How to use LinkedIn?
Discussion
My career focused friends have often told me I need use LinkedIn but I have always avoided it due to privacy concerns. However, I’m looking to change jobs and a recruiter pulled me up on the fact they couldn’t find me on LinkedIn.
Apparently, it raises suspicion if a candidate doesn’t have a profile, and it gives the impression that you aren’t serious about your career or networking, especially for the level/seniority of the role I am in and am applying for.
Whilst I’m confident I can put a good profile together just as I can a CV, I’m not actually sure how I should be using LinkedIn to my advantage.
For example, should I add current colleagues? Will this not set off alarm bells given I’ve never had a profile and now suddenly I'm on there with all the bells and whistles?
Is it OK to ask current customers who I have an excellent relationship with to recommend/endorse me, even if it screams “help me leave this place”? And does it look suspicious if I get a number of recommendations/endorsements within a short period of time (even if they are from a varity of organisations across multiple industries)?
If someone I don’t know wants to connect then should I accept, e.g. a recruiter? And finally, if I use the “seeking opportunities” marker is it only recruiters that can see this or is it viewable by everyone?
Essentially, I’m just looking for some advice on LinkedIn etiquette.
Apparently, it raises suspicion if a candidate doesn’t have a profile, and it gives the impression that you aren’t serious about your career or networking, especially for the level/seniority of the role I am in and am applying for.
Whilst I’m confident I can put a good profile together just as I can a CV, I’m not actually sure how I should be using LinkedIn to my advantage.
For example, should I add current colleagues? Will this not set off alarm bells given I’ve never had a profile and now suddenly I'm on there with all the bells and whistles?
Is it OK to ask current customers who I have an excellent relationship with to recommend/endorse me, even if it screams “help me leave this place”? And does it look suspicious if I get a number of recommendations/endorsements within a short period of time (even if they are from a varity of organisations across multiple industries)?
If someone I don’t know wants to connect then should I accept, e.g. a recruiter? And finally, if I use the “seeking opportunities” marker is it only recruiters that can see this or is it viewable by everyone?
Essentially, I’m just looking for some advice on LinkedIn etiquette.
I think you are over thinking this.
It's common to link with past and present colleagues. Can't see it raising any alarm bells.
It's the tsunami of recruitment agents that is a little bit more tricky. You don't have to link with them to talk to them though. At the end of the day most people are on there to further their career so agents are part of the territory, and its definitely worth knowing the good ones.
I'm sure you will be fine.
It's common to link with past and present colleagues. Can't see it raising any alarm bells.
It's the tsunami of recruitment agents that is a little bit more tricky. You don't have to link with them to talk to them though. At the end of the day most people are on there to further their career so agents are part of the territory, and its definitely worth knowing the good ones.
I'm sure you will be fine.
Some great insights above.
My advice would be to use it if it can add competitive advantage as part of your overall career strategy. Understand what it can do for you in your unique circumstances and exploit it, along with all of the other tools at your disposal.
If however after reviewing your own approach to what you want to achieve it does not offer you any advantage, then don’t feel pressured to follow the crowd. But make that decision based upon analysis rather than a lack of understanding; and your great question here will indeed add to your understanding of how it may assist.
My advice would be to use it if it can add competitive advantage as part of your overall career strategy. Understand what it can do for you in your unique circumstances and exploit it, along with all of the other tools at your disposal.
If however after reviewing your own approach to what you want to achieve it does not offer you any advantage, then don’t feel pressured to follow the crowd. But make that decision based upon analysis rather than a lack of understanding; and your great question here will indeed add to your understanding of how it may assist.
I treat LinkedIn as a public CV. So I have a few rules
- ensure the privacy settings as such that all of my activity, apart from deliberate posts on LI, is hidden from my timeline.
- all information is accurate, including the intro statement, so I can rely on it if approached.
- never connect with recruitment agents - you don’t need to. If they have something genuine to offer, they’ll send you a private message with the details. The ones who just want to connect are just building their database.
- only ever connect with people I’ve actually worked with, that said, as an IT consultant, that’s a pretty big pool of people
- never solicit recommendations, only give them if I’m truly happy to publicly endorse people, because it reflects directly on me and my current employer.
- never post personal stuff, only ever work related, and then only ever related to my current employer. Never post an opinion that contradicts or is negative towards my current employer’s position.
- actively promote my current employer by sharing their content.
So far, it’s worked really well for me, and given some very interesting opportunities. I’ve also never needed a traditional CV, nor have I needed to apply for a job.
- ensure the privacy settings as such that all of my activity, apart from deliberate posts on LI, is hidden from my timeline.
- all information is accurate, including the intro statement, so I can rely on it if approached.
- never connect with recruitment agents - you don’t need to. If they have something genuine to offer, they’ll send you a private message with the details. The ones who just want to connect are just building their database.
- only ever connect with people I’ve actually worked with, that said, as an IT consultant, that’s a pretty big pool of people
- never solicit recommendations, only give them if I’m truly happy to publicly endorse people, because it reflects directly on me and my current employer.
- never post personal stuff, only ever work related, and then only ever related to my current employer. Never post an opinion that contradicts or is negative towards my current employer’s position.
- actively promote my current employer by sharing their content.
So far, it’s worked really well for me, and given some very interesting opportunities. I’ve also never needed a traditional CV, nor have I needed to apply for a job.
SkinnyPete said:
I’m looking to change jobs and a recruiter pulled me up on the fact they couldn’t find me on LinkedIn.
Recruiters use it to find your contacts, that's the only reason.I have a profile, I don't use it........... My biggest objection is people endorsing other peoples skills, from a former employer (defence sector) I know 2 young dumb (and I mean seriously stupid) office girls who spend all day internet shopping for next weeks work outfits, yet on linkedin they're "Electronic warfare specialists" and various other titles, all because they endorse their friends skills and vice-versa.
Edited by lyonspride on Sunday 27th October 10:01
I was recruiting recently for a contract tech role. Of the 20+ CVs I received I couldn't find 2 on LinkedIn and it does raise suspicion. You can put whatever you want on a CV and I have work to do to validate it, possibly including chasing up references which are often only given once an offer has been made.
By putting your CV on LinkedIn it is open for scrutiny so you are much less likely to play loose with the truth. As my industry is pretty niche it is likely we will have mutual connections so I can get that reference before I spend time interviewing you, not after.
By putting your CV on LinkedIn it is open for scrutiny so you are much less likely to play loose with the truth. As my industry is pretty niche it is likely we will have mutual connections so I can get that reference before I spend time interviewing you, not after.
mikees said:
I think LinkedIn is losing its appeal more people I know are removing profiles and having limited content and in my industry it’s becoming less common and only used if a person has a open media press profile
M
Coincidentally just closed my account yesterday, I found it had no value whatsoever. Seemed to be full of people humblebragging and/or regurgitating old made up stories about their 'best hire' ever being a homeless man who was late for his interview or whatever. M
I think eventually it'll just be full of salespeople connecting with other salespeople, much like any real life networking event that you're invited to. It gets tiresome very quickly.
I did however particularly enjoy Mike Winnet's posts and insight into how Linkedin actually works ('pods' mainly).
It’s only important to people that use it. If you want to appeal to those people then you’ll need to set up an account but there’s plenty of people that don’t use it and manage to get jobs based on actual ability and not some bull they wrote on the internet.
Plus 99% of recruitment agents are liars so I wouldn’t make a decision based on what they’ve said. Most likely they just want your contacts from it rather than benefitting you.
Plus 99% of recruitment agents are liars so I wouldn’t make a decision based on what they’ve said. Most likely they just want your contacts from it rather than benefitting you.
I don't use it anymore, lots of people have stopped using it since it became part of Microsoft.
There was backlash at work when it started showing linkedin details on skype of business and also when they took over Lynda.com and forced you to use linkedin to continue with the training you previously held.
There was backlash at work when it started showing linkedin details on skype of business and also when they took over Lynda.com and forced you to use linkedin to continue with the training you previously held.
Stand your ground,if you don't want a profile,don't have one,tell the recruiter your relationships are built in the real world,the fact cv's are public makes them no less,to be ahem exaggerated,some recent colleagues from a firm that went into administration have 'interesting' to put it mildy takes on their recent roles,much as fb with construction agency's it seems people can pretend to be 'at work' recruiting while,browsing/ letting the internet do the work for them
BenjiS said:
I treat LinkedIn as a public CV. So I have a few rules
- ensure the privacy settings as such that all of my activity, apart from deliberate posts on LI, is hidden from my timeline.
- all information is accurate, including the intro statement, so I can rely on it if approached.
- never connect with recruitment agents - you don’t need to. If they have something genuine to offer, they’ll send you a private message with the details. The ones who just want to connect are just building their database.
- only ever connect with people I’ve actually worked with, that said, as an IT consultant, that’s a pretty big pool of people
- never solicit recommendations, only give them if I’m truly happy to publicly endorse people, because it reflects directly on me and my current employer.
- never post personal stuff, only ever work related, and then only ever related to my current employer. Never post an opinion that contradicts or is negative towards my current employer’s position.
- actively promote my current employer by sharing their content.
So far, it’s worked really well for me, and given some very interesting opportunities. I’ve also never needed a traditional CV, nor have I needed to apply for a job.
^This. Not having a CV on LinkedIn is a bit like not having a Garage on PH: entirely your choice, but just a bit inconvenient for everyone else. - ensure the privacy settings as such that all of my activity, apart from deliberate posts on LI, is hidden from my timeline.
- all information is accurate, including the intro statement, so I can rely on it if approached.
- never connect with recruitment agents - you don’t need to. If they have something genuine to offer, they’ll send you a private message with the details. The ones who just want to connect are just building their database.
- only ever connect with people I’ve actually worked with, that said, as an IT consultant, that’s a pretty big pool of people
- never solicit recommendations, only give them if I’m truly happy to publicly endorse people, because it reflects directly on me and my current employer.
- never post personal stuff, only ever work related, and then only ever related to my current employer. Never post an opinion that contradicts or is negative towards my current employer’s position.
- actively promote my current employer by sharing their content.
So far, it’s worked really well for me, and given some very interesting opportunities. I’ve also never needed a traditional CV, nor have I needed to apply for a job.
One aspect I’ve found interesting is when I’ve put together a tender or bid for a project, every so often the receiving project managers will look you up on LinkedIn (you can see who has viewed your profile, well used to anyway). So I started adding project examples, and if it was for a prestigious opportunity, tailored my LinkedIn profile content to suit that type of project - so the profiles can be used as part of an overall marketing strategy.
As someone that has recruited or been in the recruitment process of hundreds of people over the past 10 years, I can't think of a time I have interviewed someone without at least, glancing their LinkedIn profile first.
It is much easier to tweak a CV for a specific job role (sometimes at the hand of the recruitment agency), than it is to tweak a LinkedIn profile, where the lie/ exaggeration is available to all to see.
Unless you work in a manual role, or in IT security not having a LinkedIn profile [i]suggests[i] you are not open, social or 'do not get' technology, all pretty important traits for the roles I hire for.
The suggestion above 'to hold your ground', might be a bit high risk, sometimes you have to show flexibility when seeking a role.
It is much easier to tweak a CV for a specific job role (sometimes at the hand of the recruitment agency), than it is to tweak a LinkedIn profile, where the lie/ exaggeration is available to all to see.
Unless you work in a manual role, or in IT security not having a LinkedIn profile [i]suggests[i] you are not open, social or 'do not get' technology, all pretty important traits for the roles I hire for.
The suggestion above 'to hold your ground', might be a bit high risk, sometimes you have to show flexibility when seeking a role.
xjay1337 said:
I hate Linkedin.
It's a poncy FB for business types who like to talk how amazing they are.
I haven't updated mine in about 3 years.
Would probably update it if I found myself looking for a new position.
Otherwise, nah.
You hate it yet you recognise its useful for role hunting It's a poncy FB for business types who like to talk how amazing they are.
I haven't updated mine in about 3 years.
Would probably update it if I found myself looking for a new position.
Otherwise, nah.
The Crack Fox said:
LinkedIn is dreadful. If you remove salespeople and recruitment parasites, there’s only a very small network of interesting things. I work in a high-tech industry (day job, not the mag) and hire a few people. Not once did I need LinkedIn for that, nor did I check it. I’m sure it was once a useful tool for like-minded people to swap business/tech stuff. It’s bloody awful now.
Just my 2p.
It's hard to disagree with any of that. It's an awful site dominated by dJust my 2p.
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