LinkedIn - why don’t you have an account?

[DorisDoesDoncaster]

Have been with my current employer for ten years but the culture has changed massively of late and I am questioning whether I want to be a part of it.

I’m starting to look at other jobs but all the recruiters I’ve tried to contact seem to care about is whether I have a LinkedIn profile.

I don’t as I do not want my abusive ex to be able to track me down.

Does anyone please have any advice as how I can overcome this hurdle?

You don't have to out your full name.

You can put Jane S. rather than smith.

You can set your profile to private like instagram so people have to add you.

Or did you mean overcome the hurdle of just not having LinkedIn? :)

LinkedIn has passed the stage of usefulness in the business world; it is self-promotion and corporate twaddle these days.

I've never understood why most people would want to use it anyway.

Yup. Loads of sad face posts, 'honest' bringing my whole self to work posts etc etc

I don't have it because I don't want my CV online. I work in a tech field where everyone has LinkedIn but it hasn't stopped me getting jobs. Although I always apply direct and not through recruiters.

I don't have it and, at 65, I don't need it.

LinkedIn is way past its expiry date. The only people really using it now are recruiters or marketing people. It’s just annoying

I refuse to have it. Had it years ago and all my details got lifted and put on other sites. With my unusual name and place of work it made my contact details easy to guess. I always used to get useless job messages through it, mainly from agencies.
I work in tech with data and not having it hasn't held me back.

Ooh crikey, thank you for the mixed responses.

A lot of jobs in my field are posted by recruiters only - the businesses don’t advertise themselves so unfortunately I have to go through the recruiters (and their LinkedIn demands).

where I work now another team were recruiting and they had a spreadsheet going (found on the printer) detailing all the applicants, scoring them and whether they had LinkedIn profiles or not.

I don’t normally post personal thoughts on LinkedIn, but I just wanted to share how proud I am of…
(insert boring humble brag about their kids / charitable work / spouse / qualification nobody really cares about etc).

This is why I don't bother

An ex colleague uses it like Facebook/her journal. It's embarrassing to see.

I hate LinkedIn for many reasons. One is the lack of privacy. I have an abusive ex who looks at my LinkedIn profile regularly (you get a notification when someone views your profile). We aren't 'connected'. I contacted LinkedIn and they said I had to click on his profile to block him, but I can't bring myself to click on his name, even to block.

My vile ex is blocked and so am I on his.

I have a linkedin as I need it work for, but also try to keep it private from people in real life who I don’t want to find it, I just use my name and initial, no picture of myself

Even with recruiters, you shouldn't need a LinkedIn profile. Recruitment Agencies still accept CVs.

Often they just want to increase their own connections on there.
Agencies don't send your LinkedIn profile to a prospective company because they usually remove the means for the company to co tact the client directly.

LinkedIn is more like FB now. I get the whole "authenticity" thing but sometimes people bringing their "whole self" or "being real" on there gets a bit much.

can't be arsed

just more life admin

LinkedIn can be useful for job alerts within a field using keywords if you are looking (it is how I found mine). Many companies then prefer you to apply directly. It is something you can setup with minimal details and drop as soon as you have got a role (do not put your CV on it). You do not even have to put your current or past roles on. You can also block people as well so they cannot find you.

Thank you very much all 👍🌷

Same (well, 69). And have managed without it.