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LinkedIn success stories?
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Anonymous
| I'm job hunting and keep hearing about the increasing importance of professional social networking sites like LinkedIn as a way to help in your job search. So I'm curious to hear actual stories from folks out there who have successfully used it to get a job. I'm especially interested in whether or not the potential employer visited your page and looked at your recommendations (and how that worked since you have to have permission to view pages). Thanks! |
Anonymous
I don't think this is the reason why people say LinkedIn is valuable. I found it to be a valuable way of knowing whom my friends/casual acquaintances knew, so if I heard about a particular opening, I could do a search and see if anyone I knew could make an introduction to someone at the company who could pass along my resume. I got a couple of great interviews that way and ended up finding a job. |
Anonymous
| +1 to the PP. I wouldn't be expecting employers to find you, I see it as a networking tool. I haven't found a job, but was part of helping someone else. A recent graduate who was in my sorority (different college & many years later...so, a stranger to me but someone with whom I had this one thing in common) sent an email to those of us in the sorority's "group" on LinkedIn seeking a job in my field here in the DC area. I responded, passed her resume to my company's recruiter and she got an interview. Haven't heard yet if she was offered the job. |
Anonymous
I'm a career coach and I second what this PP said. It's all about networking/introductions, not an employer coming and finding you. That said, be sure your profile is well-edited and proofread. You want to put your best foot forward always. |
Anonymous
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OP here. Thanks. I do understand the basic networking capabilities of the site in terms of connecting people. Part of what I had in mind when I posted was that I heard a segment on Talk of the Nation one day re: job hunting in today's economy and how employers are increasingly using sites like LinkedIn. An HR person for Southwest Airlines was on and said that they definitely use LinkedIn but overall she wasn't a great spokesperson and didn't do a good job explaining exactly how they use it (she just kept avoiding the questions, actually). They also had an "expert" on who kept talking about employers using LinkedIn and Facebook as ways to help evaluate or check up on candidates (who they have already interviewed). Which wouldn't work well for me because I don't make those pages accessible to the world. (I do however make sure that what IS on public view puts my best foot forward in terms of my FB photo, groups I belong to, etc.)
So if employers aren't using it directly to check up on candidates - what's the scenario where the recommendations you get are the most useful? Perhaps for people like 21:54 who are passing along a resume of someone they don't know personally - so it's really a way to see that this person appears to at least have some former colleagues who would vouch for them? |
Anonymous
| One of my friends is an HR Director for a large restaurant chain and often posts job openings through her LinkedIn and Facebook profiles. I know that she has been successful in filling jobs for her company using both platforms. I thought on LinkedIn there was a specific job search/career search function but I am not sure about that. I have also heard that people in the IT industry use LinkedIn to fill positions as well. |
Anonymous
| I just went to a seminar and there was a panel of recruiters. They all said that they use LinkedIn to search for candidates. The key is to have your profile reflect your skills/experience etc., not just a list of companies where you worked. eg if you are an expert in cost accounting, make sure that's on there. When the recruiter looks for an expert in cost accounting and types that in the search, you want your profile to pop up. From personal experience (I've been looking since December), it's only been helpful in the networking sense. |
Anonymous
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I promise I am not trying to be a troll but I HATE linked in. I am not a member for one reason -- it spams the hell out of me! When it first started, I would say I got between 10 and 15 "__ __ has invited you to connect on LinkedIn. Click this link now to......" And if that's not enough, there are the follow up spam emails "Your invitation from __ __ is about to expire." I get three for each invitation. Now that it's not a new thing anymore, I only get one or two per week, but that's still more than I find acceptable.
Just a thought for those of you who use linked in, think twice before inviting someone who is not already using the service. There is no "unsubscribe" option and anyone you invite will get at least three annoying emails with your name on it, and then linked in has their email address on file and sends random emails encouraging them to sign up, as well. Not cool. |
Anonymous
Interesting. I've had my LinkedIn account for years and I don't get any spam -- just one weekly update email showing what my connections have been up to, and that's about it. Also, if you receive an invitation to connect that you don't want to accept, just click the delete button. It will be deleted from your account and you won't get any reminders that it's about to expire etc. |
Anonymous
Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but the invitations aren't to join LinkedIn. They're invitations to "connect" to other people (ie to network). Presumably, you signed up for LinkedIn in order to do networking - if you are not interested in connecting with others, then obviously it's not for you. And re: 3 emails per each invite, if you don't want to "connect" with someone, there is an option to decline the invitation (you do have to open that email). Once you decline, you won't keep getting reminders. I believe you can also select an option (with your profile) if you don't want to receive invitations in the first place. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
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I'm the poster who talked about the linked in "invitations" being spam. I do NOT have an account. I never set one up and never will. So I can't just go onto my account to hit "delete" because I don't have an account.
What linkedin users may not know is that, each time someone uploads their address book to linked in to see which of their contacts is already using linkedin, linkedin mass emails those contacts on your list who are not linkedin members, on your behalf, "inviting" them to join linkedin. The email comes from YOUR email account and uses your name. The email looks like this: "John Doe has invited you to join his professional network on LinkedIn. The only way to get access to John's professional network is through the following link: (link). Signing up is free and will take less than a minute. (insert promo info about why linkedin is great)" About one week later, you get another email. "Reminder: you have a pending LinkedIn email from John Doe. The only way to get access to John's (and so on)." About a week after that, you get a third email. "Your invitation on LinkedIn from __ __ is about to expire (and so on)." Thus, three emails generated by one person uploading their contact list to LinkedIn and therefore giving linked-in's spambot my email address without permission. Multiply this by the number of contacts of mine who have done the same thing, and you can see how I'd get frustrated at all of the linked in spam. For a while, I was getting dozens of linkedin invitations each week. Of course you all might not notice this, because you belong to linked in. You have agreed to be contacted and once your address is in the system, you can control invitations. I have not opted in, but still the company pesters me daily, using YOUR NAME to do it! Yes, that's the thing. The emails come from the contacts own email account, so my spam filters can't block it. There is no way to say "no thanks" or block these emails if you don't have an account with linkedin. When you join those types of sites, you have to be careful about divulging your contact list to them. I've actually gotten email apologies for business associates who realize belatedly that linkedin has mass messaged their entire contact list. I've also personally told people to remove me from their contacts if they intend to share my email with third parties in that manner. Make no mistake, uploading your contacts into linked in means that they will be spammed. and your name will be used in the spamming, and people won't like it. When I make hiring decisions (and I do) I remember it. |
Anonymous
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from linked in's privacy policy:
Contacts Information In order to invite others to connect with you directly in LinkedIn, you may use the LinkedIn services to invite them if they are a User, or provide their names and email by uploading their contact information. This information will be used by LinkedIn to send your invitation including an optional message that you may write. The names and email addresses of people that you invite will be used only to send your invitation and reminders. |
Anonymous
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I received a call from a recruiter for an opening based on my linkedin profile. I was not looking. I did go on the interview today and it is for a job that would pay $250k base plus long term incentives.
So, based on that, I highly recommend it. |