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Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

pcmaffey.com

281–290 of 466 posts

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry. What I meant by "resume filter" was us manually scanning through the candidates. We put some criteria for C programmers into LinkedIn and got a bunch of web and .NET devs who had also mentioned C someplace. Perhaps skilled C devs just aren't looking for jobs on LinkedIn (totally possible! I wouldn't if I were looking), but I was kind of surprised that we got literally zero viable candidates. I expected at leas…

That's really interesting. I'm a highly skilled C dev (not bragging, it's just genuine) on LinkedIn, yet I don't tend to get "found" much, except by recruiters. One thing I found both awkward and fascinating was a job rejection from somewhere I never applied to or had any prior contact with! That was a strange feeling. Someone internally recommended me for a robotics position. I didn't ask them to, but it was a glowi…

It's really interesting that HR person wasn't seemingly concerned about turning you off from ever applying there by writing you that and ... rejecting you before you'd even applied yourself..

I feel like some internal miscommunication had to have happened but maybe not.

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#282
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re saying you 1. Look at a candidate’s LinkedIn 2. See common colleagues and reach out, unbeknownst to the candidate 3. Hear negative feedback and just trust it’s true (or at minimum develop a strong bias against the candidate based on hearsay) with no due process for the candidate 4. Reject the candidate / omit them from interview processes to begin with. I’m sorry but that’s just awful. I have great references…

So I should just take the feedback of your handpicked references? ADDED: And I hate to break it to you but companies do this all the time with or without LinkedIn. On numerous occasions, I've been asked if I know do-and-so because we worked in the same space. Sometimes I don't know them. Sometimes I give an enthusiastic recommendation. And sometimes I tell them to run away fast.

I didn’t say they were my hand picked references. You could contact lots of references for me, many of whom I haven’t kept in touch with for a long time.

My point is I have “nothing to hide” so to speak about my work experience or my resume - but despite this if I felt an employer was trying to use publicly shared personal network info to track this down, then that is a horrific employer to avoid.

That’s why I’m not on LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. It’s not just that the companies backing the platforms are corrupt, but that you cannot trust others to exercise basic human decency in how they consume and use the available data.

It’s a prisoner’s dilemma sort of problem. If companies & recruiters are going to instantly defect (eg bad faith usage of your data without affording you due process) then it leaves individuals no choice but to also defect (abandon shared data platforms).

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#283
If you are Developer or even a DevOps or Data Engineer, LinkedIn is a very handy tool in order to get connected with recruiters and also to apply for jobs that are posted there.

Sure, there are other great online job boards and even physical job agencies but I find (LinkedIn) by being marketed and promoted as a professional job seeking / networking tool, even the type of conversations you have with your contacts tend to be of a professional nature.

Yes, there are some fluff on LinkedIn especially when it comes to variety of videos or feel-good or motivational messages being posted but I take them in stride -- not everybody is same and if some people are social and have desire to share their social feelings with others, then so be it.

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#284
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now that I think about it, most of my complaints about LinkedIn is about the "news feed". Its full of mostly useless content by wannabe thought leaders drowning out a few posts which may have been insightful/relevant. Job search and add/message connections are the only features I have found useful.

Of late (this year) in my experience the job section is mostly reposts of other jobs or positions already filled or fake roles. Any post by a company with no logo is virtually guaranteed to be spam. I'm seeing them side-by-side with the real post. It's highly polluted by these bad actors.

My experience last year was the opposite- I used Linkedin, as well as my university board and competitors, but LinkedIn landed me 3/4 offers

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#285
post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think people's job patterns varying is part of it. For me, I've mostly stayed at my relatively few jobs for a long time (10 years or more) and every job after the one immediately after grad school have been through people I knew. Others are hopping around a lot more and are more often through recruiters looking for some particular keyword skill. LinkedIn is pretty useless for the former--except as a Rolodex--but an…

I also tend to stay a lot at a given job (e.g. slightly more than 10y at the last one) but still found the current job through LinkedIn. I do 2 things: 1. connect to all recruiters, politely decline with a standard message if obviously not interested 2. when I get a potentially-interesting offer, I reply with "that's all fine and well, but I make now; do you want to continue the discussion?". (note: I'm not lying). I…

Fair enough. If the position is actually relevant (i.e. not obviously scattershot spam--which I do generally just ignore), I'll at least politely decline. And I have had a couple followup phone calls but there wasn't really mutual interest for various reasons.

But, TBH, I'm far enough along in my career in this point and have a sufficiently specialized role (my current job had the description written for me after I started talking to the company) that random recruiting is unlikely to be a fit.

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#286
post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI your Facebook profile and Messenger account seem to be decoupled now. I deleted my profile but still have a Messenger identity that people can message.

Are you sure you deleted it ? The behavior you are describing reminds me of the behavior that happens after deactivating your account, not deleting it. I deleted my facebook last year so maybe things have changed.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure I deleted it. You may be right.

My main goal was to harm Facebook's ad business, so I still accomplished that. As far as privacy, I've mostly given up on escaping from Facebook's databases.

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#287
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now that I think about it, most of my complaints about LinkedIn is about the "news feed". Its full of mostly useless content by wannabe thought leaders drowning out a few posts which may have been insightful/relevant. Job search and add/message connections are the only features I have found useful.

> wannabe thought leaders A high percentage of which seem to be recruiters cutting and pasting words of wisdom, inspirational quotes that dozens of people "Like." I don't know how people can take this stuff seriously.

I don't get any of these. Can you unfollow these people or are they some kind of sponsored/injected content?

The only wannabe thought leaders I see are all people I actually know who are taking other people's thoughts and passing them off as their own. Thankfully, I rarely scroll the feed -- I only use linkedin to receive unsolicited messages from people who just want to be my friend so they can sell me their services. I should really delete my linkedin profile.

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#288
If you publish content for a professional niche, then LinkedIn may be your best choice to reach your audience.

I'm a hydraulic modelling engineer, and people in my field don't hang out on the internet together like software developers.

So when I write articles or develop some FOSS, I'll go to LinkedIn because I can reach thousands of other engineers doing the same type of work.

I don't believe I could get the same reach or engagement on any other platform.

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#289
post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I unfollow a lot of people This is the trick to turning platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn into a tool, not a vice. You need to curate who you follow. Facebook in particular has many tools to do this, from preventing their content posting to your news feed to unfriending them altogether. Too many people just follow everyone they know, then complain when they start seeing content that gives them negative outcomes.…

My problem with Facebook is they actively try to make your feed controversial. You can unfriend 95% of the haters and some how that remaining 5% will fill up 50% of your feed, and it's not because they are posting more frequently.

A former coworker mastered this by basically unfollowing everyone so they don't show up on her feed, then whitelisting specific things.

I couldn't be bothered... I shut it down.

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