I don’t update this blog enough. Perhaps that’s because I’ve got nothing exciting to tell you. Or maybe it’s because I spend far too long agonising over creating content for the blog in the first place. (The gitlab repo where it lives is littered with half-finished almost posts) - but the thing I always try to update is when I’ve been standing on stage at a meetup or conference.

Again?

So - a few months ago, I had an idea for a quick talk for London Apple Admins. As an aside, it’s great that we have such an active community in London, but an event can’t happen without a presentation or two. And as such, I usually have an idea or two tucked away, in case we’re short on speakers, which means I can present… something…

This is that something:

And the slides to go with it…

The topic?

LinkedIn feels like something of a necessary evil these days. Especially if you’re looking for a new role. My LinkedIn profile was… well, it was bare bones, it was an MVP (minimum viable, er, profile) - and I wanted it to be better.

So I spoke to an expert, my buddy Brid - who runs The Comms Thread. She gave me some excellent pointers, and I found others on the internets. This was my attempt to show some of the things I’d learned, and how you can apply some very basic things to make your LinkedIn profile, at least a little better.

The surprise?

I mean, spoilers if you’ve not watched the video… (I mean, go and watch the video - it’s only 10 minutes long, or thereabouts) - but…

I mean, the elephant in the room is why anyone needs to update a LinkedIn profile. I mean, I’ve been looking (gently) for a new role for a while now, and it was the discovery of how LinkedIn focused job hunting seems to be, that set me on this path in the first place.

Perhaps it was bold to do a livestreamed talk about updating LinkedIn - I mean, what does that tell your current employer? I mean, what it tells them is that of course you’re always looking for new and exciting opportunities…

“You don’t shop when you’re hungry…”

(I mean I often do, but know why it’s a silly idea!)

Hat tip to former Thoughtworks colleague Suzi Edwards-Alexander. She knows what she’s talking about. I’ve been sharing this analogy (suitably credited I hasten to add!) to almost everyone who asks me about job hunting.

Anyway, it turns out the joke was on me…

Between agreeing to do the talk, and the actual date of the talk… you guessed it, my role at Thoughtworks London was made redundant. And I must admit… it was hard to stay focused on creating a talk for a meetup group, and if you watch the video I’m sure you can tell.

Indeed, the date - November 12th 2025 was originally pencilled in as my last day. (I mean, for #reasons, my account remained live for a couple of extra days… but…)

But then I had an idea, why not flip my “Open To Work” setting in LinkedIn, live on stage?

The whole #OpenToWork thing is weird. But, it’s a very LinkedIn thing. Nothing says “redundant” like being “Open To Work” - but at the same time, it struck me that enabling it live on stage as part of a LinkedIn talk would be, er, fun?

It certainly meant I couldn’t chicken out.

You can’t hear it on the live stream (we were using the microphone on the presenter laptops for audio), but I promise you there’s a bit of a gasp from the audience when I announced that my role had been made redundant.

Indeed - a couple of people came up to me in the pub afterwards, convinced that it had all been a joke.

But here’s the thing. I could have struggled through the LinkedIn UI on my own, in my basement office.

But I didn’t.

I did the needful in a room full of people. Some I knew really well, some were strangers (or should I say, future LinkedIn connections?) - but all were part of the Mac admin community, which by and large is a wonderful group of people.

Indeed, I was being pinged seconds after getting off stage, with messages of support, and even potential jobs that may suit.

For now, I’ve genuinely no idea what’s coming next. Which is exciting. And terrifying.