I’ve always loved working with people and over time, that love turned into a career in HR :)

It started with leading college clubs and helping friends with placements, and it’s grown into something much bigger: helping companies build great teams, keep their best talent, and create workplaces people actually enjoy being part of.

Right now, I’m an HR Consultant at Metvy, where I work closely with the founders to build HR systems from the ground up. We’ve improved hiring speed, boosted retention, and created leadership programs that help interns grow into full-time stars.

Before that, I worked with American Express, managing end-to-end recruitment.

I’m also a mentor, speaker, and LinkedIn Top Creator in HR, sharing what I’ve learned about careers, culture, and personal branding. For me, HR isn’t just about policies and hiring metrics: it’s about people, growth, and making work feel more human.

If you’re into building strong, inclusive teams or just want to chat about all things HR, let’s connect!

Feel free to reach out at darikajain05@gmail.com, if you’re looking for someone to collaborate with or want to explore how I can add value to your next project.
Open for collaborations :)

You with Ishan Sharma? 
You with Saumya Singh?
 
I get messages like this almost every day.
A lot of people ask, “How do you know so many people? Can you introduce me to them? How do you get invited to all these events?”

The simple answer is: I started early.
The very first meetup I attended was on February 5th, 2023.

Priyank Ahuja invited me to a meetup at CyberHub, and honestly, I didn’t even understand what a meetup was back then.

For me, it was just “I’ll meet people, we’ll have coffee, maybe exchange LinkedIn profiles,” and that’s it.

But that one meetup changed everything.
I met Shambhavi Gupta ✍, Shivani Gera, Ashutosh Jain and a few others, and right after that meetup, Ashutosh asked me to come as a guest for his podcast on Spotify.

On February 23rd, it got released, and that was my first-ever podcast appearance.

That’s when I realized something: opportunities don’t come from sitting at home and posting content, they come from showing up and building actual relationships.

Here’s how I’ve kept up with these relationships:

~ I refer people to events they’d benefit from

~ I reach out on birthdays or just randomly to check in, not because I need something

~ Every weekend, I used to reach out to at least one person to catch up or meet 1-on-1

~ I meet people offline whenever possible because that’s where real connections happen

This is how I landed my first brand collaboration, my first podcast, my first speaking gig.

Networking isn’t about collecting contacts, it’s about being genuinely interested in people and staying in touch without expecting anything in return.

If you’re starting out, attend meetups, reach out to people you admire, and build relationships when you don’t need anything.

The network you build today is the reason you’ll get opportunities tomorrow :)

Darika Jain

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After almost 5 years of creating content on LinkedIn, the invite finally came: 

 Talent Connect India 2026

Being one of only 5 creators invited to exclusively attend the event in Mumbai on February 3rd felt like the work finally got recognized by the platform itself.

Joined LinkedIn in 2018, started creating content in 2019, and always wanted to meet the LinkedIn team but never got an invite until now.

When the notification came on January 29th, it was genuinely surprising because after so many years of building a presence organically, this felt like validation.

Some moments from the event:

→ Met the comms and marketing teams from APAC, including Danielle Zikman  who said, “I heard you have 800K followers, I should get a picture with you so I can get famous”

→ Met Sakshi Talwar, Head of Communications India for the first time, and even though we’d never met, it didn’t feel like a first meeting at all

→ Mentioned not really liking Bombay, and Sakshi said, “You have to live in Bombay to like it, and I’ll make you fall in love with Bombay,” so guess there’s a reason to come back again

→ Had a long chat with Homith Bakshi  about the September 2025 algorithm drop, and he shared insights that’ll roll out in the next couple of months

→ LinkedIn is actively working on flagging AI-generated content, and the recommendation right now is 40% of content should be vertical videos

→ Masaba Gupta said something that stuck: “Energy speaks more than words” when talking about hiring people based on vibe, empathy, and dedication.

Made a lot of friends, grateful for the invite, and looking forward to attending more such events.

More insights from the event coming soon :)

I read somewhere that 12% of adults now have zero close friends, up 4X since 1990, and honestly, that hit differently.

As someone building ImpactD , creating content on LinkedIn, and working with founders and CXOs, I’ve realized my “social life” has become endless DMs, client calls, and scrolling through notifications at midnight.

I ghosted my college best friend (sorry, Shyna Puri 🥺) for a month because I was too deep into content calendars and client work, skipped brunches for brand collaborations, and suddenly my inner circle felt lonelier than it should.

But here’s what I’ve learned: those “wasted” 20-minute calls with old colleagues or friends aren’t actually wasted, they’re the thing keeping me grounded.

Last week, I finally called an ex-colleague from Amex during my commute, we laughed about our old boss, swapped HR horror stories, and she ended up referring a CXO client who just signed on.

Friendships aren’t fluff, they’re my burnout shield and my idea goldmine.

If you’re a founder or creator nodding along to this, here’s what’s helped me:

→ Block “friendship time” like it’s a client meeting, 15 minutes, a voice note, done

→ Text that one person you’ve been meaning to reach out to and just say, “Miss our rants, matcha soon?”

→ Start a small WhatsApp group for real talk, no LinkedIn facades, just people who get it

We’re building businesses and brands, but who’s keeping us from cracking?

Tag your ride-or-die below, the one who calls out your BS and refills your tank.

Mine’s Shawrya Mehrotra. Who’s yours?

Let’s beat this friendship recession together :)

I visited the AI Summit in Delhi on February 17th, and one booth caught my attention more than the rest.

Josh Talks was unveiling Bharat Voice Stack in Hall 6, India’s largest open-source voice AI infrastructure, and honestly, this is something the startup ecosystem needs to pay attention to.

Here’s what they’re building:

📌 10,000+ hours of conversational speech datasets in code-mixed Hindi-English and dialects

📌 TTS benchmarks for 22+ languages, addressing the fact that global models fail 30-50% of the time on Indian accents

📌 Core infrastructure layer for low-resource voice tech

This is huge for India’s 780+ languages and the $10 billion voice AI boom projected by 2030.

Josh Talks is pulling data from 1,000+ Tier 2 and Tier 3 storytellers for real, ethical datasets, which aligns perfectly with Bhashini and IndiaAI Mission.

For deep tech founders working on voice commerce, edtech, or policy applications, this just made building in India a lot easier.

Big thanks to Ruchika Lalla  from the Founder’s Office for the walkthrough and explaining how this infrastructure is going to change accessibility and language tech in India.

VCs and founders, if you’re not paying attention to voice AI infrastructure in India, you’re missing a massive opportunity.

Who’s riding this wave?

I did my very FIRST brand collaboration on March 8th, 2022 on Women’s Day.

A brand called Hirect India - Startup Jobs & Hiring reached out and said, “We have a campaign for you.” They mentioned ₹2,500, and I got really excited and told my mom, “A brand is paying me for creating content!”

I spent hours researching, writing the post on pen and paper, asking my sister to approve it before sending it to the campaign manager.

(ChatGPT launched in November 2022) 🥲

It performed so well they reached out again on March 29th for another campaign.

Here’s what I learned:

→ I got too overwhelmed and didn’t negotiate because I didn’t know my worth yet

→ I didn’t have creator friends to take advice from, so I had no idea if ₹2,500 was fair

My advice to creators:

→ Stick to collabs in your niche only, don’t do it just for the sake of money

→ Don’t do too many collabs, your credibility goes away when people think you promote anything

→ I do 3-4 collabs a month max because doing more makes brands undervalue you

→ Ask yourself: Do I actually like this brand? Would I use this even if they weren’t paying me?

Brand collaborations are an opportunity, but only if they’re the right ones.
Know your worth, negotiate, and only work with brands you genuinely believe in.

With Women’s Day coming up, if any brands want to collaborate, email me at darikajain05@gmail.com

My slots are available :)

LinkedIn’s algorithm tanked reach for up to 65% of creators in Q4 2025, and most still don’t know why.

My engagement dropped in September, and after digging into what actually changed, I figured out what’s killing reach and what’s working now.

What’s being penalized:

→ Emoji-only replies and generic praise don’t count as real engagement anymore

→ “Link in comments” tactics now hurt distribution instead of helping it

→ Template formatting gets flagged as generic content and pushed down

→ External links hurt your reach unless people actually spend time on the page you’re linking to

What’s actually working:

→ Long-form posts that take 2+ minutes to read signal quality content

→ Strong opinions that get people talking and replying generate more reach

→ Taking public conversations into DMs shows you’re building real relationships

→ Keeping your headline, posts, and about section consistent, this SIGNALS you’re an expert in your space

The algorithm shifted from rewarding engagement tricks to rewarding real expertise.

Generic advice gets suppressed and specific career stories with unique insights get pushed.

What’s your biggest algo discovery from 2025?

This week at LinkedIn Talent Connect India 2026, one conversation kept coming up: how is AI actually changing hiring, and are we losing the human part of it?

Turns out, LinkedIn is building something that balances both.

LinkedIn Hiring Assistant (LiHA) is their first agentic AI offering for recruiters.

It handles the repetitive stuff like sourcing, screening, and outreach, while recruiters keep full control over decisions.

Early adopters like AMD, Siemens, and Wipro are seeing real results:

> 62% fewer profiles reviewed
> 4+ hours saved per role
> 69% improvement in InMail acceptance rates

Beyond automation, there’s Speed-to-Hire.

Candidates can share their expected salary and notice period, visible only to recruiters, which cuts down back-and-forth and focuses on people who are actually relevant and available.

This is especially useful in high-volume markets like India.

For small businesses, there’s LinkedIn Hiring Pro.

It helps identify, shortlist, and connect with strong candidates efficiently.

Early users find someone to interview within the first week and save an average of 6+ hours per week.

One thing Masaba Gupta said stayed with me:

“Energy speaks more than words” when she talked about hiring based on vibe, empathy, and dedication.

AI is changing hiring, but the human element still matters most.

That’s what LinkedIn is building toward, and that’s what the future of recruitment should look like.

#ai #recruitment

LinkedIn just released Skills on the Rise 2026, and prompt engineering is India’s fastest-growing skill.

Been using this for a few months now with clients at ImpactD, not because it’s trendy but out of curiosity about whether it would actually make a difference.

Turns out, it does. Clients’ AI-assisted posts are getting 50% higher saves and comments compared to before, not because of gaming anything, just because better prompts help create content that resonates instead of sounding generic.

Most people misunderstand what prompt engineering actually is. It’s not a tech thing, it’s knowing how to ask better questions.

When you know how to structure inputs properly, tools like Claude or ChatGPT stop being generic content generators and start being useful for thinking faster and writing clearer.

The approach involves 15-minute drills testing prompts like “Turn this founder story into a 180-word post with a strong hook,” then tracking what performs and what doesn’t.

Chaining prompts together works well: research first, then outline, then polish, then optimize for dwell time. A/B testing by tweaking tone and specificity helps because not everything works the first time.

Making it niche-specific matters. Instead of “write a business post,” prompting for “5 deep tech CXO struggles with empathetic hooks” gets better results because that’s what the audience needs.

Stealing good prompts from AI communities every week and adapting them has been helpful too.

The difference between someone who uses AI well and someone who doesn’t comes down to this: one knows how to ask better questions, the other is still treating it like Google search.

Most people type vague queries and expect magic. The ones getting results are treating it like a conversation, building context, giving examples, iterating.

If you’re creating content and not using prompts to help think or write, you’re probably working harder than necessary.

Who’s using prompts daily? 
What’s working for you?

#SkillsOnTheRise #LinkedInNewsIndia

I was at LinkedIn Talent Connect 2026 in Mumbai yesterday and Homith Bakshi, asked me my key takeaways.

I talked about how Vibha Adlakha, 
Director Customer Success, India and Japan mentioned that people get 50% more engagement when they have a verified profile and that really stayed with me.

alsoo learned that LinkedIn’s Hiring Assistant is working on eliminating fake skills which is a huge problem in India.

It was great to interact with Talent Heads, CHROs, Recruiters, and professionals from various walks of life.

Got the chance to meet with the LinkedIn Talent Solutions Team, Comms Team and my creator friends as well.

Always a good time with LinkedIn :)

What’s your take on verified profiles 
and AI eliminating fake skills? 

Does it change how you approach LinkedIn?

I was in Mumbai recently and stopped by Ice Cream Works Gold.

I ordered their passion fruit mango popsicle, and it looked too good not to capture, so I started making a video for my Instagram.

While filming, a staff member came over with another item and handed it to me for free.

I was confused, so I asked what it was, and he started explaining all the dishes in detail.

Then he said, “Ma’am, we would want you to try this out and let us know because it’s something new that we’ve launched.”

I realized they recognized me as a food blogger, which caught me off guard because I wasn’t there in that capacity, I was just enjoying their food.

But I started showing interest anyway, asked if they were opening more branches in Delhi NCR, and they mentioned they already have one in Gurgaon.

Here’s what stuck with me: I wasn’t trying to position myself as anything, I was just creating content because I enjoy it.
But because I was putting it out there anyway, without overthinking it, something came out of it naturally.

A lot of people hold back from creating content because they think, “What if it doesn’t lead to anything?”

But you never know what’s coming unless you just do it anyway.

I’ve been creating on LinkedIn for years, focused on personal branding and helping founders, and opportunities came not because I chased them, but because I showed up consistently.

On Instagram, I create food content as a food blogger, and even that led to unexpected recognition.

Do it anyway.
 Put it out there.

What’s meant to be yours will come to you, if not today, then eventually :)

The LinkedIn algorithm changed drastically in September 2025.

And, if you’re a creator who noticed your reach drop, you’re not alone.

I’ve been creating content on LinkedIn since 2019, and I’ve watched the algorithm shift multiple times, but this one hit differently because the drop was sudden and significant.

At LinkedIn Talent Connect India 2026, I had a conversation with the team about what’s actually happening, and here’s what I can share without breaking any NDAs 👀

360Brew is LinkedIn's new 360° AI model, a massive decoder-only system analyzing your full profile, posts, comments, and interactions for semantic relevance across feeds, jobs, and recommendations.

LinkedIn is actively working on flagging AI-generated content, and once that’s in place, the algorithm will stabilize again.

360Brew Common Mistakes: Off-topic posts, vague headlines/About sections, unendorsed skills- mismatches tank reach.

Featured Best Practices: Pin 3-5 niche proofs (ex- VC analytics) matching your expertise and refresh quarterly.

The recommendation right now is to focus on video content, specifically 40% of your content should be vertical videos.

Text-plus-image posts are still performing well, but the platform is clearly pushing toward more authentic, conversational video content.

If you’re a creator feeling frustrated about the reach drop, know that it’s not just you, and it’s not permanent.

The algorithm is adjusting to filter out low-quality, AI-generated spam, and once that’s done, creators who’ve been showing up consistently with real, valuable content will see their reach come back.

Keep showing up. 
The algorithm will catch up :)

P.S. colour coordination was unintentional xD

If you’re someone who spends way too much time analyzing why certain LinkedIn posts take off while others get ignored, this is for you.

I’m hiring for 2 roles at ImpactD, and both will work directly with me.

Role 1: Content & Research Intern

You’ll work on real founder and CXO profiles, figuring out what makes their stories worth telling and how to make people actually stop scrolling.

You should understand LinkedIn beyond just posting, write in someone else’s voice without sounding robotic, research beyond ChatGPT to find original angles, and create clean carousels on Canva.

Role 2: Graphic Designer

You’ll create visuals that don’t look like templates, brand identities that feel personal, and designs that make founders actually look credible.

You should have a portfolio showing you design beyond templates, understand personal branding visually, and know how to make things feel authentic, not just pretty.

Both roles require 4-5 hours daily commitment, and Delhi NCR is preferred.

You’ll get direct mentorship from me on content strategy and personal branding, hands-on experience with real clients building their LinkedIn presence, and a ₹5,000/month stipend :)

Application form is in the comments 🔗

Creators with 100K+ followers are getting offered ₹500-₹1,500 for brand collaborations, and it’s insulting.

When you reach out to a creator, you’re not just paying for one post, you’re paying for the credibility they’ve built, the audience they’ve cultivated, and the trust they’ve earned.

I have 800K+ followers, and I still get messages saying, “Your rates are too high, can you do it for ₹10K?”

If you think ₹10K is reasonable for 800K followers and years of credibility, you don’t understand creator marketing.

What brands need to stop doing:

→ Offering rates that don’t match the value creators bring

→ Saying, “This other creator is doing it cheaper,” because that’s a race to the bottom

→ Undermining worth by saying, “You don’t have that many impressions”

What creators need to start doing:

→ Stop accepting lowball offers because you’re desperate

→ Know your worth and stick to it

→ Understand that working for ₹500 when you have 100K followers makes it harder for all creators

There was a time when rates were good and creators were respected.

Now, agencies expect us to work at costs that don’t make sense, and when we push back, we’re “too expensive.”

I’ve worked with brands like alt.f coworking who respect creator worth, and those collaborations worked :)

So here’s my message: if you want to work with a creator who brings expertise and credibility, respect their pricing.

Recently, I posted about prompt engineering being LinkedIn’s fastest-growing skill in 2026 and how I’ve been using AI to create content that resonates instead of sounding robotic.

A lot of people reached out asking, “How do you move beyond basic prompts to building something that works specifically for you?”

That’s why I’m attending a session tonight that Metvy is hosting with Zubin Kutar, Founder of AI Fluency Labs and former Head of Digital Marketing at Mahindra Holidays, TCS, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank.

The topic is Building Your Own Custom GPTs for Marketers, and this feels like the natural next step after learning how to prompt well.

Most of us are still using AI for captions, drafts, and quick content generation, but what if you could build a GPT that’s trained on your brand’s tone, understands your strategy, and automates entire workflows?

That’s the difference between being an AI user and being an AI builder :)

If you’re a marketer, founder, or content creator serious about building AI that works for you instead of just using it as a tool, this session is happening tonight at 8 PM.

Limited spots available, register here: https://luma.com/6y2cz0z0

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