Welcome to LinkedIn: An response to Grant Smith's post about being laid off and dreading having to be on LinkedIn (my email) [email protected]

Last Friday I read a post from a great copywriter who welcomed the laid off in the advertising industry to LinkedIn. I found his info and called him + asked permission to share it. He said yes. He's also avail for freelance and full time roles so if you read this and you're hiring - go get in touch with him. Pick up the phone. Call him. I did it's very easy. #GOGOGO #youvegotthis

My response to Grant's Incredibly Kind Share to His Community:

The Unvarnished Truth About Being on LinkedIn by Lauren McDonald

I know why you're here, and I feel your pain. Getting laid off is a gut punch, no matter how many times it happens. I've been in many job searches long before i celebrated being my own boss for 15 years. The job search process can be deeply demoralizing and fill you with dread. Putting yourself "out there" on LinkedIn makes you feel exposed and vulnerable especially when ghosting is a common practice HR loves to perfect daily.

You didn't choose this path willingly. This wasn't the party invitation you wanted. Having to turn to LinkedIn for your next opportunity can make you question your self-worth. But you need to reject that narrative right now. Being on this platform doesn't define your talent or determine what you deserve.

The unfortunate truth is the hiring process has become a bit of a lottery, with resumes screened more for keywords than human brilliance. Perfect formatting can matter more than perfect ideas. It stings, but please don't take it as a rebuke of your caliber.

I also need to address the other unpleasant reality - people's curated self-promotion on LinkedIn. All those shiny new campaigns, award wins, and career achievements can make you feel like a failure in comparison. But remember, you're only seeing the highlight reel, not the full picture. Everyone here has regrets, setbacks, and professional heartbreaks they don't advertise.

What they do showcase is our industry's insatiable dreaming and striving, our pathological optimism even after getting knocked down. We're all desperate pessimists who still can't help but ravenously chase that next big idea.

So yes, being on LinkedIn can suck. But this platform is also a village of peers who understand the unique rollercoaster of our trade. We're all united in putting ourselves out there, again and again, knowing rejection is inescapable but persisting anyway.

You're in outstanding company here - one that deeply grasps both the anguish and the urgency compelling you to dust yourself off and reinvent, yet again. We see you, and we're right there alongside you, with all the perspicacity, tenacity, and gonzo ambition that makes our weird little vocation so infuriatingly great.

This may not be the welcome you wanted, but you belong here. Let's walk this path together. #gogogo #youvegotthis

GRANT'S POST:

Dear 20% of people at Wieden + Kennedy #portland. And to the unspecified numbers of absurdly talented people from Ogilvy, VML, Huge, R/GA, Grey, Havas North America, Anomaly, Mother, Google, Paramount, VICE Media Welcome to LinkedIn I know, I know... It’s not the party you wanted to go to. This wasn't the welcome you ever wanted. Or the one you deserve. Being here isn’t what you’ve earned. It's not some just desserts. Or an industry-wide pronouncement of your value. But there is a stupid idea, created by the insecure and propagated by the narcissistic, that people who are underemployed somehow “Deserve it.” That they (and now you) do not possess the talent, dedication, or savvy to avoid sucking it with all the other feckless flops, fizzles, and washouts. And that idea is the very first thing not to accept. And it’s super hard not to. Welcome. Here are some things that you never wanted to know about being here. Applying through a job board is the equivalent of playing the lottery. Whether you get an interview has more to do with formatting and keywords than how brilliant you are. Don’t compare your life to the glory posts of others. There’s a huge amount of well-deserved showboating here. Everyone is justifiably proud of being on an awards show jury. Everyone joyously shows off the great new things they made. Everyone high-fives about winning. Which is great. Except it's not you. And Jimmy cracked corn. Try to remember that no one's life is as splendid as everyone else's press releases. Being here means that you’re part of something. It's not just a shitbox of self-promotion and desperation. It's your shitbox of whatever you want and need it to be. If you make an effort to make it better. It will be better to you. Be honest. Too few people embrace how much it can suck to be here. Everyone here is heartbroken. Or had their hearts broken. And despite all that, the lot of us are hugely unreliable pessimists. We all want to be dispirited cynics, but we can't. We dream too fucking hard. And lastly, you’re in good company. The best company. Welcome. #layoffs #support #jobsearch #freelancecopywriter #adagency #copywriter #artdirector #creativedirector #advertsing #mediaindustry