I work on the jobs marketplace and the jobseeker experience on LinkedIn.
In a labor market like the one today, there’s definitely a lot of frustration flying around.
There’s no doubt we have a lot of work to do and a responsibility to our users to make things better. And, given my role, I’m at the receiving end of some of that feedback and frustration.
Every once a while, I get thoughtful and considerate feedback. It is so lovely when people do that.
Often, though, they’re worded in a way that is intended to hurt.
I’ve learnt two lessons over time –
(1) Remove the emotion and answer the question/comment. When I first received these notes, I used to feel the emotion surge as I tried to keep my cool. I’ve gotten better at removing the emotion. It isn’t personal and it is sometimes easy to lose that perspective.
I do my best to help outline the challenges (especially with requests that aren’t realistic) and set expectations. And, of course, if it is offensive, I remind myself that I can choose not to respond.
(2) The feedback is a privilege. I would have given a lot a few years ago to get to work on a problem like this. The feedback is just a reminder of the work that lies ahead to make things better.
That again is a reminder to remove the emotion, acknowledge the privilege, and just try to be of help.
It is, of course, a lesson that is relevant in other scenarios as well. It is good to be able to remove the emotion and just answer the question.
I hope to get better at doing so over time.
