How to make content that gets you hired
We just wrapped up an incredible LinkedIn Live with Hannah Shirley and Grace Ling and here’s a recap!
Hannah is a content creator (45K+) and the founder of ThriveSpace, an online career-prep community built for students and first-gen professionals navigating college, internships, and early careers.
Also, Less than 1% of LinkedIn’s 1.1 billion members post weekly.
While everyone’s complaining about the job market, barely anyone is actually showing up where hiring managers are looking. It’s like having a portfolio but never showing it to anyone.
The hidden job market
Hannah got 2000+ new connections and dozens of recruiter messages from ONE LinkedIn post about her community college journey. Not from applications. From a single post.
Meanwhile, Grace landed her UX designer role at Electronic Arts by messaging 400 hiring managers.
Searched LinkedIn for: “Design Director,” “VP of Design,” “Head of Design”
Filtered by companies she wanted to work at + location
Sent this message: “Hi, I’m Grace. I’m a student studying computer science, trying to pivot to UX and product design. Would love to learn about how you got to where you are today.”
When they accepted, asked for a 15-minute coffee chat
Asked about THEIR journey first (people love talking about themselves)
Only mentioned I was looking for opportunities when they asked about my goals
400 messages → about 30 coffee chats → job at dream gaming company
What actually works on LinkedIn
Hannah shared these stats from LinkedIn:
Add a profile photo = 3x more connection requests
List 5+ skills = 5.6x more likely to be reviewed by recruiters
Have more than one position listed = 26x more likely to get recruiter InMail
That last one? TWENTY-SIX TIMES. Even if it’s unrelated work experience, list it.
Content that gets you hired:
Stop overthinking it. Here’s what to post:
For Designers Without Experience:
Mock redesigns of your favorite apps (tag the company!)
Your design process for personal projects
Lessons from design events or hackathons
Before/after of designs you’ve improved
The Framework That Works:
Hook them in the first line
Tell a story or share a process
Add value (teach something, spark discussion, share resources)
End with a soft CTA: “What’s your experience with [topic]?”
Using AI?
Yes, use ChatGPT/Claude for ideation. But if you’re copy-pasting, you’re literally outsourcing your critical thinking skills. Instead:
Download your LinkedIn data (all your posts + stats)
Feed it to Claude/ChatGPT to analyze what worked
Use voice-to-text tools to “yap” your ideas, then refine
Never copy the output directly - it’s obvious and cringe
Your action items this week
Today: Make a post about what you learned from this newsletter. Tag Hannah, Grace, and Design Buddies. We’ll engage with it
This Week: Add 5+ specific skills to your LinkedIn (Figma, user research, prototyping - not “teamwork”)
Ongoing: Post once a week. Just once. That already puts you ahead of 99% of LinkedIn.
You’re not just posting for vanity metrics. You’re increasing your “surface area of luck” - creating more opportunities for the right person to discover you at the right time.
If you’re scared to post because of potential hate comments, remember this: haters are just unpaid marketing interns boosting your algorithm for free. 99.99% of people on LinkedIn are genuinely nice. The 0.01% who aren’t? They’re probably failing at life and taking it out on strangers online.
Don’t let them stop you from landing your dream role.
Ready to start? Drop your LinkedIn in the Design Buddies Discord introductions channel. Let’s connect and support each other’s posts. Your next opportunity might be one post away.
Also! Hannah’s doing free LinkedIn profile reviews on TikTok twice a week(@hannahshirley). First-timers get priority through her Discord. Worth checking out if you need that extra push!
Learn more, recording here: https://youtube.com/live/GtNClSU7YS8?feature=share
Resources!
Online: Design feedback Fridays, every friday at 11 am pacific time on our Discord: https://discord.gg/designbuddies
We are co-hosting LA Creator Week, Jun 28 - Jul 3, 2026 in-person in Los Angeles! Email Grace Ling, grace@designbuddies.community if you’d like to host events here and/or sponsor
If you’re a new designer serious about building these kinds of concrete skills to land your dream job, our Cohort 22 10-week advanced internship is accepting applications on a rolling basis. (online, remote)
20% off for Mobbin, the world’s largest library of real-world design inspiration! https://mobbin.com/designbuddies
Magic Patterns, new vibe coding and design prototying tool! Try it here
Podcast: How Creators Make Money!
$10 free Replit credits for you to build + new designer mode launched
🐰 About Design Buddies
Design Buddies is a community where you level up your design career. Land jobs, improve your design skills, and make friends. We have resources, events, design challenges, job boards, fun perks, and more.
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