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Is LinkedIn Cheating Employers and Job Seekers Alike?

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Re: Is LinkedIn Cheating Employers and Job Seekers Alike?

#61
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taking a lower-paid job can reduce your salary once you get back to your primary field. Workers have legitimate reasons to treat wages as sticky.

How can that happen? It's not like your new employer will know what you were making at the last job, and even so why should that matter?

They will certainly know what your title was. If you've been management for 10 years and then accept a job as a peon to "fill the gap", your new company might see that as a negative and/or use it as an excuse to offer you less.

Re: Is LinkedIn Cheating Employers and Job Seekers Alike?

#62
post #55
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can that happen? It's not like your new employer will know what you were making at the last job, and even so why should that matter?

They ask. Are you just supposed to lie or refuse to answer?

Refuse to answer. I do it all the time. I generally answer when asked "Let's see if we are a good fit for each other. If we are, make me an offer based on how much value you believe I'll bring to the table." If they keep pushing to know how much I make, that gives me a good data point on the type of company they are. I'll use that to decide whether I want to work there or not.

Re: Is LinkedIn Cheating Employers and Job Seekers Alike?

#63
post #55
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can that happen? It's not like your new employer will know what you were making at the last job, and even so why should that matter?

They ask. Are you just supposed to lie or refuse to answer?

You could tell your former position and add that you have done some gap filing in between four a few month, without telling the details.

Re: Is LinkedIn Cheating Employers and Job Seekers Alike?

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Refuse to answer. It's none of their business, and nobody can compel you to answer a question.

"I don't have to answer that." They can't compel you to answer, but good luck landing that job.

I have a hard time believing that if the employer is in desperate need, and a potential employee has the skills, they cannot come to an agreement, especially if you make it in for an interview. This does not make sense. Someone is not motivated enough.

Re: Is LinkedIn Cheating Employers and Job Seekers Alike?

#65
post #55
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can that happen? It's not like your new employer will know what you were making at the last job, and even so why should that matter?

They ask. Are you just supposed to lie or refuse to answer?

"I'm currently considering a number of positions with competitive salaries [or 'with salaries around $X']. So, I think that focusing on what I can do for you and establishing a fair wage based on that will be more representative of what we can offer each other."

That tends to be the route I go down anyway. At least when their position is good enough that I don't just walk out of the interview for someone being that rude, (i.e. I want to work with them for some other significant reason.)

Re: Is LinkedIn Cheating Employers and Job Seekers Alike?

#66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I don't have to answer that." They can't compel you to answer, but good luck landing that job.

I have a hard time believing that if the employer is in desperate need, and a potential employee has the skills, they cannot come to an agreement, especially if you make it in for an interview. This does not make sense. Someone is not motivated enough.

Who specified that either one of those conditions was true? If it's an example, let's be honest: If the employer is not desperate they may not respond well to being told that their question didn't pass muster. Real people who are struggling to find work are asked these questions, and real people are being discriminated against by not answering.

Re: Is LinkedIn Cheating Employers and Job Seekers Alike?

#67
post #55
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can that happen? It's not like your new employer will know what you were making at the last job, and even so why should that matter?

They ask. Are you just supposed to lie or refuse to answer?

Valid dodging answers include:

  - I took a sabbatical
  - I did private/contract work for a while
  - I took a working holiday
  - I spent some time renovating my house
  - I took some time off to look after a sick relative
Take the Jesuit line that if there is a kernel of truth in the statement (eg you fixed your gutters one time while unemployed) then you're not actually lying.

Really, this HR obsession with "zomg a gap in employment history" is pointlessly stupid and deserves to be gamed.

Re: Is LinkedIn Cheating Employers and Job Seekers Alike?

#68

I think the broader principle of this post is solid. It's one that I've been thinking a lot as a friend asked me to advise his dating-site startup. I don't like the space for one major reason (and job hunting is isomorphic with dating): to optimize making money you have to fail to deliver on the expectations of those for whom you're matchmaking. With dating/jobhunting if you create a supremely efficient market place…

The difference is that people in relationships feel guilty shopping around. I know many people with jobs who keep one eye on LinkedIn in case they see a great opportunity.

Re: Is LinkedIn Cheating Employers and Job Seekers Alike?

#70
I run a user group and network a lot with other developers. I noticed that in the past two years all the elite developers that I knew, the top half of one percent, were pulling their profiles from LinkedIn.

Have to laugh because companies looking for the proverbial 'rockstar developer' are increasingly never going to find them on LinkedIn.

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