Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

All LinkedIn with Nowhere to Go

thebaffler.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 71 posts

Re: All LinkedIn with Nowhere to Go

#41

Post by tamana »

reustle wrote: post #7
krutulis wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had the same experience after deleting my account several years ago (for different reasons). I do keep wondering if it will pop up as an issue, so I'm very curious about other people's experiences when not participating in LinkedIn.

My solution to the problem was to simply "connect" with every recruiter and friend on linkedin until I hit the "500+" connections tier, then disabled all forms of notifications from the site. Now my profile is very much idle, but when any business-type person looks me up, I still have a presence of sorts.

You could just filter the mail to spam and save all the effort.

Re: All LinkedIn with Nowhere to Go

#42

Post by soared »

jroseattle wrote: post #23

I think LinkedIn really missed the opportunity to change the way our culture thinks about work and professional communication. Another commenter called LI a glorified resume service, which really nails the point. Resumes from 20 years ago are no different from the current LinkedIn profile; the only incremental signal is the connection base...and that's only a signal if that information is public. The fact that Linked…

I wish I remember where, but I recently read something that argued most websites are still very basic in that they are using traditional revenue models. Few sites have innovative models that are unique to the internet. Linkedin is definitely in this category, but so are most businesses.

Selling ads while people reads your content? Sounds like a magazine. Selling a product? Sounds like a brick and mortar store. Even SaaS is really just a service you "outsource".

Sites that take advantage of network size might be an exception to this though.

Re: All LinkedIn with Nowhere to Go

#43

Post by Spooky23 »

coldtea wrote: post #35
kristianc wrote: post #30

I wonder what kind of job opportunity it is that's both: 1) Worth following up on 2) Not worth the recruiter going to the trouble of finding your contact details through GitHub/your personal site. It seems like the very lowest common denominator way of finding people, which would suggest that it would also have the lowest common denominator applicants, and the lowest common denominator jobs. Much of this thread is 'W…

> I wonder what kind of job opportunity it is that's both For most programmers (and even more so other professions), outside of the Valley, most job opportunities are not like "recruiter finding you", and going out of their way to offer you some job. Rather you apply to them -- and usually with lots of people competing.

It's a good way to validate resumes and get informal low-down on folks.

I've both unmasked bullshit artists and gotten better context on awesome people with bad resumes because of LinkedIn. I wouldn't pay a nickel for it though.

Re: All LinkedIn with Nowhere to Go

#46

Post by todayiamme »

tamana wrote: post #40
mratzloff wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most recruiters are lazy and just blast emails by language keyword search. No, I'm not interested in a 6-month PHP contract. No, I'm not interested in a junior IT role. I've found that removing any mention of specific languages and technologies has dramatically reduced the number of job offers, all of which were a complete waste of my time. Now if only recruiters would stop offering me my same title at a 20% pay cut,…

I have never received that sort of offer. Maybe your resume isn't competitive for the better jobs.

I am sure this is a carefully considered opinion backed by an analysis of the anonymous user's work history, connections, technical competence, geographical location, and personality. And that you have offset this against your own to arrive at the observation that you are more "competitive for the better jobs" than him.

Apologies for the snark, but all of this is anecdotal data. Your analysis is unwarranted.

Re: All LinkedIn with Nowhere to Go

#47

Post by throwaway5752 »

I don't know what the author thought they'd get out of the relationship. LI has to make money, and as a non-recruiter/non-professional account I accept the occasional undesired recruiting email or unsolicited accounts from strangers as part of the price paid. It's a nice way to have a networked resume, and I have never gotten a job through it but have gotten several high-quality inquiries that I would have pursued if circumstances at the time had not been different.

I don't expect it to magically connect me with people I don't know or to afford me access to insights of business thought leaders. The dynamic of those two (working with great people that you mutually respect for networking, and building relationships over time with mentors to earn their trust and insights) will not change substantially with technology, LinkedIn or otherwise. It only reflects those connections, it doesn't create them.

As a networked resume, again, it's perfectly adequate.

Re: All LinkedIn with Nowhere to Go

#48

Post by throwaway5752 »

jroseattle wrote: post #23

I think LinkedIn really missed the opportunity to change the way our culture thinks about work and professional communication. Another commenter called LI a glorified resume service, which really nails the point. Resumes from 20 years ago are no different from the current LinkedIn profile; the only incremental signal is the connection base...and that's only a signal if that information is public. The fact that Linked…

I don't know. They focus on the professional: marketing themselves, finding jobs, keeping in touch with people...

There's no shame in a resume service with a social component. They bought Slideshare which - in my way of looking at things - forwards how they help people market themselves. Maybe they could probably do more with coding ability tests or partner with online education, but that's probably premature.

Re: All LinkedIn with Nowhere to Go

#49

Post by jroseattle »

throwaway5752 wrote: post #48
jroseattle wrote: post #23

I think LinkedIn really missed the opportunity to change the way our culture thinks about work and professional communication. Another commenter called LI a glorified resume service, which really nails the point. Resumes from 20 years ago are no different from the current LinkedIn profile; the only incremental signal is the connection base...and that's only a signal if that information is public. The fact that Linked…

I don't know. They focus on the professional: marketing themselves, finding jobs, keeping in touch with people... There's no shame in a resume service with a social component. They bought Slideshare which - in my way of looking at things - forwards how they help people market themselves. Maybe they could probably do more with coding ability tests or partner with online education, but that's probably premature.

Sure, but I just find that focus incredibly uninspiring.

Twitter, FB, Instagram...they changed the way we communicate to those circles. Not that an equivalent parallel exists for LinkedIn, but it's like they're not really trying.

Re: All LinkedIn with Nowhere to Go

#50

Post by summarite »

throwaway5752 wrote: post #48
jroseattle wrote: post #23

I think LinkedIn really missed the opportunity to change the way our culture thinks about work and professional communication. Another commenter called LI a glorified resume service, which really nails the point. Resumes from 20 years ago are no different from the current LinkedIn profile; the only incremental signal is the connection base...and that's only a signal if that information is public. The fact that Linked…

I don't know. They focus on the professional: marketing themselves, finding jobs, keeping in touch with people... There's no shame in a resume service with a social component. They bought Slideshare which - in my way of looking at things - forwards how they help people market themselves. Maybe they could probably do more with coding ability tests or partner with online education, but that's probably premature.

LinkedIn night Lynda.com, so they certainly intend to try the educational side.
Post reply on HN