Linked In seems to be nothing but a tool for head hunters. I’m not looking for a job so what good is it? I find my finger hovering over the delete button.
Has Linked In done anything for you? Phil? Mel? Anyone?
September 9, 2009 by Casey Cole
Linked In seems to be nothing but a tool for head hunters. I’m not looking for a job so what good is it? I find my finger hovering over the delete button.
Has Linked In done anything for you? Phil? Mel? Anyone?
I still get the odd friend request now and again but I’ve never got anything out of using the site. Not that I’ve tried very hard.
I think people treat it like a professional Facebook and I’ve heard it can be quite good if you’re hiring
Whereas with your favourite networking platform Twitter I’ve got a couple of jobs and interesting contacts for it. I’ll stop with the heresy now.
I think you’re right in that it’s very much a network of people looking for jobs, but it can be more than that. One of the benefits I find is that it automatically uploads blogs of people in my network. I also get some great reports and news that I might not necessarily get from other sources.
I’m finding twitter more and more useful for accessing new stories, however…and Darren is right – people are using twitter for jobs now…
I’ve used LinkedIn to get back in touch with people I’ve lost touch with over the years (always a problem when you flit around the country or leave it for a year, as I tend to do). It’s quite good to find out what people are up to. I subscribe to the RSS feed of my contacts so scan that once a week or so to see if anyone is up to anything. It’s also a good way of connecting with people from networking do’s where you might not have a current proposition but might in the future.
I have also ‘matchmaked’ people – a contact was looking for a BREEAM assesor and I had an ex-colleague who was looking for work, so matched them up.
I get quite a bit of hassle from recruitment agents, but if you let them know you’ll block unsolicited requests, they usually go away (blocking acts a bit like a black mark against them).
Casey,
The jury is out on LinkedIn. I have found some use in the questions section (you get quick responses). The groups I’ve joined have also helped with some research I have done, eg. finding salary levels for new staff I was lookign to hire.
As a media man it’s pretty good for marketing – your content and events. However I find the linkedIn space generally pretty insipid.
Have I told you how much I LOVE Twitter?
Phil
It’s rubbish. Lose it and I’ll subscribe to your twitter feed instead.
Thanks Rob! That’s clinched it.
Yo.
Here’s the only Good Thing I can think of: But for the occasional “updates” in my junk mail folder, I wouldn’t know what you’re doing.
This, of course, is of almost incalculably small practical benefit; however, it does give me a reason to say hello, and congratulate you on…. whatever.
Cheers,
Gersick, I’m touched and of course that means I now can’t ditch my account (just when I’d made up my mind to do just that!).
But that raises an important question: don’t you use an RSS feed reader? If not, why the heck not?!
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