Scott Morrison has not yet (at the time of writing) updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect the fact that he is no longer the Prime Minister of Australia. This is actually a common area of neglect for all of us, sparking the question: how long is too long (to leave your old job up on your LinkedIn profile)?
Scott Morrison (or whoever is responsible for managing Scott Morrison’s LinkedIn account) appears to have forgotten to update his profile so as to indicate he is no longer Australia’s Prime Minister. His profile currently states that he was the Prime Minister from 2018 “until present.”
The new Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, was sworn in yesterday. Anthony Albanese does not appear to have a LinkedIn profile. On Twitter, people were quick to point out Scott Morrison’s neglect to speedily update his status, not just on LinkedIn but also on Facebook and Instagram.
It still says he’s the prime minister of Australia on his Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn…
— The Sage (@SarkySage) May 24, 2022
Malcolm Turnbull, for one point of comparison, shows how an ex-Prime Minister’s (updated) profile looks, (for reference see the image below). Turnbull’s profile reads: “29th Prime Minister of Australia.”
It remains to be seen when Scott Morrison will update his. Morrison did, however, take to LinkedIn two days ago to wish Mr Albanese and his government luck, thank his supporters (and Australia) and say: “I am now looking forward to returning to the Shire, my family and continuing to serve my local community.”
Morrison is far from alone in forgetting to keep his LinkedIn profile up to date. It’s a common ‘oopsie’ many people have, seeing as most social media users log into LinkedIn sporadically, as opposed to daily (or in some cases hourly, or more) as they do with such platforms as Facebook, Instagram; TikTok.
There is also a debate over what the statute of limitations for not changing your profile is. One hour seems a bit harsh. Maybe one day is a bit harsh, even, too. But where’s the line? One week? One month? One year? Executive Director of the Philadelphia Area Great Careers Group, Lynne Williams says you might actually want to wait 90 days.
Writing for VistaToday, she said: “If you don’t have another job lined up, you don’t want to leave your current position shown as still employed by the company for too long. I have heard that anything more than three months is pushing it.”
“However, if you don’t have a job, it may be more challenging to get a job,” she added. “If you do have another job to go to, you have a couple of choices. You can announce it right away or wait to see if you are still there after the first 90 days.”
Media Bistrot also urges you to hold your trigger fingers steady when it comes to updating your LinkedIn profile.
Speaking to Randy Ksar, VP of Digital at Voce Communications, journalist John Lombard writes: “Sure, after you land a new job, the first thing you want to do is update your LinkedIn profile. But it might be better to wait, and maybe even check in with the new boss first.
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Ksar told Lombard: “My recommendation is to chat with your manager before you update your LinkedIn profile, especially if your role is public facing.”
“While Ksar says a good amount of time to wait is generally a week or so ‘as long as you’ve got your personal brand story and your role in the company defined,’ it’s smart to consider what happens next,” Media Bistrot reports.
“Remember, think about what will happen when you update your job title/description: one, your network will congratulate; two, your network will ask you questions about your job; three, you’ll start getting recruiters and potential partners emailing/connecting with you.”
Randy Ksar
There you have it – maybe it wasn’t an oopsie after all…
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