How one viral post changed her career and shaped many others

For many, LinkedIn is simply a platform for job hunting or checking what former classmates are up to. For Ayu Shahirah Salem, one post in 2020 changed her career, drawing almost two million impressions and 10,000 likes in 24 hours.

Today, she works as a product designer at global energy corporation BP while pursuing a PhD in information technology. The 29-year-old Sarawakian stands out with more than 125,000 followers and has even appeared on LinkedIn’s Top 50 Malaysia lists.

Originally from Miri, Ayu said it had always been her ambition to work in the industry.

“For most typical Asian families, you’re expected to become a doctor, lawyer or engineer. But in Miri – where oil was first discovered in Malaysia – there’s another requirement: you’re expected to work in oil and gas,” she said with a laugh.

She went on to study software engineering at Universiti Teknologi Petronas, where she excelled academically, winning several competitions and receiving the Chancellor’s Gold Award – the university’s highest academic honour.

Then the pandemic disrupted the job market.

Upon the advice of a lecturer, Ayu decided to post her resume on LinkedIn, even though she barely used the platform.

“I was lucky because I’d managed to get a job before I graduated. But I think everyone was struggling to find jobs back then, so I thought, maybe I need to give something back to society.”

Much to her surprise, her resume quickly went viral on the platform. This was partly because of its simplicity: at a time when elaborate Canva templates and graphics were popular, she’d decided to focus on content.

Ayu had also researched how resumes were screened by applicant tracking systems before reaching recruiters, and listed what applicants should include to improve their chances of getting noticed.

“Suddenly, people were messaging me saying, ‘Thank you so much, Ayu, for sharing your resume. I’ve been trying to get a job for one year. I copied your resume format and suddenly I got a job.'”

What began as a single post gradually turned into a much bigger commitment, leading Ayu to challenge herself to post daily for the next two years.

People began asking her to review their resumes, while her content expanded to include interview advice, job-hunting tips and technology resources, alongside career lessons, failures and things she wished she had known as a student.

Soon, those conversations moved beyond the platform, with Ayu invited to speak at talks both online and in person.

One message in particular, which Ayu received after an online talk from a woman who had secured a job shortly after her mother had passed away, stays with her.

“She told me that because she got the job, she felt relieved because at least she could cover the basic costs for her family,” Ayu recalled.

“It made me realise that there really was no reason for me to keep what I know to myself.”

Her growing audience also created opportunities she could not have anticipated. Ayu was one of 15 delegates, and the only Malaysian, chosen out of 300 global applicants to represent BP at the One Young World youth leadership summit in 2022.

In 2025, she was a regional finalist for the Best Ally Award at the Women in Tech Apac Awards in Kyoto, Japan. And this year, Ayu prominently featured in BP’s billboard campaign at KL Sentral – making her the first Sarawakian woman to become a face of the corporation in Malaysia.

Still, her journey has not been without criticism. “During my first year of posting on LinkedIn, I got a lot of hate. People would send me messages saying, ‘Who are you to talk about careers? You are just a fresh grad. You don’t really have experience.’”

Some even questioned her because of her gender, telling her she was “just a girl”. Today, she is balancing her career with further studies while preparing to write a book.

Perhaps fittingly, her advice to young people now comes with a storyteller’s perspective. “If you’re struggling in life, remember that every main character goes through plot twists and hardships before they reach their happy ending,” she said.

Follow Ayu Shahirah Salem on LinkedIn.

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