I recently delivered a session to the Research Professional Staff Network at my institution on how and why I use LinkedIn. So I wanted to share some of those reflections.
Firstly, I started engaging with LinkedIn after 15 years in research and international development, when I made the decision to change career. Moving out of an academic role and relocating from Malawi to Glasgow, I found it a really useful tool to get advice — from general career-change advice to seeing what people with PhDs in social research had gone on to do.
But once I found myself in a Research Professional role, I’ve found it great for building a network beyond my institution. One of the unexpected joys of moving into professional services has been the people. There is a huge amount of expertise and commitment in these roles. Yet, as Rachel Reeds highlights in her brilliant book Surviving and Thriving in Higher Education Professional Services, many of these roles are “invisible by design”.
That invisibility is often compounded by complex institutional hierarchies, where roles are frequently defined by what they are not — not academic — rather than recognised for what they are: highly skilled professional roles that underpin and enable the research ecosystem. For me, this is where LinkedIn is particularly useful, helping to make some of that otherwise invisible work more visible.
So, what tips would I give to research professionals who want to dip their toe into LinkedIn?
1. Start with contribution, not self-promotion
One of the common criticisms of LinkedIn is that it can feel overly self-promotional. I didn’t start out wanting to centre myself in that way. For me, it was about finding a way to contribute meaningfully. When I first moved into an impact role, I was reading academic and grey literature widely. I set myself the challenge of sharing what I was learning, with an audience in mind of academics and research professional staff interested in research impact. I felt much more comfortable approaching it as learning and contribution, rather than broadcasting. If you have a resource you love, or read something useful, why not consider sharing it? It doesn’t have to be a long post — you can embed the PDF and add a few reflections.
2. Share what you are already doing
You don’t need to create lots of new content. Some of the most useful posts I’ve seen come from people sharing insights from their everyday work. Running a workshop, supporting a funding call, helping with a collaboration? Research professional roles are so varied and often involve a huge amount of skilled guidance — I’ve found LinkedIn is a great way to surface that learning and contribution to the wider research ecosystem.
3. Engagement matters as much as posting
Commenting on others’ posts and joining discussions is just as important as writing your own content. I think it can often be a good place to start. If someone has taken the time to write a post, they are usually grateful that you’ve not only read it, but taken the time to comment. It boosts their reach (the algorithm rewards posts that get engagement), and it helps you get noticed. If there’s someone in your network you’d like to get to know better, commenting on their posts can help with that.
4. Some practical tips about increasing reach when you post
- Avoid putting external links in your main post — unlike Twitter/X, the algorithm doesn’t reward this, so add them in the comments instead
- Summarise early in the post what it’s about, and try to align it with the expertise you highlight on your profile
- Engage before you post — I try to spend a bit of time commenting on others’ posts beforehand
- Try to make posts useful and concise. You do have more space than on Twitter/X, but attention spans are short — I focus on what my audience might find useful and aim for practical, actionable tips
- Use visuals where possible (slides, documents, images)
- Add alt text to images and go easy on emojis — they can be frustrating for people using screen readers
- Tag people and organisations thoughtfully — if they don’t engage, it can affect reach
But the algorithm is always shifting, and I am by no means an expert.
5. It’s a useful way to stay connected to what’s happening across higher education
More and more people and organisations in higher education are migrating to LinkedIn, particularly with the shift away from X. I’ve found it a really useful way to keep up to date with what’s happening — from funder priorities to sector debates. And, if we’re honest, things feel pretty uncertain in the sector at the moment, so having people with deep sector knowledge explain and interpret things has been incredibly useful.
6. Follow widely — beyond your immediate field
Some of the most valuable learning I’ve had hasn’t come directly from higher education. I follow people across different areas — leadership, hybrid working, motherhood and careers, organisational culture — and it has broadened how I think about my own work.
7. You never quite know what will resonate
Some of the posts I’ve spent the least time on have generated the most engagement. It’s not predictable, so it’s not worth overthinking. And when you first start posting, reach will likely be low — that’s completely normal.
8. Set your own boundaries
There is no single “right” way to use LinkedIn. You don’t need to share personal details, comment on everything, or spend large amounts of time on the platform. It’s entirely reasonable to use it in a way that feels manageable and aligned with your role. And ultimately, if the last few years of social media have taught me anything, it’s that you don’t own your content, and systemic changes can significantly impact what gets seen. Use your energy wisely — get outside, meet people in person.
Final reflection
For me, LinkedIn has become a space to stay up to date with sector developments and to connect with colleagues. But I also think it can play an important role in raising the profile of research professional work — helping to make visible roles that are often, by design, less seen.
If you’re thinking about starting to share more, I would say — start small, focus on what might be useful to others, and build from there. But if you have any tips, please do share. The real value for me has come from hearing how others use it.
