Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: Is LinkedIn Still Relevant?
LinkedIn had 590 million members -- though back in 2016 Microsoft conceded that less than 25% of the service's members were active. Yet CNBC recently shared estimates that 95% of recruiters are using LinkedIn to find candidates, and touted a new tool called "LinkedIn Hashtags" which lets companies highlight policies like "#dogfriendly" or "#freelunch".
But is LinkedIn really helpful for job-seekers? An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: I'm on unemployment and am looking for a new job, and I've been told "Oh, you need to be on LinkedIn if you want to be taken seriously!" So I go there, and it looks like Facebook or something, wants to scrape my email contacts, upload pictures, and so on.
Is LinkedIn really necessary, or is it just a ruse to get me to give them all sorts of personal information like all other social media sites?
"I'm also unemployed and looking for a job," adds another anonymous Slashdot reader, "and have all my crap on Linkedin and Indeed, and have been using them to apply left and right. If they aren't useful anymore I'm essentially sitting on my hands doing nothing." But Slashdot reader tomhath insists that LinkedIn "was never relevant. Their motto was that you didn't exist if you're not there -- but that was only their marketing hype, not reality."
Leave your own thoughts in the comments. Is LinkedIn still relevant?
But is LinkedIn really helpful for job-seekers? An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: I'm on unemployment and am looking for a new job, and I've been told "Oh, you need to be on LinkedIn if you want to be taken seriously!" So I go there, and it looks like Facebook or something, wants to scrape my email contacts, upload pictures, and so on.
Is LinkedIn really necessary, or is it just a ruse to get me to give them all sorts of personal information like all other social media sites?
"I'm also unemployed and looking for a job," adds another anonymous Slashdot reader, "and have all my crap on Linkedin and Indeed, and have been using them to apply left and right. If they aren't useful anymore I'm essentially sitting on my hands doing nothing." But Slashdot reader tomhath insists that LinkedIn "was never relevant. Their motto was that you didn't exist if you're not there -- but that was only their marketing hype, not reality."
Leave your own thoughts in the comments. Is LinkedIn still relevant?
I mean, employers just throw out most resumes they get for an opening. So does that mean you should no longer have or update your resumes?
LinkedIn is basically an online resume repository. Being active on LinkedIn doesn't mean you can ignore other good advice on job hunting (networking, etc.).
I've used LinkedIn to hire lots of professional people across various projects. Its certainly more 'relevant' than any other website in my experience.
And if you aren't on there, it does raise the question of why you aren't. And that, despite me wishing otherwise, raises a bit of a red flag.
Except I'd argue it is.
Last year I was in the midst of a job search, and putting up the "I'm actively looking for a job" flag on LinkedIn was plenty useful.
Granted in some ways it's like being a single girl on a dating site where you get inundated with interested parties, forcing you to wade through them and find the good ones.
I'm actually in my current job because of it, making it the first time I got a job not due to me reaching out first, but because of a company or it's agents doing so.
Help Brendan pay off his student loans
When I was active on linkedin, I would get calls like these daily from people with heavy Indian accents.
>Hello sir, we are looking for someone that knows Windows server. Do you know Windows Server?
>Yes
>Do you know about file sharing?
>Yes
>Do you know about TCP/IP
>Yes
>Are you familiar with Cisco?
>Yes.
>You sound perfect for this client of mine, they are a fortune 500 company. Starting salary is $250,000 USD a year. I just need the last 4 digits of your SSI for a background check.
This is just like the IRS scammer phone calls but with a twist, they're preying on people with no job, no money and desperate for work. As soon as I stopped being active on linkedin, the calls stopped.
And that's what Linkedin is- its a list of all your contacts, except you don't have to work to keep in contact with them- they update their own info as it changes. And its separate from your personal network.
Nobody actually cares about the social networking portion. Its just a place to hold your resume and keep a list of your connections.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
I'm a hiring manager and I throw out most resumes I get for a position, probably >90%. But I do read them all, even if it takes one minute to read most resumes. Every single one thrown is because the person has no real interest or motivation in getting the job.
Number one thing by a country mile folks - include a cover letter. Just two paragraphs that you've written specifically to me, on why you're interested in the job and perhaps how you experience applies, and you're almost guaranteed a deep look or an interview. For cripes sake, most people don't think at all and the form-letter style "objective" sections I see all the time make it apparent they're spamming the exact same document to whatever they can find.