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Without LinkedIn account I won't get a job in US?

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Re: Without LinkedIn account I won't get a job in US?

#41

Post by KingMob »

eitally wrote: post #32

You don't have to have a LinkedIn profile to get a job. That said, having a LinkedIn account and using it can be beneficial in finding a job, in several ways that I suspect most technical individual contributors don't typically use or gain value from. 1) Online rolodex: It's a convenient way to maintain and grow a professional network, and it's a place where most participants actively endeavor to keep their contact i…

Recommendations are actually way more important than you think, so be sure to solicit them. When a non-technical person looks at a technical person's body of work, they can't really evaluate the quality of your code, so recommendations help a lot. It's been very helpful in the past in landing consulting gigs with small companies.

Re: Without LinkedIn account I won't get a job in US?

#42

Post by theGREENsuit »

None of the jobs I've had over the last few years have made it mandatory to have a LinkedIn account. I don't see how that would make sense and why employers would require you to have it. Do Polish employers require you to have a GoldenLine account? I have both, just to see if it leads to any solid opportunities. It hasn't yet.

Re: Without LinkedIn account I won't get a job in US?

#43

Post by abathur »

Just a general thank-you to the OP for bringing this up, and for all participants. I've resisted creating a LinkedIn account on principle(s) despite the invitations.

I'm sure there's some selection bias from the title, but the comments help address the nagging fear that I'm shooting myself in the foot.

Re: Without LinkedIn account I won't get a job in US?

#44

Post by eitally »

KingMob wrote: post #41
eitally wrote: post #32

You don't have to have a LinkedIn profile to get a job. That said, having a LinkedIn account and using it can be beneficial in finding a job, in several ways that I suspect most technical individual contributors don't typically use or gain value from. 1) Online rolodex: It's a convenient way to maintain and grow a professional network, and it's a place where most participants actively endeavor to keep their contact i…

Recommendations are actually way more important than you think, so be sure to solicit them. When a non-technical person looks at a technical person's body of work, they can't really evaluate the quality of your code, so recommendations help a lot. It's been very helpful in the past in landing consulting gigs with small companies.

Thanks for the tip!

Re: Without LinkedIn account I won't get a job in US?

#45

Post by ionised »

stickfigure wrote: post #39
ionised wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't a back end engineer most likely have been working on proprietary source code for their time with the previous company? Or are you talking about code they've written out of work hours? If so, that's never going to be indicative of the kind of code they can and normally do write is it? * To clarify, I'm asking because I'm nearing the end of my third year at my first dev job at an engineering consultancy as an…

While likelihood is something for debate, it is true that there are plenty of people who have no public code, or no public code worth looking at. Those people have made a grave career mistake. This really isn't any different from hiring an artist. What would you say to someone who walked in your door and says: "I'm a great painter; look at all these people I have painted for" but can't/won't show you any examples of…

What I meant was, I have personal coding projects but I don't have access to the kind of high-performance hardware and expensive 3rd party software that we use and that I have most of my experience with at work.

So while I have experience writing some fun little Android apps and contributing in a small way to some projects here and there outside of my 9-5 working hours, that code is not going to ever be close to what I am actually capable of or am used to writing.

Re: Without LinkedIn account I won't get a job in US?

#46

Post by neurotixz »

I am in Canada, but I think it can also apply in the US:

I am working in security , which is a small world where I am. I usually take a look at a LinkedIn profile to know who an applicant knows that I know as well, that way I can get more insight from people I know and trust if I feel the need. I had a few people call me as well to confirm a suspicion or get a bit of insight into someone's personality. Lots of people can sail an interview but are lacking in person. It saved me a few bad experiences iHope that helps a little. Obviously it does not apply for international candidates or people new to the country/region, which is a profile we see often at the moment.

Also, I decided to change job a few years ago, getting LinkedIn alerts on jobs helped me target decent recruiters that really know the specific field, and it landed me 3 interviews and job offers.

Re: Without LinkedIn account I won't get a job in US?

#48

Post by RockyMcNuts »

gkya wrote: post #38
RockyMcNuts wrote: post #36

If you have a position where part of the job is to be connected to other people in the industry, then yes. If you didn't have a LinkedIn account it would suggest you weren't too serious about building and staying in touch with your network. If it's not a client or industry-facing position then no. Doesn't hurt if you're looking, especially if you want headhunters to contact you.

So if somehow LinkedIn collapsed the people in the industry would cease to be interconnected? LinkedIn to me, seems unnecessary and silly. A web page with a link to a CV and a mailto: link would be enough. A tech/IT person w/o a website somewhere, that would make me dubious if I was hiring.

if I was hiring a business development guy and one guy was connected to all the senior people I wanted to do business with and another guy didn't have a LinkedIn, I would favor the first one. For some things it's an important signal, if not a red flag that someone isn't switched on and plugged in.

If someone wanted to be my social media guy and wasn't on social media/Twitter, that would be a red flag too!

Just like there are jobs where one should probably have a Github or public portfolio, there are jobs where one should be on LinkedIn. It's a tool one should know how to use, not the sum of one's identity.

Re: Without LinkedIn account I won't get a job in US?

#49

Post by MCRed »

stickfigure wrote: post #39
ionised wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't a back end engineer most likely have been working on proprietary source code for their time with the previous company? Or are you talking about code they've written out of work hours? If so, that's never going to be indicative of the kind of code they can and normally do write is it? * To clarify, I'm asking because I'm nearing the end of my third year at my first dev job at an engineering consultancy as an…

While likelihood is something for debate, it is true that there are plenty of people who have no public code, or no public code worth looking at. Those people have made a grave career mistake. This really isn't any different from hiring an artist. What would you say to someone who walked in your door and says: "I'm a great painter; look at all these people I have painted for" but can't/won't show you any examples of…

The analogy to artists is exactly right-- there's a lot of coders who are jackson pollacks out there who are not getting hired because the people looking at their github are not capable of recognizing what they see.
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