I use Lynxed In to meet people who don't like graphics in browsers.
Not so much personally, but I've started my company on using LI to find potential hires (paying to send messages to people we don't know). It's worked sometimes.
It's awesome. My skin is much softer now.
4: My God. Businessmen find a way to make FB as un-fun as possible.
If you know a lot of people on LinkedIn, it might be worthwhile. I'm not sure about any networking site that's supposed to help you find jobs, just because I'm not sure what people could look for that would find me unless they randomly search for everyone with one of my schools and majors.
Sucks that your generation isn't as much on Facebook, since that really did make everything easier by getting the critical mass for network effects going in college.
Somewhere in between. Most people I know just build up networks at this point, but perhaps that will someday yield something useful.
I suspect linked in is more useful for contract work, etc. than job finding. If it hits a critical mass, I suspect interviewers will use it, the same way they might google you now.
some businessmen can make anything un-fun, AWB.
I like LinkedIn a lot but I've never gotten work directly from it, only the odd referral which has occasionally led to something. The best part of it, I think, is that you can get updates whenever your connections have updated their profiles, which is nice because you automatically learn if so-and-so's switched companies, gotten a promotion, etc. By updating my own profile, I've had a bunch of old friends/colleagues, etc., email me out of the blue to see what's up. It's nice. And I know others who use it much more aggressively and who've made valuable business connections.
i find linkedin extremely annoying and useless, but i haven't been in the market for a job in a while, so...maybe it's useful for job hunters. but i hate it.
5. Isn't this why intelligent people make life decisions to be poor academics rather than successful business types: commerce is unspeakably boring unless you get your jollys fucking people over or doing simple sums.
12: That's a bit general, but part of it.
I "use" it (and other services like it) when someone has mentioned a name to me and I don't know what company they work for. I wouldn't pay for it though. It's just an alternative to the FSA register for me.
I've had two or three very very promising job leads come about because of LinkedIn, and I've passed along a few others to friends and colleagues. It all depends on how you use it - if you link to nothing but friends who are in unrelated career fields, then it's nothing more than Facebook or MySpace. If you use it for career networking, I've found it useful.
What I've never found useful: Facebook. God, how I hate Facebook.
I've never gotten a lead myself from LinkedIn, but I have "introduced" a few people through it, and at least one of those led to a job offer. I do like the "so-and-so has a new job? I wonder how/why the old company failed" aspect.
while i understand some people like "linked in", is there any case where someone can say they actually got a job or business from it?
My LinkedIn anecdote: I was invited to join out of the blue by an ex-boss and old friend from whom I hadn't heard since she switched coasts in the late '90's. Weirdly, the invitation came the day after I heard about an available position at my workplace for which she is the best reference available in my entire work history. So clearly there's a mojo working.
More rationally: LinkedIn seems to have a thoughtful protocol for making connections, and it's nice to see a network in which all are assumed to be representing themselves* in a "professional" manner. True, "professionalism" is a loose & potentially oppressive standard; but it beats the wide-open range of FB (or MSpace, or even LJ). In other words, a "professional" network is a place where nobody posts "Drunken Photo" because it's Not Done.
Why does this make me happy? Because I remain worried about the slippery nature of "privacy" as a cultural construct. If we (at least the American "we") can't count on the Constitution, the Congress, or the Court for a definite standard of privacy, shouldn't we at least train together to perform public action in spaces where everyone expects a boundary between (at least) the "Professional" & the "None of Your Business".
Shorter Me: I have no idea whether LinkedIn is a good place to find work as of yet, & no intention ATM of paying membership; but my theoretical interest is awakened. (Also I'm using the network some, but this comment's too long already.)
*I know "themselves" is an infelicitous compromise, but I couldn't re-frame it out.
18.Ω: Why infelicitous? The word "all" is plural in that context. "Everyone is representing themselves..." would be a little awkward (tho I'd still go with it).
19: Crap! Forgot I'd fixed it in preview! Clearly commenting & laundry are not mutually reinforcing--that's beyond the auto-pwn. Of course I originally had "everyone", to set up the bolded "everyone" in the following paragraph.
I use and like Linkedin, it's fairly big in the Netherlands as a pure business networking site and, like Rah, I appreciate that it is to be used purely for professional purposes.
Haven't gotten anything concrete from it, but it works well for keeping track of ex-coworkers and business contacts. I work a lot on different projects, so it helps. Not used it for anything important yet though.
I use and like Linkedin, it's fairly big in the Netherlands as a pure business networking site and, like Rah, I appreciate that it is to be used purely for professional purposes.
Haven't gotten anything concrete from it, but it works well for keeping track of ex-coworkers and business contacts. I work a lot on different projects, so it helps. Not used it for anything important yet though.
no intention ATM of paying membership
The only membership dues at the Mineshaft are being GGG. Well, that and the occasional ropeburn.
it works well for keeping track of sex-coworkers
Fixed.
I've definitely found it useful, and I also appreciate that it's strictly professional. It gives me a way to keep in touch with ex-coworkers that's not obtrusive or creepy. I've gotten several job leads off it (though not a job, so far), and it's been particularly useful for pre-interview intelligence-gathering.
YMMV if you're not a techie, though, or if you don't have that critical mass of ex-coworkers who think well enough of you to network with you. (Also, some recruiters abuse it. I got an e-mail from the other day from a recruiter who didn't identify himself as such, which started out, "Hi Magpie! I'm building a network of [overly-specific job title]s on LinkedIn...")
Wait, so linked in is a legitimate site, and not just some massive spam generator? I've been getting spam from people on linked in for months now. What's up with that?
John, at a guess: it probably has one of those `let us crawl your address book features', so you'll get an invite every time someone you `know' signs up.
SB - I've deleted most of them, but these are the kind of emails I've gotten:
On 9/30/07, Hassan Feroze wrote:
Hi John,
Hope all is well.
I saw your adverts for Director level posts on Linked In.
Are these positions still available, Can I assist you in finding the right candidate?
Please do inform.
Thanks.
Hassan Feroze
Snr.Recruitment Consultant
------
Needless to say, I've not been advertising director level posts on Linked In. And for a while I was getting emails like this every few days. What the hell? I can't even figure out what the scam would be here.
28: Bizarre. I've never seen anything like that, and as you say it's hard to see what the benefit is.
Is it possible they have an incorrect password for someone there that points at you? I'm not very familiar with linked in, but I think there is a for-pay level that gives you broader search & contact ability.
I've been using LinkedIn for the last couple of months. I'm currently in the middle of a job search, and so far I've developed two interviews and a lead that may turn into a third via LinkedIn connections. I certainly haven't been using the full power of the site yet - so far, I'm mostly building up my network and re-establishing contact with a bunch of people I used to work with, while letting them know I'm currently open to new possibilities. I hope to eventually use the search capability to get introduced to key people at the companies I want to target, via people who used to work with me and can recommend my work.
Re: 26, 27: The site does have an option to crawl your address book, but it doesn't automatically send anything to the people it finds. It reports back to you which people in your address book are already registered, and gives you the option to choose which names you want to invite to join your network. They do say you should only invite people who know you fairly well, and they threaten sanctions against those who get too many "I don't know this person" responses, to discourage broadcast spamming. So if you're getting a bunch of emails via LinkedIn, you should probably check to see if they are from people you know or used to know, and don't be afraid to use the "I don't know this person" response to slap the hands of the indiscriminant.
In general, LinkedIn looks like a useful solution to a very real problem for those who have been out in industry for a while. I've found it all too easy to lose touch with people I used to work with when we both move on to other jobs. This looks like a good way to keep or re-establish contact with former coworkers and classmates. The networking potential looks really powerful, though I haven't used it much yet.