A couple of days ago I had an appraisal meeting with my boss where we talked about my career goals. The discussion ended up going to my need to network and talk to senior people in my industry because I'm an entry level worker. He told me that I should make a LinkedIn and that this would be my goal until our next meeting. I expressed hesitance.
For context, I am a private person with no social media, so making a LinkedIn is 100% against my values. I already told him on a couple of occasions that I don't like my picture or personal details anywhere. But since I didn't want to give the impression of being an unreliable employee, I agreed to make one. Especially being a junior employee, I felt pressured. I agreed even though I was absolutely against it inside and didn't see myself creating one.
His case for me getting one was because of networking and because “people get weird when they find out you don't have a LinkedIn” which okay… but I've managed to get my last few jobs without an account – including this job. I would rather not have my information out there, you know? I just feel like I am compromising my privacy, something that is important to me.
The next time we meet, I want to stand up for myself and tell him I thought about it and changed my mind, I don't want to make an account anymore.
I don't think it's an unreasonable ask or boundary for me to set. I'm just worried that he would think it is unreasonable, try to pressure me and write me off going forward.
What do you all think?