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How to Succeed with the New Norms @Work: LinkedIn @Work Study

How you present yourself as a professional is your essential ticket to success. We took a look at today's workplace norms and found that your professional brand is visible in many different places – from who’s in your network to how you voice your opinion to even what you wear.

Today, we are unveiling the New Norms @Work study to better understand how professionals around the globe are reshaping their professional brands for the modern workplace. After hearing from over 15,000 professionals in 19 countries, we discovered a few key facts:

  • Almost half of all professionals globally keep separate wardrobes for work and play
  • 25% of professionals across the world believe that women get judged more than men for what they wear at work
  • More than half of professionals worldwide say they are now speaking up more at work by voicing their opinion or challenging ideas; yet more than 58% of millennials globally consider themselves a “yes employee” – someone who does as they are told and is more apt not to question authority
  • The average number of jobs that professionals worldwide think looks good on a LinkedIn profile is three
  • One in five full-time workers globally would hide the fact that they were fired from a job

New Norms @Work from LinkedIn

Nowhere is one’s professional brand more evident than in photos – the photos we share can help our profile speak to our personalities and opinions as much as our status updates. Whether it’s sharing a photo of yourself at a recent conference or a group photo from a team outing, the photos we share with our professional network firmly establish our professional brand and can make or break the first impression of potential employers, clients or partners.

Including a profile photo on your LinkedIn profile will make you 14 times more likely to be viewed. Millennials have already mastered this – they change their profile photo on LinkedIn more often than any other demographic, making them the most viewed on LinkedIn. But you don’t have to wait for a session with a high-profile photographer to get a great professional headshot. LinkedIn’s Guest #WorkSelfie Expert, Lee Coles, has some great tips on how to take the perfect #WorkSelfie so you can update your professional look as often as you like.

Your professional brand is a sum of many different aspects of your professional life, so it’s critical to make sure you are always representing your best self. Anytime you get a promotion or accomplish a career milestone, update your LinkedIn profile. If a colleague shares a professional win with their network, give them a shout out. When you read a relevant industry story, share it and comment on why you agree or disagree with the perspective. And keep your profile photo up-to-date so people will instantly recognize you when you see them in person.

Share your LinkedIn profile photo with us by using the hashtag #WorkSelfie.