to never again believe a word written on "linked-in"

It's gone on since way before linked in.

My friend claimed to have been "PA to the chief exec of an IT company" on her early CVs. She posted some leaflets for her brother who ran a a computer repaired shop. She showed me her CV and I was lost for words!

You aren't wrong at all. Someone I know who is now in a successful career, which they are more than capable of, claimed to be an office manager when they worked in the organisation as a cleaner. They are a very capable and intelligent individual, but I was flabbergasted when I saw this.

I wonder how often this sort of thing happens. LinkedIn is a crock of shit!

The thing is, a lot of organisations now are only providing bare minimum HR references (dates worked, job title etc). Obviously if the job title and level of waffle doesn't correlate it would raise questions but I think a lot of the time people do get away with these huge exaggerations, which is why so many people are shit at their jobs!

99% of LinkedIn is lies. Posts upon posts of lies, half the jobs advertised on there don’t even exist.

I once many years ago saw a BBC news segment about how hard it was for young people to find jobs. It focused on this poor young woman, couldn't afford a roof over her head, had been let go from her last job for no fault of her own, etc. Well I had actually worked with her at her last job and my goodness I couldn't believe they hadn't fired her sooner. She was incredibly rude to customers and other staff, got all the orders wrong, turned up late, spent half the time hanging around the back instead of out front working etc etc... It certainly opened my eyes to not trust what you see on tv 😂

When LinkedIn started, I had a look as part of my job in future-scanning (which is why I have been on MN so long ... Gordon Brown and biscuits anyone ?).

Anyway, I setup a profile with a monitored burner email.

13 years on it is still getting breathless emails about what my "contacts" are up to , and recommendations based on my (non) activity. Never have they queried if the account is linked to a real person.

(same for Facebook and Twitter until it became X)

if your marketing spend is based on believing you are reaching x-million eyeballs as stated by the platform, then you, my futuristic friend, are being taken for "a ride".

To be fair dumb as he may seem, Musk spotted this miles off. It was why he really squeezed the price down at Twitter.

Currently LinkedIn is a bit too much like Facebook for people who can pretend it's work and an every decreasing value to anyone. Another Microsoft purchase that is dying on the vine.

Posts on Linked In are just utter tosh. 95% are either people reposting whatever nonsense the marketing department has decided to make up that day/week, people posting "thoughtful" stories or phrases or recruiters posting vacancies which may or may not exist.

As for people embilishing their profiles, they probably do the same on their CV so it's nothing new.

i got my last 2 jobs, tangentially for one, via LinkedIn. They asked me to back up my claims of qualifications by providing the certificates. Which i did because i don't lie, and i didn't mind because other people do lie and they have to check.

I really really don't get the issues being described here (except the sexy young HR managers, some of my friends have had that)

didn't they check? it's on the employer to get the documentation checked, references checked etc etc.

Lying is not on, but people lie. That is why we check their qualifications and references.

Has the world gone mad?

I have always found Linked in to be full of sexy young HR Managers offering my DH high-paying jobs, if he contacts them..

I did a BTEC and went on to do a BSc. One of my classmates left after completing the BTEC but on LinkedIn claimed she stayed on to do a degree.

One of my lecturers from those days has become a good friend and I mentioned it to him. He was furious, and emailed her last employers who dismissed her. As she’s not in the UK I guess she thought she’d get away with it.

well if you are recruiting solely on what they write in LinkedIn or on their CVs without talking to them and checking up on their claims, more fool you.

And this is how people are recruited.

You're not wrong - but people lying on the internet is hardly new or surprising.

LinkedIn isn't about CVs anymore, it's about personal brand and marketing, so people are going to highlight good points and massage the truth. They will be caught out at reference time if things are untrue. If they still work at your company any you are the boss have the conversation but at the end of the day the company don't own their LI profile, they do.