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Ask HN: What LinkedIn alternatives don't suck?

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Ask HN: What LinkedIn alternatives don't suck?

#1

Post by LinkedInSucks »

I've been using LinkedIn almost since Day 1 and I'm not sure why. I had ~10,000 e-mails from headhunters, only about 150 of which were somewhat relevant, of that 1 resulted in directly putting any money in my pocket.

In my connections I had ~6,000 connections, and about 150 of them I had worked with, 50-60 would pass the beer test, and maybe 25 I would recognize.

Meanwhile LinkedIn has pretty much become a business-oriented spammy Facebook, so I deleted my account.

Is GitHub the best place to show off my skills / hold a resume, or are there any other worthy alternatives which haven't just become Facebook clones?

Re: Ask HN: What LinkedIn alternatives don't suck?

#2

Post by necovek »

My LinkedIn account has ~250 connections, all of which I either worked with or at least have been at the same company at the same time. I'd still struggle to recognize many of them but I think that's mostly due to working with most of them remotely.

My approach: do not accept random people without an introductory message, including recruiters, keep my profile visible only 2 levels deep, and clean up recruiters which I ended up not doing anything with.

Result: only a few dozen or so messages every month, most of them relevant, even if I am not interested (probably only a third with unrelated stuff).

Re: Ask HN: What LinkedIn alternatives don't suck?

#3

Post by jstx1 »

The best alternative is LinkedIn that you use with some restraint instead of connecting to thousands of people and opening up your profile and email to absolutely everyone.

Outside of that you probably won't find many alternatives because the large social network is the whole point - the value proposition of LinkedIn is that it's the one place where everyone goes to search for jobs and employees. A less well-known platform can't give you the same benefits by definition.

Re: Ask HN: What LinkedIn alternatives don't suck?

#4

Post by codingdave »

I have 200 connections, all of whom are either people I have worked with and would be happy to catch up with and work with again, or recruiters whom I have spoken directly to that are active in my area and have legit jobs to share. It has connected to me to both permanent jobs, and contract gigs.

If you just spam connect to thousands of strangers, of course it won't be useful to you. It isn't a site to build a portfolio and show off skills, it is a site that can be used every few years to reconnect with old contacts when you are seeking work.

Re: Ask HN: What LinkedIn alternatives don't suck?

#7

Post by dairyleia »

oliverjudge wrote: post #6

I've moved over to Polywork. Which has a bit more of a tongue in cheek feel, but definitely feels better thank Linked in does, with a better community. Invite link for the curious https://www.polywork.com/invite/olliejudge-hypno

How many "connections"/friends do you have on there, considering you have to join a waitlist?

Re: Ask HN: What LinkedIn alternatives don't suck?

#8

Post by aloisdg »

oliverjudge wrote: post #6

I've moved over to Polywork. Which has a bit more of a tongue in cheek feel, but definitely feels better thank Linked in does, with a better community. Invite link for the curious https://www.polywork.com/invite/olliejudge-hypno

"Wow, looks like Ollie's looking out for you... but they're out of invites. Sign up for the waitlist today "
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