
As product design consultants and UX design agencies, we've analyzed hundreds of platforms. LinkedIn's application system is designed to look like it works while actually serving a different purpose: keeping you engaged on the platform.
The Pay-to-Play Reality: LinkedIn Prioritizes Who Pays
How LinkedIn actually ranks candidates:
- Premium account holders appear higher in search results
- Users who optimize profiles with LinkedIn's latest features rank higher
- Active users who engage with content get boosted
- Everyone else gets buried
What this means: Qualified candidates get buried while less qualified candidates who paid for premium features appear first.
Lindsay has to scroll through far more candidates than before to find equally good talent that's just been algorithmically buried.
The recruiter perspective: "Many times I will have to go through a lot more candidates than I used to in order to find people that are equally as good, but just buried."
The Timing Secret: You Have 24-48 Hours Maximum
Critical insight: If a job is posted and you don't apply within the first 24-48 hours, your chances plummet.
Why?
- Companies tell recruiters to leave roles open even after finding finalists
- This keeps the candidate pipeline full "just in case"
- But recruiters are already in final interview stages
- Late applications rarely even get reviewed
The advice: Set up alerts for roles you want. Apply immediately. Don't wait to polish your application—get it in fast, then follow up.
We've seen this firsthand: the perception of an open role doesn't match the reality of the hiring timeline.
The Hidden Secret: Most Hires Come from Outreach, Not Applications
Lindsay's estimate: 90% of roles she's filled came from:
- Outbound emails to passive candidates
- Active recruiting on LinkedIn
- Referrals from her network
- Direct outreach to people she found
What this means: The application button is mostly theater. Real hiring happens through relationships and proactive networking.
The implication for job seekers: Stop mass-applying. Start building relationships before you need a job.
The Messaging Problem: Your InMails Are Getting Buried
Remember when LinkedIn messages were simple? Now they're filtered into:
- Main inbox (people you're connected with)
- "Other" folder (everyone else—including recruiters)
- Spam filter
- Priority sorting based on premium status
Recruiters' messages to candidates often end up in "Other"—unseen and unanswered.
Even with premium features, it's hard to break through the noise. Messages get lost. Opportunities disappear.
As UX design agencies working across industries, we recognize this pattern: when platforms prioritize engagement over utility, core functionality breaks.
The Sales Harassment Problem: Even Recruiters Hate It
What recruiters experience:
- Constant harassment from LinkedIn sales to "upgrade"
- Junior sales executives pushing features nobody needs
- Spam from financial companies, construction firms (unrelated to recruiting roles)
- Phishing attempts disguised as job opportunities
Lindsay's frustration: "Please leave me alone and format your emails better."
If recruiters with legitimate business accounts are being spammed, imagine what candidates experience.
The platform has become a sales funnel that happens to have some job listings attached.
The Legitimacy Problem: How to Tell Real Recruiters from Scams
Red flags for fake recruiters:
- Generic messages with obvious form fills
- Promises that sound too good to be true
- Requests for personal information upfront
- "Board position" invitations (almost always scams)
- Messages from recently created profiles
- Poor grammar or obviously templated text
How to verify legitimate recruiters:
- Check their profile history (years on LinkedIn)
- Look at their connections (are they connected to real professionals?)
- Google their name + company
- See if they have endorsements from colleagues
- Check if they actually work for the company they claim
Pro tip: Brian puts his middle initial in his name. If someone uses it ("Hey Brian J.") he knows it's a form letter. Consider adding an emoji or unusual character to catch form fills.
As UX consultants in Nashville working with recruiting teams, we've helped build better verification systems. LinkedIn could implement these—but doesn't.
The Staffing Agency Truth: They're Making Money Off You
What Lindsay wants you to know about staffing agencies:
- They work on commission
- Their fee affects your salary (even though they claim it doesn't)
- They're trained to tell you the fee doesn't affect you (it's gaslighting)
- They prioritize volume over quality
- They're often pushy because they're incentivized to place anyone, not the right person
The reality: "There's no way around that. That is the core of their business."
Better option: Work directly with internal recruiters at companies when possible. They don't take a cut of your salary.
The Premium Account Question: Should You Pay?
Lindsay doesn't use LinkedIn Premium—and she's a recruiter.
Let that sink in. A professional recruiter who uses LinkedIn daily doesn't think premium is worth paying for.
Why recruiters have premium:
- Their companies pay for it
- It's a business tool, not worth personal expense
- Features mainly benefit heavy outbound recruiting
- Not necessary for job seeking
For candidates: Save your money unless you're doing heavy networking outreach. The ROI isn't there for most job seekers.
The Messaging Problem: Your InMails Are Getting Buried
Remember when LinkedIn messages were simple? Now they're filtered into:
- Main inbox (people you're connected with)
- "Other" folder (everyone else—including recruiters)
- Spam filter
- Priority sorting based on premium status
Recruiters' messages to candidates often end up in "Other"—unseen and unanswered.
Even with premium features, it's hard to break through the noise. Messages get lost. Opportunities disappear.
As UX design agencies working across industries, we recognize this pattern: when platforms prioritize engagement over utility, core functionality breaks.
The Sales Harassment Problem: Even Recruiters Hate It
What recruiters experience:
- Constant harassment from LinkedIn sales to "upgrade"
- Junior sales executives pushing features nobody needs
- Spam from financial companies, construction firms (unrelated to recruiting roles)
- Phishing attempts disguised as job opportunities
Lindsay's frustration: "Please leave me alone and format your emails better."
If recruiters with legitimate business accounts are being spammed, imagine what candidates experience.
The platform has become a sales funnel that happens to have some job listings attached.
The Legitimacy Problem: How to Tell Real Recruiters from Scams
Red flags for fake recruiters:
- Generic messages with obvious form fills
- Promises that sound too good to be true
- Requests for personal information upfront
- "Board position" invitations (almost always scams)
- Messages from recently created profiles
- Poor grammar or obviously templated text
How to verify legitimate recruiters:
- Check their profile history (years on LinkedIn)
- Look at their connections (are they connected to real professionals?)
- Google their name + company
- See if they have endorsements from colleagues
- Check if they actually work for the company they claim
Pro tip: Brian puts his middle initial in his name. If someone uses it ("Hey Brian J.") he knows it's a form letter. Consider adding an emoji or unusual character to catch form fills.
As UX consultants in Nashville working with recruiting teams, we've helped build better verification systems. LinkedIn could implement these—but doesn't.
The Staffing Agency Truth: They're Making Money Off You
What Lindsay wants you to know about staffing agencies:
- They work on commission
- Their fee affects your salary (even though they claim it doesn't)
- They're trained to tell you the fee doesn't affect you (it's gaslighting)
- They prioritize volume over quality
- They're often pushy because they're incentivized to place anyone, not the right person
The reality: "There's no way around that. That is the core of their business."
Better option: Work directly with internal recruiters at companies when possible. They don't take a cut of your salary.
The Premium Account Question: Should You Pay?
Lindsay doesn't use LinkedIn Premium—and she's a recruiter.
Let that sink in. A professional recruiter who uses LinkedIn daily doesn't think premium is worth paying for.
Why recruiters have premium:
- Their companies pay for it
- It's a business tool, not worth personal expense
- Features mainly benefit heavy outbound recruiting
- Not necessary for job seeking
For candidates: Save your money unless you're doing heavy networking outreach. The ROI isn't there for most job seekers.
What Actually Works: The Top 3 Things to Do Right Now
1. Treat LinkedIn Like Social Media
What this means:
- Keep everything up to date constantly
- Show some personality (within professional bounds)
- Use a clear, current photo of your face
- Engage regularly (not just when job hunting)
- Share your actual interests and expertise
Why it works: Recruiters are humans scrolling through profiles. They notice people who seem like real humans, not resume robots.
2. Network BEFORE You Need a Job
The strategy that actually works:
- Add people proactively at companies you'd want to work for
- Connect with: HR people, hiring managers, peers, VPs, creative directors
- The more connections you have, the easier it is to connect with others
- Message people when jobs AREN'T posted
- "Hey, thanks for connecting. I love your company's work. I'd love to be considered if anything opens up."
- This gives recruiters time to respond without pressure
- Makes them look good when they can suggest candidates proactively
Lindsay's experience: Getting coffee, meeting people, joining Facebook groups, connecting on Instagram—all of these create relationships that lead to jobs before they're posted.
The key insight: "Before a job gets posted, if I'm thinking... I want to do the least amount of work... the first place I'm going to go is referrals."
3. Optimize for First-Stage Screening
Essential profile elements:
- Headline: Clear about what you do (not clever, clear)
- Photo: Professional, current, clear face shot
- Summary: Brief, personality-driven, shows expertise
- Experience: Up to date with actual accomplishments
- Skills: Relevant keywords for your industry
- Connections: 500+ if possible (shows active networking)
Controversial take on video:
- Keep it SHORT (15 seconds max, not 30-60 seconds)
- Show your demeanor and energy
- Don't make it a bio—recruiters don't have time
- It differentiates you if recruiters actually look at profiles
The "Open to Work" Green Circle: The Debate
The question everyone asks: Should you use the "Open to Work" frame on your profile picture?
Lindsay's nuanced answer:
- YES if: You're from a big tech company (Google, Amazon, Meta) in a niche role
- Everyone knows there were layoffs
- High pedigree makes desperation less concerning
- NO if: You're in a more general role or smaller company
- "If you smell too desperate, it's a red flag"
- Candidates who seem available for too long raise questions
Her honest take: "I think it's such a fucked up thing to say in this job market... but from a sociology standpoint, it just is what it is."
The uncomfortable truth: Psychology matters in hiring. Appearing too desperate (even when you rightfully are) works against you.
Better alternatives:
- Update your headline: "Product Designer | Open to new opportunities"
- Post about your job search publicly once, then network actively
- Reach out directly to people rather than broadcasting availability
As UX design agencies, we've helped clients navigate this exact dilemma. The system is broken—but you still have to work within it while advocating for change.
The UX Title Confusion: Making Recruiters' Jobs Harder
The problem: The UX industry uses titles inconsistently.
Examples of confusion:
- "UX Designer" vs "Product Designer" (specialist vs generalist)
- "UI Designer" vs "UX Designer" (completely different roles)
- "User Experience Designer" vs "UX Researcher" vs "UX Writer"
What happens:
- Companies post jobs with wrong titles
- Recruiters don't know what they're actually looking for
- Candidates apply for mismatched roles
- Everyone wastes time in interviews
Lindsay's frustration: Hiring managers say "we need a UX designer" when they actually need a web designer, UI specialist, or something else entirely.
The UX industry's responsibility: We've made this worse by not standardizing titles and clearly explaining role differences.
What UX consultants should do:
- Educate clients about role distinctions
- Push for accurate job descriptions
- Create clarity around what different roles actually do
- Stop using titles interchangeably
How Recruiters Actually Learn About Industries
The reality: Most recruiters don't deeply understand the industries they recruit for.
Lindsay's approach (which is not standard):
- Ask the hiring team directly: What does this role actually do?
- Multiple meetings if needed to fully understand
- Deep questions:
- What's the path to this role?
- What previous roles would they have had?
- What skills are actually required vs nice-to-have?
- What does success look like in first 90 days?
Why this matters: Most recruiters don't do this level of research. They take job descriptions at face value and blast them out to candidates.
For job seekers: If a recruiter reaches out and seems confused about the role, that's a red flag the company doesn't have clarity either.
For companies hiring through UX design agencies: Work with consultants who actually understand the roles you need to fill.
The Tech Industry Specifics: High Volume, High Automation
What Lindsay knows about tech recruiting:
- It's high volume and metrics-oriented
- Companies demand "robotic results" from recruiters
- This leads to maximum automation
- AI systems screen LinkedIn profiles more than humans do
- Portfolios might not even get reviewed
The implication: In tech, your LinkedIn profile needs to be machine-readable more than human-readable.
Optimization for AI screening:
- Use exact keyword matches from job descriptions
- Include skills in dedicated skills section (not just buried in text)
- List technologies, tools, software explicitly
- Use standard industry terminology
- Include certifications and credentials
As UX consultants, we've worked with tech companies on their hiring processes. The automation is extensive—and flawed.
The Desperate LinkedIn Reality: Why It's a Necessary Evil
Lindsay's summary as a candidate: "It's pretty f***ing bad. You know, it's a necessary evil."
Why candidates stay:
- No viable alternatives (LinkedIn has monopolized the market)
- Not having a LinkedIn is a red flag to recruiters
- Everyone else is there, so you have to be too
- Built In, WellFound, and other platforms don't have same reach
The monopoly problem:
- LinkedIn knows they've cornered the market
- They can degrade user experience without losing users
- Competitors can't gain traction because network effects are too strong
- Users are trapped in a platform that doesn't serve them
UX design agencies and product designers should study this as a cautionary tale: monopoly power allows you to ignore user needs indefinitely.
The Job Seeker's Actual Reality: Exhaustion
What Lindsay sees in UX candidates:
- Tired. Just tired.
- Frustrated by instability
- Feeling diminished in value
- Experiencing strong misunderstanding of what UX actually does
- Burned out from searching
The misunderstanding problem:
- Companies: "We need a UX person to design a website"
- Reality: Do you need UX designer? UI designer? Web designer? Information architect?
- Causes frustration for candidates interviewing for wrong roles
- Recruiters who don't know can't push back
The market problem:
- If end consumers aren't spending money
- Companies don't make money
- Companies don't hire consultants or services
- Fractional UX and consulting work dries up
- Full-time roles become even more competitive
What Actually Works: The Top 3 Things to Do Right Now
1. Treat LinkedIn Like Social Media
What this means:
- Keep everything up to date constantly
- Show some personality (within professional bounds)
- Use a clear, current photo of your face
- Engage regularly (not just when job hunting)
- Share your actual interests and expertise
Why it works: Recruiters are humans scrolling through profiles. They notice people who seem like real humans, not resume robots.
2. Network BEFORE You Need a Job
The strategy that actually works:
- Add people proactively at companies you'd want to work for
- Connect with: HR people, hiring managers, peers, VPs, creative directors
- The more connections you have, the easier it is to connect with others
- Message people when jobs AREN'T posted
- "Hey, thanks for connecting. I love your company's work. I'd love to be considered if anything opens up."
- This gives recruiters time to respond without pressure
- Makes them look good when they can suggest candidates proactively
Lindsay's experience: Getting coffee, meeting people, joining Facebook groups, connecting on Instagram—all of these create relationships that lead to jobs before they're posted.
The key insight: "Before a job gets posted, if I'm thinking... I want to do the least amount of work... the first place I'm going to go is referrals."
3. Optimize for First-Stage Screening
Essential profile elements:
- Headline: Clear about what you do (not clever, clear)
- Photo: Professional, current, clear face shot
- Summary: Brief, personality-driven, shows expertise
- Experience: Up to date with actual accomplishments
- Skills: Relevant keywords for your industry
- Connections: 500+ if possible (shows active networking)
Controversial take on video:
- Keep it SHORT (15 seconds max, not 30-60 seconds)
- Show your demeanor and energy
- Don't make it a bio—recruiters don't have time
- It differentiates you if recruiters actually look at profiles
The "Open to Work" Green Circle: The Debate
The question everyone asks: Should you use the "Open to Work" frame on your profile picture?
Lindsay's nuanced answer:
- YES if: You're from a big tech company (Google, Amazon, Meta) in a niche role
- Everyone knows there were layoffs
- High pedigree makes desperation less concerning
- NO if: You're in a more general role or smaller company
- "If you smell too desperate, it's a red flag"
- Candidates who seem available for too long raise questions
Her honest take: "I think it's such a fucked up thing to say in this job market... but from a sociology standpoint, it just is what it is."
The uncomfortable truth: Psychology matters in hiring. Appearing too desperate (even when you rightfully are) works against you.
Better alternatives:
- Update your headline: "Product Designer | Open to new opportunities"
- Post about your job search publicly once, then network actively
- Reach out directly to people rather than broadcasting availability
As UX design agencies, we've helped clients navigate this exact dilemma. The system is broken—but you still have to work within it while advocating for change.
The UX Title Confusion: Making Recruiters' Jobs Harder
The problem: The UX industry uses titles inconsistently.
Examples of confusion:
- "UX Designer" vs "Product Designer" (specialist vs generalist)
- "UI Designer" vs "UX Designer" (completely different roles)
- "User Experience Designer" vs "UX Researcher" vs "UX Writer"
What happens:
- Companies post jobs with wrong titles
- Recruiters don't know what they're actually looking for
- Candidates apply for mismatched roles
- Everyone wastes time in interviews
Lindsay's frustration: Hiring managers say "we need a UX designer" when they actually need a web designer, UI specialist, or something else entirely.
The UX industry's responsibility: We've made this worse by not standardizing titles and clearly explaining role differences.
What UX consultants should do:
- Educate clients about role distinctions
- Push for accurate job descriptions
- Create clarity around what different roles actually do
- Stop using titles interchangeably
How Recruiters Actually Learn About Industries
The reality: Most recruiters don't deeply understand the industries they recruit for.
Lindsay's approach (which is not standard):
- Ask the hiring team directly: What does this role actually do?
- Multiple meetings if needed to fully understand
- Deep questions:
- What's the path to this role?
- What previous roles would they have had?
- What skills are actually required vs nice-to-have?
- What does success look like in first 90 days?
Why this matters: Most recruiters don't do this level of research. They take job descriptions at face value and blast them out to candidates.
For job seekers: If a recruiter reaches out and seems confused about the role, that's a red flag the company doesn't have clarity either.
For companies hiring through UX design agencies: Work with consultants who actually understand the roles you need to fill.
The Tech Industry Specifics: High Volume, High Automation
What Lindsay knows about tech recruiting:
- It's high volume and metrics-oriented
- Companies demand "robotic results" from recruiters
- This leads to maximum automation
- AI systems screen LinkedIn profiles more than humans do
- Portfolios might not even get reviewed
The implication: In tech, your LinkedIn profile needs to be machine-readable more than human-readable.
Optimization for AI screening:
- Use exact keyword matches from job descriptions
- Include skills in dedicated skills section (not just buried in text)
- List technologies, tools, software explicitly
- Use standard industry terminology
- Include certifications and credentials
As UX consultants, we've worked with tech companies on their hiring processes. The automation is extensive—and flawed.
The Desperate LinkedIn Reality: Why It's a Necessary Evil
Lindsay's summary as a candidate: "It's pretty f***ing bad. You know, it's a necessary evil."
Why candidates stay:
- No viable alternatives (LinkedIn has monopolized the market)
- Not having a LinkedIn is a red flag to recruiters
- Everyone else is there, so you have to be too
- Built In, WellFound, and other platforms don't have same reach
The monopoly problem:
- LinkedIn knows they've cornered the market
- They can degrade user experience without losing users
- Competitors can't gain traction because network effects are too strong
- Users are trapped in a platform that doesn't serve them
UX design agencies and product designers should study this as a cautionary tale: monopoly power allows you to ignore user needs indefinitely.
The Job Seeker's Actual Reality: Exhaustion
What Lindsay sees in UX candidates:
- Tired. Just tired.
- Frustrated by instability
- Feeling diminished in value
- Experiencing strong misunderstanding of what UX actually does
- Burned out from searching
The misunderstanding problem:
- Companies: "We need a UX person to design a website"
- Reality: Do you need UX designer? UI designer? Web designer? Information architect?
- Causes frustration for candidates interviewing for wrong roles
- Recruiters who don't know can't push back
The market problem:
- If end consumers aren't spending money
- Companies don't make money
- Companies don't hire consultants or services
- Fractional UX and consulting work dries up
- Full-time roles become even more competitive
Meet Faraj Nayfa. We are currently managing the social media of his restaurant, Hala In, located in Mayfair neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois. He is a seasoned small business owner of 11 years, and is busy with managing the restaurant.
Since he personally has no time or social media experience to curate an online presence for it, EVE has helped to start the foundation for an online following onInstagram and Facebook to reach customers Faraj would previously have missed out on.
It is important to recognize that social media marketing is becoming the new norm. While the start up of a social media strategy can be overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be.
While you focus on your passion of running your business, EVE is here to focus on our passion of helping you navigate the social media world and digital business.
Since he personally has no time or social media experience to curate an online presence for it, EVE has helped to start the foundation for an online following onInstagram and Facebook to reach customers Faraj would previously have missed out on.
It is important to recognize that social media marketing is becoming the new norm. While the start up of a social media strategy can be overwhelming, it doesn’t have to be.
While you focus on your passion of running your business, EVE is here to focus on our passion of helping you navigate the social media world and digital business.
What Lindsay Would Change About LinkedIn
If she ran LinkedIn:
1. Turn Off Sponsored Content for Job Seekers
- Option to pay to remove sponsored job listings
- When you search with filters like "most recent," sponsored results still appear first
- She'd actually pay for this feature
2. Organic Search Option
- Let users see truly organic results
- Stop algorithmic manipulation of search
- Transparent sorting that actually works
The core issue: LinkedIn prioritizes advertisers (companies paying for job listings) over users (job seekers).
Product design consultants would immediately flag this as misaligned incentives destroying core functionality.
The Alternative Platform Idea: Built for Layoffs
Lindsay's concept:A platform exclusively for people laid off in the past year.
How it would work:
- Requirement: Must have been laid off in past 12 months
- Honor system (fired people could join, but ratio would be tiny)
- Recommendations carry more weight: Recent manager recommendations visible
- Recruiters would use it: Companies want to scoop up laid-off talent quickly
- Less noise: No long-term unemployed or job-hoppers, just layoff victims
Why recruiters would pay for access:
- Concentrated talent pool
- Verified recent experience
- Less time screening
- Companies already communicate about layoffs to hire quickly
The opportunity: Someone should build this. The market is massive after 30,000 Amazon layoffs, Meta layoffs, Google layoffs, and countless others.
For UX design agencies and consultants: This is a real product opportunity. The problem is validated. The users are desperate. The willingness to pay exists.
The Networking Reality: In-Person Still Matters
What Lindsay emphasizes repeatedly: Real networking leads to jobs.
Effective networking approaches:
- Alumni events (even if you hated school)
- Coffee meetings with people in your industry
- Facebook groups for your profession
- Instagram connections that feel natural
- Recruiter brunches or informal gatherings
- Text-based relationships (doesn't always have to be in-person)
The key: Make connections before you need them.
The psychology: When recruiters need someone, they think of people they've talked to. If you're a name with a face and a conversation, you're memorable.
The Slack channel test: At every company, when a role opens, someone posts "Does anyone know a [role]?" If your name comes up, you're already 90% hired.
The Generational Divide: Gen Z is Struggling
The lying problem:
- Older workers learned to "lie better" (call in sick strategically, available while running errands, etc.)
- Gen Z doesn't know how to phone it in effectively
- They'll leave everything at home instead of keeping phone available
- They use obviously fake excuses
Lindsay's horror stories:
- "Sorry, my cat died"
- "I have COVID" (multiple times in short period)
- "I actually have meningitis"
- Completely unreachable during work hours
The advice: "Learn to lie better. If you want to f*** off for a day, figure it out."
The reality: Unless you have a healthy work environment where you can be human, you have to play the game. Everyone does. Learn the social scripts.
The bigger issue: This reflects how unhealthy work culture is—that lying is essential to basic life management.
The Horror Stories: What Recruiters Deal With
The Lawsuit Seekers
- Candidates who intentionally create discrimination scenarios
- They disclose disabilities upfront
- Don't get chosen for role (often legitimately)
- Sue the company
- Have history of lawsuits visible to recruiters
- Companies settle because proving either way is nearly impossible
The tragedy: This makes companies MORE hesitant to hire people with disabilities, harming people legitimately seeking work.
The Bad Liars
- Gen Z candidates who are terrible at covering absences
- Use obviously fake excuses
- Then get defiant when caught
- "You were bad at lying. Learn to lie better."
The uncomfortable truth: Work culture requires performance and deception. We've built systems where honesty about human needs gets punished.
What This Means for UX Professionals and Consultants
As product design consultants, here's what we're taking from this conversation:
1. LinkedIn is Fundamentally Broken
We've been diagnosing this for months. Lindsay confirms:
- Core functionality doesn't work
- Platform serves advertisers over users
- Algorithmic manipulation buries qualified candidates
- Application system is mostly theater
- Real hiring happens outside the platform features
The opportunity: Build something better. There's a vacuum waiting to be filled.
2. The UX Industry Hasn't Helped Itself
Our title inconsistency and poor role definitions make recruiters' jobs harder.
What we should do:
- Standardize titles and definitions
- Create clear role descriptions
- Educate hiring managers and recruiters
- Build better onboarding for companies hiring UX talent
3. Networking Still Works Better Than Applications
For fractional UX consultants and agencies, this validates our approach:
- Build relationships continuously
- Stay visible in communities
- Reach out proactively
- Create value before asking for work
4. The Market is Exhausted
Everyone—candidates, recruiters, hiring managers—is exhausted.
The opportunity for UX consultants:
- Help companies hire better
- Create processes that respect everyone's time
- Build systems that actually work
- Consult on recruiting platforms and ATS systems
5. There's a Massive Need for Better Tools
The layoff platform idea is just one example. There are dozens of opportunities to build better recruiting, networking, and hiring tools.
For UX design agencies: This is a market ripe for disruption. Users are desperate for alternatives.
Practical Action Items: What to Do Right Now
If You're Job Searching:
- Update your LinkedIn completely (photo, headline, experience, skills)
- Set up job alerts and apply within 24 hours
- Start networking before you need it (add people at target companies)
- Message people when jobs aren't posted (less pressure, better results)
- Don't rely on applications (90% of hires are from outreach)
- Consider removing "Open to Work" frame (unless you're from big tech)
- Keep profile active (post occasionally, engage with content)
- Optimize for keywords (especially in tech—AI is screening you)
If You're a Recruiter:
- Actually learn the roles you're recruiting for (don't just post job descriptions)
- Distinguish between UX, UI, product, web design (they're different)
- Spend time understanding team needs (not just checking boxes)
- Look beyond first page of search results (good candidates are buried)
- Respond to candidates even with rejections (builds industry goodwill)
- Push back on companies leaving jobs open after finding finalists (wastes everyone's time)
If You're a Hiring Manager:
- Get clear on what role you actually need (UX? UI? Product? Web?)
- Work with recruiters to understand the role (don't just hand them a job description)
- Post accurate job titles and descriptions
- Close jobs when you've found finalists (don't waste candidates' time)
- Consider working with UX design agencies who understand these roles
- Value referrals and relationships over cold applications
If You're Building Products:
- Study LinkedIn's failures as cautionary tale
- Don't prioritize advertisers over users (long-term that kills platforms)
- Build for actual user needs (not engagement metrics)
- Consider the layoff platform idea (or similar opportunities)
- Make core functionality work before adding features
The Bottom Line: LinkedIn is Necessary But Broken
What we learned from Lindsay:
- The platform doesn't work for its stated purpose
- It's been corrupted by pay-to-play dynamics
- Real hiring happens outside its core features
- But you still have to use it (monopoly power)
- Networking and relationships still matter most
What this means:
- Don't rely on LinkedIn alone
- Use it as one tool among many
- Focus on relationships over applications
- Optimize your profile but don't expect miracles
- Network continuously, not just when desperate
The call to action: Someone needs to build better tools. The market is desperate. Users are exhausted. The opportunity is massive.
For UX professionals: This is our chance to build what we wish existed.
Need help navigating the broken job market? As fractional design officers and UX consultants, we understand both sides—we hire designers and we've been through layoffs ourselves.
Whether you need career strategy, portfolio reviews, networking introductions, or consultation on building recruiting tools that actually work, we bring real experience and genuine empathy to the process.
Looking for a UX design agency that understands what you're going through—and can help you navigate this broken system? Let's talk about building something better together.
This article is based on content from the UX MURDER MYSTERY podcast.
HOSTED BY: Brian J. Crowley & Eve Eden
EDITED BY: Kelsey Smith
INTRO ANIMATION & LOGO DESIGN: Brian J. Crowley
MUSIC BY: Nicolas Lee
A JOINT PRODUCTION OF EVE | User Experience Design Agency and CrowleyUX | Where Systems Meet Stories ©2025 Brian J. Crowley and Eve Eden
Email us at: questions@UXmurdermystery.com
Special thanks to Lindsay Adams for her honesty and insights. Find her on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/lindsayjadams
