What attendees said

On 3 June I had 38 LinkedIn connections. Today I have 1,059.

Over those two months I was able to connect with a lot of people, but the most important part was not the connection request itself — it was giving the other person a reason to accept it.

It started with “It works! LinkedIn” by Lead Jaeil, an author who is himself active on the platform. I read the line “the connection request is everything”, decided to act on it, and began by reworking my profile.

I rebuilt my career and expertise the way you would a CV, and completed verification for the company I currently work at to make the profile more credible. Then I used the free premium trial to send connection requests along with a message.

I also put my network in order.

Headhunters → practitioners in the same field (finance and treasury) → colleagues at overseas branches and head office → decision makers

Once I passed 500, connections started producing further connections, and after that I expanded the network naturally by posting content.

The most memorable of them was a conversation with the Treasury Head of an automotive group in Pakistan.

They were struggling to manage more than 70 accounts across several affiliates, and I shared my experience running cash pooling. They told me they had looked at the same approach, but that regulatory constraints in their country made it hard to apply.

Beyond that, unexpected conversations keep coming — with treasury specialists abroad, with headhunters, with leaders across a range of industries.

There is one thing this experience taught me.

“The connection request is everything” was right.

But the thing to do before that was to build enough trust that, when someone opened my profile, they saw a person worth connecting with.

And good connections did, in the end, lead to good conversations I had not expected.

The greatest value of LinkedIn for me is not the number 1,059, but what I got to learn and think about through those connections.

— JuHyun Lee — Head of Treasury | Corporate Governance & Internal Controls

Translated from the Korean the reviewer wrote.

Overall satisfaction

5.0 / 5.0

Said it exceeded expectations

4 of 5

Would recommend it (all promoters)

5 of 5

Want to write a first post or a write-up

5 of 5

Want to turn their experience into content

5 of 5

Want to rework their profile first

3 of 5

Five people responded. Read the numbers as an indication, not a measurement — the sample is small.

Asked what worked best, respondents picked the LinkedIn writing and branding session (4), the hands-on format and the venue and running of the event (3 each), and the speaker's own examples (2). Three of the five were attending this community's events for the first time.

Nobody selected "I am not sure what to do first" when asked what they wanted to do next.

— Attendee survey, 5 responses

Translated from the Korean the reviewer wrote.

On 1 July at 8:30 in the evening, I attended “Endless Challenge with LinkedIn” by the LinkedIn creator Lead Jaeil, the fifth guest talk in Jouro's Twojobmate series.

LinkedIn had been a platform I knew only by name. It came to mind vaguely alongside words like foreign-invested companies, jobs abroad, professional networking — but I had never thought of it as a platform close to me.

Through this talk, though, LinkedIn started to feel less like a social network and more like a career record: a place that lays out, piece by piece, what you have worked on, what you are interested in, and the direction you want to grow in.

The part that stayed with me was the LinkedIn writing advice, which we got to hear separately thanks to Jouro. What I liked was that you do not have to lead with grand expertise or impressive results — your first post can start with simply introducing who you are. LinkedIn had felt slightly distant to me, and that one point lowered the threshold to begin.

The biggest thought I left with was that opportunity is ultimately made inside relationships. If nobody knows who you are, good opportunities are unlikely to arrive; but if you keep a steady record of what you have done and what you think, someone may one day find you through those traces. In that sense LinkedIn felt less like a social network and more like another portfolio explaining who you are.

Of course I could not claim LinkedIn is essential for everyone. But for an active job seeker, or for someone who is not put off by social networks and wants to grow through connections with people, it seemed genuinely able to help in finding good relationships and a new job.

Lead Jaeil is the author of “It works! LinkedIn” and has actually grown through the platform, and perhaps because of that the talk was closer to “how do you start, and how do you keep going” than to theory. So there was a lot that landed practically, even for someone encountering LinkedIn for the first time.

Rather than simply urging us to use LinkedIn, the talk was time spent thinking about who I want to be seen as in the age of AI, and how to record and connect that version of myself. Writing on LinkedIn still feels a little unfamiliar, but I have come to want to make the small attempt of putting my own introduction together first.

Thank you to Jouro for opening up such a good talk, and to Lead Jaeil for explaining LinkedIn in a way that made it feel like a more practical tool.

— Attendee

Translated from the Korean the reviewer wrote.

Profile viewers (last 90 days)

44

Profile appearances (previous week)

288

Followers (+22.3% in the last 7 days)

22

Message from a headhunter offering a role

1

Taken from the LinkedIn analytics screenshots the participant put in their own sharing-session slides.

What I liked about the challenge

1. Coffee chats through profile management, and networking at GTC

2. Getting my career in order, and motivation

3. A first-hand taste of being headhunted through LinkedIn

Thank you, Jaeil, for leading us

— Cohort 5 participant — university student in big data

Translated from the Korean the reviewer wrote.

Impressions (up 444%)

1,036 → 5,634

Followers (+73)

628 → 701

Audience from pharma/biotech

39%

Four weeks of LinkedIn analytics, as the participant reported them in their own sharing-session slides.

Before the challenge, my LinkedIn activity was sporadic and had no clear goal. It was unclear who I was trying to reach or with what message, and the result was low engagement and stalled growth.

The four-week challenge gave me a complete roadmap for sustainable LinkedIn activity, from setting up the profile to building the habit.

Doing the challenge alongside the cohort 3 members was a strong source of motivation.

I came away convinced that I can keep writing.

The most important change the challenge gave me is confidence.

Finding people myself and sending connection requests, and exploring my interests through posts, made the direction of my content and the shape of my network clear. Now I can share my expertise with confidence and keep meaningful conversations going.

Four weeks of focused activity led to measurable results. More than numbers, they mean meaningful relationships and greater influence.

— Cohort 3 participant — regulatory affairs, pharma/biotech

Translated from the Korean the reviewer wrote.

Followers (20 Nov → 17 Dec)

10 → 66

Readers from Seoul/Incheon

58%

LinkedIn analytics as the participant reported them in their own sharing-session slides.

While doing a master's in Busan and preparing to start a company, I came up against the fact that I was physically far from a startup ecosystem centred on the capital region.

“I was thirsty for networking and for sharing insight. How could I get past the limits of where I live?”

I decided to record my research and my startup journey systematically, and to build a ‘digital window’ for talking with a wider world.

Weeks 1–2, defining myself — I optimised my profile around a clear goal: my research field, technology innovation, and founding a company. I structured it so my expertise could be seen at a glance.

Weeks 3–4, putting insight out — going beyond sharing everyday life, I began posting in-depth content built on what I study, such as the S-O-R model, and on real project experience.

From 20 November to 17 December, I could see in the data the visible results that steady activity produced.

“I live in Busan, but 58% of my readers came from Seoul and Incheon. LinkedIn removed the physical constraint.”

My content is reaching the group of decision makers I wanted to meet.

The four-week challenge is not the end but a starting point.

— Cohort 3 participant — graduate student and aspiring founder

Translated from the Korean the reviewer wrote.

Connections (one month)

0 → 42

Followers (one month)

0 → 44

Figures as the participant reported them in their own sharing-session slides.

A record of 30 days spent moving a veteran's experience into a digital public square

It is a mature square where you can go beyond snack content and examine and share your thinking in depth. I experienced a culture where deep insight is valued over a passing reaction.

In just one month, a network that had been stuck at zero grew to 42 connections and 44 followers. Beyond the numbers, it is the start of a precious network connected in earnest.

I listened to other people's stories and met the heartfelt experiences they wanted to share with the world. That process widened perspectives that had been locked inside me.

“I felt deep gratitude that I can still share alongside them.”

Engaging with others and confirming that I am still of use breathed strong life into my days. At last I feel alive.

— Cohort 3 participant — Life & Leadership Curator

Translated from the Korean the reviewer wrote.

Impressions (last 28 days)

4,015

Followers

0 → 71

LinkedIn analytics as the participant reported them in their own sharing-session slides.

When I started I had zero followers; after the challenge I had 71.

The post that got the most views was one that struck a chord about the parts of LinkedIn many people find hard.

What I liked about the challenge

1. The weekly Zoom meetings were great. There was no way to skip the assignments.

2. We were told we would get a certificate, and knowing I would not get one without doing the assignments hurt my pride enough to make me work harder. He also kept sharing the challenge's progress on Threads, which made me pay even more attention.

3. His deep understanding of LinkedIn goes without saying, and his eagerness to actively help was wonderful.

What I would add: an assignment where we write content and get feedback on it.

— Cohort 3 participant — startup CBO

Translated from the Korean the reviewer wrote.

Post impressions (about 12.5×)

45 → 561

Followers (+177%)

98 → 272

Profile views (5.3×)

36 → 189

Before-and-after LinkedIn analytics as the participant reported them in their own sharing-session slides.

Why I started running again on LinkedIn, and what the four-week challenge changed

I wanted to take Power Platform and 30 years of infrastructure experience out of my own head and talk about it with the rest of the world.

“I saw LinkedIn not as a channel for finding new clients, but as a showroom for the trust I have built.”

What I liked about the challenge

A structured learning process — a systematic understanding of LinkedIn through step-by-step missions, flowing naturally from self-introduction to career journey to planning regular content.

Pushing real action — hands-on experience through “just write it”, and immediate improvement through a feedback loop.

The leader's strength — detailed feedback on posts within the group.

Improvements: nothing in particular.

— Cohort 2 participant — 30 years in Microsoft enterprise solutions

Translated from the Korean the reviewer wrote.

Post views

126 → 731

Followers

244 → 270

Before-and-after figures as the participant reported them in their own sharing-session slides.

Learning from cohort 1 — few people around me know much about LinkedIn, so learning from references mattered. It was good to have references to draw on as a first-timer.

Feedback and sharing — checking results against the feedback I got each week and filling in my content made a noticeable difference compared with doing it alone.

Networking — the relationships formed within the challenge, and the new ones made at each stage, helped me find a new self and direction.

Honestly, it was very hard to find anything lacking.

Thinking about it, I would have liked a little more time to interact with the other members. If we had had time at the start to chat casually and share our difficulties and hopes, I think it would have been an even bigger motivation.

But looking back, even that ‘regret’ was probably just me wanting more. I also came to think that the way this challenge worked — everyone steadily sharing posts despite busy schedules, walking together — was, if anything, more perfect.

The challenge has wrapped up, but I hope to keep in touch with the people I did it with and be a source of strength for one another. Just as it is, this challenge was a truly grateful and precious time.

— Cohort 2 participant — runs an IT studio

Translated from the Korean the reviewer wrote.

Content impressions (week 1 → week 4)

28 → 664

Engagement (week 1 → week 4)

3 → 36

Company page figures as the participant reported them in their own sharing-session slides.

Our main way of meeting potential overseas buyers had been offline, but taking part only two to four times a year felt insufficient.

So I joined with the aim of introducing and running LinkedIn, where we could find a range of potential buyers at home and abroad, and growing step by step.

Even before starting a company LinkedIn, I had been putting it off because I had no idea how to set it up or which direction to take.

I happened to come across Lead Jaeil, reported it to our CEO straight away, and was lucky enough to join.

It was a good opportunity to learn not only why profile setup matters but also the direction and know-how for running the page.

If someone is about to start, I hope they begin LinkedIn on a steady footing through Lead Jaeil's challenge.

And because LinkedIn is still not widely known in Korea, I think there is a first-mover advantage to be had even now.

— Cohort 2 participant — company CMO

Translated from the Korean the reviewer wrote.