Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn • Hacker News Board

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#301

Post by fatnoah » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 2:40 PM UTC

m23khan wrote: post #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…

>If you are Developer...

I think value of LinkedIn increases as you progress in your career and/or into harder to fill roles. I've now passed the 20 YOE mark in my careers and have moved into management, and it's at this point where I'm really starting to find value from LinkedIn. Yes, there's tons of spam ("I've got a great entry-level role for you!"), but I was able to use it very effectively in my last job search. Of the 4 opportunities I pursued through the final interview/offer stage, 2 were initiated by someone finding my profile on LinkedIn and 1 was a process that got stuck that I was able to get unstuck by reaching out to a connection at the company. The two "inbound" opportunities were both Director/VP level roles at companies I was interested in working in.

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#302

Post by quijoteuniv » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 2:43 PM UTC

Avalaxy wrote: post #197

quijoteuniv wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe you can provide your experience on why linkedin is of value to you and then there can be a discusion. I personally agree with the author and i am happy to read on this. From the stand point of a company, if they were actually paying attention to honest feedback they could learn a bunch.

> Maybe you can provide your experience on why linkedin is of value to you and then there can be a discusion Sure, let me think of a couple of reasons: 1) The network effect of the timeline is HUGE. If people share/like your post, you can have a reach of ten of thousands of people. I scored new customers this way. 2) I often post something about something I've done (new certification, new project I launched, whatever…

Cool! Thanks for that. I am glad ln work for you and thanks for sharing. :)

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#303

Post by jillesvangurp » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 2:47 PM UTC

gregdoesit wrote: post #299

It’s clear from the comments that many people have no positive experiences with LinkedIn. For me, LinkedIn was the tool that not only helped me get into better companies, but also introduced me to Hacker News. I joined Skype/Microsoft, then Skyscanner, then Uber: all after a LinkedIn recruiter reachout. They were opportunities I did not know or think about and I would have never applied to any of them at the time. I…

Agreed. I don't engage with it a lot but it's useful for it's original purpose of keeping track of former colleagues as well as profiling yourself to potential employers/customers.

The content is a bit of a influencer shit show these days. Too many bored executives trying to promote themselves. I mostly ignore that.

Recruiter spam is another nuisance and as recruiters are paying customers, technically us normal users end up being the the product. IMHO linkedin/ms could do more to balance that relation. A minor nuisance but sometimes there's some valuable conversations that convert to me finding gigs. So, room for improvement there but for now it's not optional for me to maintain my linkedin profile.

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#304

Post by bogomipz » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 2:47 PM UTC

bonoboTP wrote: post #231

sk0v wrote: post #63

I really consider getting rid of my car. I bought it a year ago, but it's only ever sat in the driveway, I never use it. The funny meta-thing about his post, is that the content he feels adds 0 value, is in fact his own post. He is literally making a post about a tool he doesn't use. It's the equivalent of a person making a blog post about a tv series they don't watch but have seen the trailer for; no actual value to…

The "I deleted my [Facebook, Twitter, Medium, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok] account and this is why" is a genre in itself. They rarely say anything new. Social media is a waste of time, the news feed is enraging, people put on a fake perfect persona, FOMO, insecurity, inauthentic connection, signaling, controversy, drama, dopamine, addiction. Unplug yourself, use analog tools, read books, have real life fun and deep b…

>"Indeed I think this is the next generation of self promotion and branding"

I'm unsure if this is meant to be sarcasm. Do you actually believe the next generation of self-promotion will be offline, in-person as kind of a reform movement or backlash? The optimistic side of frequently likes to entertain this idea but my cynical side thinks the dopamine addiction is only getting stronger. That cynical view is mostly informed by observations of the number of folks I see on sidewalks staring and scrolling at their phones as they walk.

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#305

Post by jlokier » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 2:47 PM UTC

AlexandrB wrote: post #198

LinkedIn was and is mega-creepy. They still prompt me to "discover my network" by giving them my Gmail username and password. Based on the comments here, it seems that everyone has at this point accepted LinkedIn's creepy business practices and now we're just arguing about its relative utility. Great.

I don't think everyone has accepted to the point of giving LI their email password. I certainly haven't. Personally I think LinkedIn has some utility for me that I haven't found elsewhere yet. I was very skeptical when I joined it, and didn't really update or use it for at least 10 years. But more recently I've realised it fills a useful niche that is not well provided for by other services to my knowledge.

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#306

Post by jlokier » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 2:50 PM UTC

bengale wrote: post #157

LinkedIn could really do with a way to segment recruiters. I don't know how that would work but I tend not to go on there an interact as most of my feed is recruiters either listing jobs I don't care about or talking about the recruitment industry which I also don't care about. However, I still want to be connected to them, its useful for them to be able to reach out to me if they have something that aligns with my s…

I think you can unfollow the recruiters whose output you don't care about, but remain connected to them.

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#307

Post by stared » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 2:52 PM UTC

mlthoughts2018 wrote: post #282

ghaff wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

How you would envision a good screening process?

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#308

Post by ssijak » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 2:53 PM UTC

mancerayder wrote: post #276

42_ wrote: 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.

Or people pasting gotcha dumb math “problems” where hundreds of people reply the answer. I could never understand that.

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#309

Post by amoitnga » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 2:56 PM UTC

sk0v wrote: post #63

I really consider getting rid of my car. I bought it a year ago, but it's only ever sat in the driveway, I never use it. The funny meta-thing about his post, is that the content he feels adds 0 value, is in fact his own post. He is literally making a post about a tool he doesn't use. It's the equivalent of a person making a blog post about a tv series they don't watch but have seen the trailer for; no actual value to…

I never thought about LinkedIn being almost as useless as Facebook, now I do. and I never thought about difference between scroll-based websites and paginated feeds, now I do.

Your comment holds some truth, but I found the article interesting.

Re: Finally, I Closed My LinkedIn

#310

Post by game_the0ry » Thu, Jun 11, 2020, 3:00 PM UTC

This blog post comes off whiny and weak, with a tone of unearned moral and social superiority, all while making sweeping generalizations and false claims. The author used LI poorly, then complained publicly about being dissatisfied.

I get that randoms invites and messages are annoying, but the inconvenience shouldn't outweigh the benefit from LI replacing resumes for professional branding.[1] The 1 page resume is an obsolete concept. LI is like a living resume, with the added benefit of having employers reach out to you.

The resume needs to die. LI should replace resumes. Maybe it will replace recruiters too (where hiring manager reach out to you directly).[2] But it won't happen if you think like the author.

The flip side is waisting time by applying to job, and you'll get ghosted either way.

Yes, the feed is annoying. Yes, sometimes recruiters suck. But those annoyances should be tolerable considering the benefits.

FWIW, I got a very good job from a recruiter that messaged me on LinkedIn. Great companies reach out to me bc I use LI effectively.[3]

[1] Yeah, I hate the word "brand" too. Pro tip - figure it out and use it to your advantage, bc you certainly wont be able to change it. This blog post is an example - the irony is that the author's blog post will do more harm to his image than his LI profile ever did.

[2] Recruiters are not bad people. They're hustling hard just like everyone else.

[3] How to use LI effectively: buzzwords, appropriate profile pic, readable, accept lots of recruiter connections so it looks like you're popular and special.