Linkedin, worth it?

Does linkedin really work well for some people?

I set up my profile and I'm applying to positions now, but I feel as if it's almost like a monster.com website. I NEVER had luck with monster.com

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Chevel

I tried it once deleted it the next day, nothing but spam.

Danielm7

Chevel wrote: »

I tried it once deleted it the next day, nothing but spam.

Fix your groups and settings? Either way, lots of people find jobs there, it's helpful.

NetworkNewb

Yep, pretty helpful.

JoJoCal19

It's a must. I not only was able to get my big salary/career break from a corporate recruiter that found and contacted me via LinkedIn, but I've gotten A LOT of solid leads and interviews from being contacted on there. I also reached out to and connected with a CISO at a well known financial firm that was very active on there, and ended up getting an interview at his company because he told the hiring manager about me. So yea, it's an indispensable tool.

joemc3

I sent an email straight to the ceo of a company I wanted to work at. He only interviewed me and I was hired on the spot. Never would have been able to do that without linkedin.

beads

LinkedIn is most helpful in major markets, top five cities, etc. If your a Security guru living in say Kalkaska Mi, your opportunities to network in your immediate area are going to be pretty limited.

Then again, it depends on how you use the tool.

I consistently have one of the top 10 percent viewed profiles on LinkedIn.

- b/eads

cyberguypr

LinkedIn is one of the best tools I have to keep in touch with professional contacts. My head goes up in flames when someone compares it to Facebook. Yes, a subset of people treat it that way but the vast majority of professionals do not. As stated above I get a good number of recruiters sending stuff my way. Although I ignore every single one of them it helps me get a pulse of my local market without actively searching.

When I meet people at conferences and whatnot, business cards are rarely exchanged. It's all "look me up on Linkedin".

It may be worth mentioning that I tried the paid option when I was searching for a job 2 years ago and found it to be 100% useless.

tmtex

been on it a year. It has done nothing for me other then BS recruiters contacting me

ITSpectre

cyberguypr wrote: »

LinkedIn is one of the best tools I have to keep in touch with professional contacts. My head goes up in flames when someone compares it to Facebook. Yes, a subset of people treat it that way but the vast majority of professionals do not. As stated above I get a good number of recruiters sending stuff my way. Although I ignore every single one of them it helps me get a pulse of my local market without actively searching.

When I meet people at conferences and whatnot, business cards are rarely exchanged. It's all "look me up on Linkedin".

It may be worth mentioning that I tried the paid option when I was searching for a job 2 years ago and found it to be 100% useless.

I need to start using LinkedIn more often.

clouder

Holy thread revival, though still relevant. I'd say LinkedIn is very useful, personally.

doctorlexus

clouder wrote: »

Holy thread revival, though still relevant. I'd say LinkedIn is very useful, personally.

Oddly, it wasn't a revival. Some mod merged my new thread with this old one from 2012. The mods do some very strange things on here sometimes, and without any commentary on it.

markulous

Every single IT job I've gotten has been from Linkedin, so yeah I'd say it's pretty useful.

Mooseboost

I have not used it much, my profile is fairly basic.

That being said, I continuously hear good things about it.

GSXR750K2

LinkedIn is the only social media (if you want to call it that) that I partake in.

Ertaz

The company I'm working at now first reached out to me through LinkedIn four years ago. It took us a couple of years to find a matching opportunity.

NetworkNewb

GSXR750K2 wrote: »

LinkedIn is the only social media (if you want to call it that) that I partake in.

I've actually found Twitter is not bad as well. As long as you stick to just following people in a industry your interested in. Can't say I post a lot myself.

ITSpectre

GOZCU wrote: »

didint read all posts however it works very well. yesterday i pressed on " apply" button for a job and today i got phone call..

Thats what im talking about!!!!

Can't get too excited though... only because your a jedi.... and I belong to the Empire....

thomas_

I use it, but probably not to the extent that it's designed for. I make a conscious effort to add my current coworkers as contacts to my LinkedIn.

I also use the job feature every once in a while to apply for jobs. I'll also look at the person's profile who is posting a job, a lot of times this will cause them to email me and start a conversation since they saw that I looked at their profile and correctly assumed I was looking for a job.

I just don't have it in me to email CEOs and hiring managers directly. Networking is one of my weaknesses.

doctorlexus wrote: »

Oddly, it wasn't a revival. Some mod merged my new thread with this old one from 2012. The mods do some very strange things on here sometimes, and without any commentary on it.

Yeah, I've noticed quite a few threads getting deleted the past few days. I don't knoe if its the mods or the original authors though.

Chevel

Well I opened an account, applied for a few "jobs" we'll see. No contacts though.

dustervoice

I've heard mostly positive things about it. I don't use it myself as I have no problems getting roles through the standard posting of my profile various jobboards.

RoyalRaven

It is a data goldmine for organizations that you want to know more about if you know enough people who know people. Excellent for interview prep.

A while back I found out I was applying for a role that a previous co-worker of mine from many years back just left (post-interview doing some reading on the site). If I would have known that, I could have just asked him about the job directly. It would have completely changed how I approached the interview.

It also helps keep my business and industry contacts separate from personal ones.

DoubleNNs

I like to have something professional pop up when someone sees my name and googles it.

It's also a great place to put extra things I do that I don't necessarily want to fit on a resume. (I've never sent a cover letter before, but I've gotten lots of commentary about my LinkedIn summary. I also put all my current certs on my LinkedIn but only what I think is relevant on my resume. In a recent interview, the hiring manager was impressed by a cert I had left of but he saw on my LinkedIn profile)

My current job also is 100% attributed to my LinkedIn. A recruiter found me on LinkedIn and reached out to me. The role he had in mind ended up getting it's funding cut, but he saw my progress at my other role over the next few months. When another role opened up in the same company, I was the first person on the list to fill it, and ended up taking it. Without a LinkedIn:
1) He never would have known I existed. Esp since it was a role that required relocation.
2) He might have forgotten about me without easily being able to access his network of contacts on the site.

Apart from that, I've intiated contact w/ people who worked at Amazon for career advice, which ended up turning into a referral to come work at the company, got recruited by Google to apply for a job in their Mountain View campus, even while I've lived on the East Coast my entire life (didn't accept it because I didn't think I could pass the interview), and made various connections to recruiters who I still keep in contact to this day. I'm really bad at keeping in contact w/ old colleagues, but LinkedIn at least provides a platform to do so, if I choose to initiate some awkward convos haha.

I'd def say LinkedIn is "worth it"/helpful. I have tons of other stories about it -- stories that include me and also stories from close friends.

Russell77

It is the best way I know of to keep track of references.