S/O How wierd is it to not have a Linkedin account?

[Anonymous]

I am a GS 14 professional in a somewhat visible position at my agency and I do not have a profile. I am pretty certain some colleagues may have attempted to research me online, but with no luck. I just don't like the idea of having an online presence. Does it seem unprofessional not to have one?

[Anonymous]

It is odd. I didn't have one until I needed one because I started administering a premium subscription we purchased for a large part of our workforce.

My email solicitation/spam went up exponentially once I joined. I wish I'd put a different title.

I do feel a little bit more peace that my account is established and I've got the connections if I ever need to job hunt.

[Anonymous]

Depending on the type of your work you do, but I think it is generally a better idea for you to have one if you want a better professional representation of yourself.

The GS14s I know who don't have one generally fall into two camps:
1.) old geezers
2.) people who just don't care and are coasting
3.) experienced folks who don't care much about option and don't need a linkedin account to advance professionally or network

Not saying you fall into these two camps, but that might be some people's perception.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's odd to not have one. The only things I get from Linkedin are unsolicited emails from recruiters. It's not a very useful platform for people who network with their network by traditional means.

[Anonymous]

Not weird at all. It doesn't necessarily help.

[Anonymous]

I think it probably comes off as a bit old-fashioned and out of touch, even though you may not be those things at all. I would just do it as a way to present yourself in a professional way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it probably comes off as a bit old-fashioned and out of touch, even though you may not be those things at all. I would just do it as a way to present yourself in a professional way.

I agree. My husband is very anti-social media as well and doesn’t have any online presence other than LinkedIn. He has a pretty bare-bones profile with a picture, short description of his skills, and listings of positions. In this day and age I do believe it is odd not to and positions you as unprofessional.

[Anonymous]

I am the anxious social media op from another thread. I held off on linked in for a long time. I wish I hadn't. It is a nice database for storing contacts. It also allows me to easily reach a lot of people in my field who I've met over the years. I wish I had my early years of contacts in there too. Much more useful than a shoebox or rolodex of business cards! Which I literally have and was thinking about going through over the holidays to add people on linked in.

If you never need to promote your work, look for a job, solicit advice, or if you have a better way to manage contacts, you might be fine without it. Also, if my job didn't already have me in the public eye (my org has my bio up online), I might feel differently, but of all the platforms, linked in is not too stressful. It doesn't require a lot of engagement, but is there when you need it.

[Anonymous]

I don't have one. If I were starting a job search I guess I would do it but otherwise it is just another way to give up some privacy on-line
--signed lady without a facebook account either

[Anonymous]

It's not odd to not have one, I would say even less odd as a fed govt employee.

It's really helpful if you want to make yourself known to recruiters for job opportunities. It is also helpful if you want to establish yourself as an authority/expert so other people can reach out to you for media interviews/speaking/other opportunities.

But if none of that matters then it doesn't matter whether you're on there or not.

[Anonymous]

It's not odd, but it's a good idea because it will be one of the top hits if someone googles <your name> <your job or field>, and YOU control all the content. It's a very easy way to have a positive presence in the world of social media.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't have one. If I were starting a job search I guess I would do it but otherwise it is just another way to give up some privacy on-line
--signed lady without a facebook account either

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it probably comes off as a bit old-fashioned and out of touch, even though you may not be those things at all. I would just do it as a way to present yourself in a professional way.

I agree. My husband is very anti-social media as well and doesn’t have any online presence other than LinkedIn. He has a pretty bare-bones profile with a picture, short description of his skills, and listings of positions. In this day and age I do believe it is odd not to and positions you as unprofessional.

In this day and age, our business is everybody's business.

[Anonymous]

GS-15 and I deleted mine. I got tired of being phished by Chinese hackers and invited to conferences in Iran.

When I reported a fake profile (purporting to be an employee at my agency) to LinkedIn (and my agency officially reported it to them) they refused to take it down. That was my last straw.

[Anonymous]

GS-14, attorney. Never had one, don't intend to get one. I'm not at all anti-social media, I'm just 1.) not job hunting 2.) even if I were job hunting, it would be for another government job, which I don't need Linked In for and 3.) I simply do not have the time or inclination to maintain yet another social media thing. It's also how I feel about Instagram, I just don't have it in me to run another account.