LinkedIn

[IceandIndigo]

I'm in the position of needing to look for new employment, after having been in the same job for nearly 10 years.

I've never been a member of LinkedIn. I'm a private person and I dislike social media in general. However I'm aware that LinkedIn has become very popular with professional people and I'm worried not having a profile could harm my prospects of finding a new role. My current role is quite specialised and a number of my immediate colleagues don't use LinkedIn either, but I'm interested in exploring opportunities in related fields where it's pretty standard.

If I'm honest I also feel a bit embarrassed to set up a profile at this stage of my career (I'm early 40s) and presumably prospective employers would see that I only have a limited number of connections, which might also create a negative impression?

Interested to know what people think. How important is LinkedIn and what advice would you give to someone in my situation?

Honestly, I wouldn't bother!

I'm on there for work but it's only really useful for those who need to be seen to be networking, those who do need to build networks and marketing types (or those who just love social media) and an inactive account looks worse than no account.

I work in a tech company and out of the 10 of us there, only 3 have linkedin and it's the newer/more junior members of the team. None of the directors have it nor do the founders.

I think it’s brilliant for recruitment, definitely worth having a skeleton profile so recruiters can find you and you can find new roles

No need to be really active on it but a basic profile is worthwhile

Depending on sector, most vacancies will show there. I work in tech and EVERYONE has a LinkedIn profile.

We use it heavily for recruiting (consultancy) - we proactively reach out to people with a relevant profile and invite to apply

I wouldn’t worry about the number of people you are contact with per se, just setup a profile (it’s really easy) and start seeing if others you know are on there and connect

Any headhunters will soon follow (depending upon industry …)

I was in the same boat recently. Always shunned LinkedIn and found it annoying and a waste of time, but when the time came for me to look for a new job (professional role) I realised that having a LinkedIn profile is actually really helpful. Recruiters/employers looked at it, and lots of job openings are advertised on LinkedIn. I secured my new job that way.

Essential in my view

I’m in management and use it to recruit people. If I can’t find someone on LinkedIn.... I must admit it leaves an impression that they don’t really care about their career and are not ambitious. I’m not saying I think they’re crap at their job. Just crap at managing their career. Which I see as separate to your job. So it tells me a lot about someone, if they don’t have a LinkedIn profile.

I wouldn’t expect them to be actively using it, but a profile is essential with an outline CV and list of skills/ knowledge.

I work in tech and EVERYONE has a LinkedIn profile.

This. If I were looking for work, it'd be my main place to search. I've had a few interviews and a job offer through it in the past. I know our HR checks candidates' LinkedIn profiles, too.

Quite a few employers like their staff to have LinkedIn profiles. It's a very cheap way to pump the company profile..

My last place positively encouraged it, and the Social Media Manager used to run masterclasses in it (and other platforms) on how best to promote yourself.

I also agree it's important in tech. Plus for recruitment I'd say it's mandatory, I'm looking for new work at the moment, and I am only using LinkedIn. It's so easy and by far the best tool in terms of options and access.

Just set a profile up now and your network will expand quickly. If you ever look for a new job you'll be grateful you did it.

Thanks everyone. It's reassuring that people seem to think it's the existence of a profile that matters, rather than being seen to be super active and connected. I don't have heaps of external connections in my current role.

@bassackwards really good to hear that I'm not the only one in this boat and that you found it helped you find a new job. Any tips on where to start, what to do/not do etc?

I would say you need a basic profile with career outline on there. I'm a recruiter and if someone (at least within the Anglo-sphere) isn't on LinkedIn, I do slightly question their ambition / proactivity. This is of course fine if you don't want to be approached but once you're starting to look around it is important. Once you join you'll find your number of connections grow quickly but that isn't critical. Most recruiters and in-house talent teams have accounts which allow searching beyond their network. It's more important to have keywords on your profile that are relevant to the role you're looking for.

Start by going to the LinkedIn website and following the links to register - it's free. It will then invite you to set up your profile step-by-step so it's really easy. My profile is pretty basic: it lists my employment history (employers and job titles), education history (schools and areas of study) and there's a separate section where you can list your top skills (eg Project Management, Sales, Compliance).

And be sure to fill in the "About" section, which is where you write a short statement that summarises who you are/what you do. Think of it as your personal pitch. And of course include a good quality, recent photo of yourself. Some people use professional headshots.

Good luck!

@SliceOfCakeCupOfTea

Honestly, I wouldn't bother!

I'm on there for work but it's only really useful for those who need to be seen to be networking, those who do need to build networks and marketing types (or those who just love social media) and an inactive account looks worse than no account.

I work in a tech company and out of the 10 of us there, only 3 have linkedin and it's the newer/more junior members of the team. None of the directors have it nor do the founders.

Think this is just you or your company, as it's a great place if you're looking for a job!

And every Director and founder I've ever met is on there, certainly not a place just for 'junior people'

Also agree with some other posters, I recruit relatively regularly and would be surprised if someone didn't have a profile. I work in digital.

I have a premium account.

There are pros and cons to it.

Its becoming more like Facebook though. All these posts about marriage or babies ("My new job is a mummy" eye roll)

@bassackwards

Start by going to the LinkedIn website and following the links to register - it's free. It will then invite you to set up your profile step-by-step so it's really easy. My profile is pretty basic: it lists my employment history (employers and job titles), education history (schools and areas of study) and there's a separate section where you can list your top skills (eg Project Management, Sales, Compliance).

And be sure to fill in the "About" section, which is where you write a short statement that summarises who you are/what you do. Think of it as your personal pitch. And of course include a good quality, recent photo of yourself. Some people use professional headshots.

Good luck!

Thanks for this advice, really helpful.

Its becoming more like Facebook though. All these posts about marriage or babies ("My new job is a mummy" eye roll)

Signal to noise ratio ....

LinkedIn is a necessary evil in the workplace these days OP.

Myself and our social media manager detest it but have to post on it regularly as part of our jobs but it's basically a massive forum for people to bang on about how important their job/business is.

But it is great for job hunting and its the first thing we go on when we're checking out potential candidates.

It's all new to me too. I was on about ten years ago for a while and have recently rejoined as I'm looking for work. I've made connections and got a reasonable profile but... it seems more like Facebook to me. Shameless self promotion (I guess this is the point) that I'm not comfy doing myself. I need to suck it up I guess!

I have been head hunted and recruited via LinkedIn before and we actively use it to recruit as well. Definitely a useful tool.

@dorisAway I also have a strong dislike of self-promotion, even though I know it's objectively not a bad thing. I think that's the main reason I've avoided it up to now.

See it as a more detailed CV with the chance to link to relevant stuff. I got the job that changed my career because of LinkedIn. I applied for one job and tailored my CV, but because my future supervisor looked at my LinkedIn, he saw I had extensive experience in something completely irrelevant to the advertised job but relevant to a forthcoming future vacancy, which he then offered me. That job doubled my salary.

Make sure YOU use LinkedIn too to check our potential employers and their employees. You can really get a feel for companies depending on what they post, how many of their employees are proud to post they are working there and how long they have worked there. And just to get a general feel of what the company is like. Also HR like to see that you have looked on there.

I was also like you and I don’t use it to post, but I do have a profile and some connections. I keep it vaguely up to date.

There are some good jobs, there’s also a lot of bad ones and it’s not the most straightforward job hunting format. But always worth a look.

Good luck!

Make sure YOU use LinkedIn too to check our potential employers and their employees. You can really get a feel for companies depending on what they post, how many of their employees are proud to post they are working there and how long they have worked there. And just to get a general feel of what the company is like. Also HR like to see that you have looked on there.

There's also Glassdoor ...

@bassackwards

Start by going to the LinkedIn website and following the links to register - it's free. It will then invite you to set up your profile step-by-step so it's really easy. My profile is pretty basic: it lists my employment history (employers and job titles), education history (schools and areas of study) and there's a separate section where you can list your top skills (eg Project Management, Sales, Compliance).

And be sure to fill in the "About" section, which is where you write a short statement that summarises who you are/what you do. Think of it as your personal pitch. And of course include a good quality, recent photo of yourself. Some people use professional headshots.

Good luck!

A good quality, recent photo of myself?

Great. They'll be able to prescreen me as being too old/fat/not attractive enough. Just like they'll be able to screen out ethnicities and those they think are likely to be wanting Maternity Leave in the next few years.