I am a midlevel frontend developer. I had to look for a job one time per year for the last 3 years.
3 years ago I tried everything. I applied to (literally) hundreds of position. More than 100 on LinkedIn, which led to nothing (50% ghosted, 50% automated rejection). Applied to a few from HN (“Who is hiring”), a couple of interviews, no offer. A fez dozens on AngelList, a few interviews, one offer, got hired.
2 years ago I mostly gave up on LinkedIn. Still applied to a couple of dozens there, same result of 50% ghosted 50% automated rejection. Applied to a few dozens on AngelList, a few interviews, no offers. This time, on HN, I applied to all positions that I could be a match (for two “Who is hiring” threads). A few interviews, got hired by one of those.
Last year I ditched LinkedIn completely for applications. I did not apply for a single job there (but kept my profile updated and I could see that my profile was visited by people from the companies I was applying). Applied to all of HN positions of December’s thread, several interviews, two offers. Applied to about 20 positions on AngelList, a few interviews, one offer, which I ended up accepting.
So LinkedIn is a complete waste of my time when applying to jobs there, but I believe keeping a profile there helps a little (although probably a good enough resume file could do the job).
Some caveats, with more experience my application-to-interview-to-offer ratio improved a lot, except on LinkedIn. There a couple of reasons for this I think. Big companies use LinkedIn more. Big companies have more silly (imo) requirements, having a CS degree (I don’t) or the recruiter recognizing where I studied (I went to college in Brazil).
Also, this last time I was back living in Brazil, so I wanted companies that hire globally remote and that’s mostly small companies that don’t use LinkedIn for hiring.