View Full Version : So tell me pros and cons of Linkedin please
Several times now I have been approached to connect with Linkedin and have wondered if it is a great idea. Not too many people seem to know about it but those that do use it for business connections rather than social.
What has been your experience with Linkedin?
razz, I like LinkedIn. I use it for business connections only. I've received requests to bid on projects (I'm a consultant) and have been asked to do a couple of small projects, based on my profile. There are discussion forums focused on professional issues (lots of different professions) that can be interesting. They are sometimes full of too many people obviously hunting for work, but nonetheless they can be a good place to ask questions.
I know various hr people through my work, and they often look for a LinkedIn profile when they're hiring.
Others' experience may be different, of course, but I quite like it.
In my mind, it's prime benefit is for business connections. It's a good networking tool--like Mary B., I've gotten new clients on LinkedIn. I don't use many of the features, like posting discussions or commentary. Some will post articles they've written. I feel it gives me credibility--for instance, they have a "Does [catherine] know market research?" and people click and endorse you, so you can wind up with a lot of endorsements. What I don't like is it's hard to remain anonymous when you want to see someone else's profile--it probably isn't hard, but I haven't figured out how to be sure I can be anonymous.
I am retired so why are people asking me if they can add me to their network? They are people that I know but not well. Do HR personnel look to the individual networks to see to where and who your network extends? Is this a default feature of Linkedin? It is puzzling.
I got spooked when the connection asked if it could check out all my contact list.
iris lilies
1-23-16, 4:34pm
I didnt even like LinkedIn when I was working because I didnt need to "network," I was at the end of the line.
Sometimes people might be asking you without realizing they're asking you. There's a point in the setup procedure where it asks something about sending invitations to your email contacts, and unless you specifically "uncheck" a box, the invitation goes out.
Please don't ask me how I know this. It is a little embarrassing.
I think it is a tool that's most valuable for those who do need to network for employment, and for people who are trying to raise their profile in an industry.
Yes, there's a way for a person to let LinkedIn scan all their email contacts and request connections. So even if you emailed someone two years ago about picking up some Freecycle thing, you might get a request from them.
ToomuchStuff
1-23-16, 5:44pm
I am retired so why are people asking me if they can add me to their network? They are people that I know but not well. Do HR personnel look to the individual networks to see to where and who your network extends? Is this a default feature of Linkedin? It is puzzling.
I got spooked when the connection asked if it could check out all my contact list.
Sometimes people might be asking you without realizing they're asking you. There's a point in the setup procedure where it asks something about sending invitations to your email contacts, and unless you specifically "uncheck" a box, the invitation goes out.
Please don't ask me how I know this. It is a little embarrassing.
I think it is a tool that's most valuable for those who do need to network for employment, and for people who are trying to raise their profile in an industry.
Not sure if that is the only way, either. I have received several, missing you, join, etc. type of posts from Linkedin, from those that have just rarely sent me an email. I am NOT in their address book, but things like one time emails for either computer illiterate, (nor do they own one), bosses.
It's Linkedin SPAM and should be reported as such.
Well, I will now work on deleting my account somehow or other. I tried the Help Centre without success. As a retiree, I don't need my contact list shared or to network with any familiar individuals. I can email them separately.
Thanks for the advice and info.
Yes, if one is retired I can't imagine why they'd want a linked in account. it's not a "fun" social networking site like facebook. It serves its purpose for me, which is to enable me to see other people's credentials and them to see mine and to keep track of people as they move from one employer to another.
Most people I'm connected to on it don't post status updates often. A former boss did a while back, announcing that she needed to hire someone for 3 months because of maternity leave. I almost joke replied "Friend, what does (26 year old) DS think about this?" even though it was obviously not because she personally was going on maternity leave. Then I realized that I was on linked in, not facebook and stopped myself...
SteveinMN
1-23-16, 10:15pm
I've used Linkedin for a few years now. It's been helpful in re-establishing contacts with people I've worked with in the past, and some business introductions/referrals have been made for interns, new college graduates, etc. I even found a couple of new members for our non-profit's board through Linkedin. So, overall, it's been a "win" for me.
But I still struggle with aspects of the service. I have yet to "endorse" anyone for anything because I see what people endorse me for and some of the endorsements are not areas I consider myself notable. There's also the generic approach to endorsement. Do I really want to endorse people who I last worked with 20 years ago? I really don't know how good they are anymore at project management or sales or whatever. Yet Linkedin will ask about 20-year-old business relationships as well as brand-new ones.
I also think Linkedin still is trying to figure out what it wants to be. Linkedin has taken many steps in the direction of being "Facebook for working people". You can Like, Share, or comment on your connections' posts and there are "people you may know" suggestions. There's a news feed that runs among the personal posts; I don't think it stays as up-to-the-minute as business- or industry-specific Web sites or even better general news sites. The comment mechanism for articles, IME, suffers from the same limitations as Facebook's. And I've been seeing what I can only describe as advertisements in the style of PBS. I don't really care about some company that restores boats promoting their finished products. I'm not in the business and neither are any of my contacts. I know why it's there; I just wish it were offered outside the news feed.
Linkedin exists to allow people to network on-line. Real networking is not just collecting names and email addresses to be raided in case of disaster or a need for a warm-call list; it calls for maintaining or building relationships with your connections. I see way too many profiles which show the generic I-didn't-bother-to-submit-a-picture icon and which don’t list an affiliated company or (worse) have useless corporate work descriptions like "Proven professional with a track re..." which is cut off by Linkedin's caption limit. Those folks are not networking and, IMHO, simply wasted their time providing what little information they did. If active networking is not something you think is worth spending time doing, don't bother with Linkedin.
I agree with a lot of your criticisms, Steve, and I find the endorsements faintly hilarious. I have a friend who writes novels, and LinkedIn asked me to endorse him for that. "X knows novel-writing" was one of the tick boxes.
I endorsed him happily and sent him a note to tell him so. I expect he'll be on the best-seller list any day now!
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.