Is anyone starting to hate LinkedIn yet?

[jonnydrama]

What started as a good resource to catch up with old friends is now starting to turn into a recruitment agent cricle jerk.

I didn't mind getting the odd job opportunity before but it now appears to be 3-4 connections a day and the agents are getting more and more desperate. Some of the phonecalls I've had from it are cringey, agents wanting to stay in touch every 2 weeks (even after I've said I wouldn't consider leaving my current contract for 6 months minimum as we're at a critical stage)

Don't get me wrong there is alot of good people on there but the agents appear to be taking over all areas of the site, posting up non-related jobs in discussion areas etc.

[AyBee]

You don't have to accept their requests you know

[jonnydrama]

AyBee said:

You don't have to accept their requests you know

Absolutely not, the good ones do let you know why they are connecting though

[edc]

jonnydrama said:

What started as a good resource to catch up with old friends is now starting to turn into a recruitment agent cricle jerk.

I didn't mind getting the odd job opportunity before but it now appears to be 3-4 connections a day and the agents are getting more and more desperate. Some of the phonecalls I've had from it are cringey, agents wanting to stay in touch every 2 weeks (even after I've said I wouldn't consider leaving my current contract for 6 months minimum as we're at a critical stage)

Don't get me wrong there is alot of good people on there but the agents appear to be taking over all areas of the site, posting up non-related jobs in discussion areas etc.

You also don't need to put your phone number on there.

[T5R+]

It was very good a decade ago but these "new folk" have spoilt it.

As one RC said - "it appears you do not have many HR/RC connections, may I ask if you decline their invitations".

One day I will join "FaceAche"

[Blue62]

I went to a conference a few years ago where the CEO of Linked In was giving a talk, someone in the audience pointedly asked him if Linked In was intending to become a recruitment site and he couldn't give a direct answer. The truth is that recruitment is now where it derives most of its revenue, it is a job board, end of. Facebook is going the same way.

[AyBee]

Blue62 said:

I went to a conference a few years ago where the CEO of Linked In was giving a talk, someone in the audience pointedly asked him if Linked In was intending to become a recruitment site and he couldn't give a direct answer. The truth is that recruitment is now where it derives most of its revenue, it is a job board, end of. Facebook is going the same way.

That is essentially what it is (what's it supposed to be?), but it's quite easy to control when you want to be contacted rather than getting bombarded. I have about 8 requests waiting at the moment, all of them from RCs. My boss (one of my LinkedIns) may notice when the time has come for me to move on when I start accepting them all

[ReaperCushions]

IME you shouldnt ps off recruiters, you never know when you might need them or they might have something amazing.

Im not a recruiter, but someone who has used them for my last few moves.

I like that linkedin is more recruiter focused. I was approached about my last 2 positions via it that I wouldn't have had any exposure to without it.

[edc]

AyBee said:

Blue62 said:

I went to a conference a few years ago where the CEO of Linked In was giving a talk, someone in the audience pointedly asked him if Linked In was intending to become a recruitment site and he couldn't give a direct answer. The truth is that recruitment is now where it derives most of its revenue, it is a job board, end of. Facebook is going the same way.

That is essentially what it is (what's it supposed to be?), but it's quite easy to control when you want to be contacted rather than getting bombarded. I have about 8 requests waiting at the moment, all of them from RCs. My boss (one of my LinkedIns) may notice when the time has come for me to move on when I start accepting them all

You can control that too by not allowing your connections to see your connections and by not publishing your activity.

The site has been useful to me. There are some useful professional groups. I have used it to network amongst other people in the same line of work to open doors to new opportunities.

A bit like PH though if you just sign up and bombard everyone with connection requests or favours without having contributed in some way then people won't look so favourably on you. I will contribute to discussions in my line of work and this also raises your profile.

[Blue62]

AyBee said:

That is essentially what it is (what's it supposed to be?), but it's quite easy to control when you want to be contacted rather than getting bombarded. I have about 8 requests waiting at the moment, all of them from RCs. My boss (one of my LinkedIns) may notice when the time has come for me to move on when I start accepting them all

It started life as a business networking service and has evolved into a recruitment business, the interesting point is that they still want to be regarded as a networking site, even though their strategy is to drive revenue through the provision of services to recruiters.

[jonnydrama]

ReaperCushions said:

IME you shouldnt ps off recruiters, you never know when you might need them or they might have something amazing.

Im not a recruiter, but someone who has used them for my last few moves.

I like that linkedin is more recruiter focused. I was approached about my last 2 positions via it that I wouldn't have had any exposure to without it.

I don't piss them off, I make connection with them and listen to what they have to say and politely decline when it doesn't suit. All the contracts I've had have been from personal recommendation but I'm aware they have their uses.

Since joining though I've had 2 seperate phonecalls from different recruiters on there at my work desk. Bearing in mind I don't have any published contact details and they didn't have a copy of my CV, the ONLY way they could have got my desk number is by calling the company I'm currently contracting at and asking to be put through to me.

[cailean]

LI will be good to you if you use it wisely. Most of my new contacts, opportunities to quote on work come via LI, and I am a boring accountant in audit, assurance, IPOs etc. Agents don't cause much grief, I accept invites from some/good ones, it helps to keep your eye on the market.