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> I have 16,000 connections. Maybe that is the reason why it sucks for the author. I use LinkedIn as my personal CV and have gotten a job through it. If I had

> I have 16,000 connections. Maybe that is the reason why it sucks for the author. I use LinkedIn as my personal CV and have gotten a job through it. If I had to search for a new job it would probably be through LinkedIn, Stackoverflow and other smaller sites for remote workers. LinkedIn is better than all other general career sites, much much better and I can always point people there if they want my CV.

Finnucane 8y ago
"I open it out of habit and accept everyone who adds me because I don’t know why I wouldn’t." If you add contacts you don't know indiscriminately, you're going to have issues. That's just asking for trouble. But then, I haven't logged into my account in so long I don't even get spam from Linkedin anymore.
- emodendroket 8y ago
  Like what? As far as I can tell, the more contacts you have, the more mutuals you'll have, leading to an easier time contacting people you actually want to talk to. I just accept everyone because I see little downside. I'm not there to chat.
  - stared 8y ago
    Like the only mutual contact being some shady/untrustworthy/cheating individual.
    - emodendroket 8y ago
      Seems better than nothing. Generally they're just recruiters and anyway they apparently didn't think so lowly of the person as to decline the request.
  - pc86 8y ago
    The only unknown connections I get are either recruiters in geographies or industries I'm not interested in, or random people from India because I have a handful of legitimate Indian connections.
    - emodendroket 8y ago
      I get a lot of Indian connections despite having no real connection to the place.
  - wuunderbar 8y ago
    How often do people actually get cold-introduced from someone they simply "connected" with on LinkedIn to someone else? What incentive would they have?
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
- folkrav 8y ago
  Honestly, 99% of the requests I get are recruiters, so I don't see why I would deny those requests. Only ones I turn down are these offering me jobs in another city - not interested in moving. Best case I get offered something good, worst case, what they have to offer at the moment doesn't interest me and I still have a bunch of recruiters I can ping back when I'm job searching.
  - bradenb 8y ago
    Recruiters are paying for LinkedIn and can message you whenever they want, why do you need them to be a connection? I take the exact opposite approach and only exclude recruiters. I figure by doing this my network is my legitimate business connections which I can use to further myself professionally.
    - folkrav 8y ago
      > legitimate business connections which I can use to further myself professionally Legitimately curious, how do you use these connections to further your career? Other than coworkers and people interested in hiring me and/or recruiters, and some bigger names, I didn't really see any other use to LinkedIn yet...
      - bradenb 8y ago
        To be fair, I said "can" use them, not necessarily that I do :) But, I have actually reached out to connections to discuss business opportunities. Since the connections live in the world where I have done business, they are more likely to know and trust that I can deliver on their business needs.
    - emodendroket 8y ago
      They have a gazillion other connections they'll put you in indirect contact with, making it easier to view their profiles, message them, etc. Unless you're trying to "inbox zero" LinkedIn or really care about curating your feed or are adding really infamous characters I can't see much downside to accepting requests.
lovelearning 8y ago
"I can always point people there if they want my CV." That's a little risky because LI sometimes shows an auth wall - a blank page with a login dialog. It looks like they don't show it every time, but I've seen it happen. I moved on without logging in.
robg 8y ago
Indeed, that's like "friending" everyone in a stadium or concert hall. Without a genuine connection, what is a relationship? Definitely better than any other career site, imho.
- emodendroket 8y ago
  A "relationship" is something completely orthogonal to a LinkedIn connection.
dfsegoat 8y ago
I've gotten my last several jobs through it, literally using my linkedin printout as my resume in place of a word doc.

Finnucane 8y ago

"I open it out of habit and accept everyone who adds me because I don’t know why I wouldn’t." If you add contacts you don't know indiscriminately, you're going to have issues. That's just asking for trouble. But then, I haven't logged into my account in so long I don't even get spam from Linkedin anymore.

emodendroket 8y ago
Like what? As far as I can tell, the more contacts you have, the more mutuals you'll have, leading to an easier time contacting people you actually want to talk to. I just accept everyone because I see little downside. I'm not there to chat.
- stared 8y ago
  Like the only mutual contact being some shady/untrustworthy/cheating individual.
  - emodendroket 8y ago
    Seems better than nothing. Generally they're just recruiters and anyway they apparently didn't think so lowly of the person as to decline the request.
- pc86 8y ago
  The only unknown connections I get are either recruiters in geographies or industries I'm not interested in, or random people from India because I have a handful of legitimate Indian connections.
  - emodendroket 8y ago
    I get a lot of Indian connections despite having no real connection to the place.
- wuunderbar 8y ago
  How often do people actually get cold-introduced from someone they simply "connected" with on LinkedIn to someone else? What incentive would they have?
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
folkrav 8y ago
Honestly, 99% of the requests I get are recruiters, so I don't see why I would deny those requests. Only ones I turn down are these offering me jobs in another city - not interested in moving. Best case I get offered something good, worst case, what they have to offer at the moment doesn't interest me and I still have a bunch of recruiters I can ping back when I'm job searching.
- bradenb 8y ago
  Recruiters are paying for LinkedIn and can message you whenever they want, why do you need them to be a connection? I take the exact opposite approach and only exclude recruiters. I figure by doing this my network is my legitimate business connections which I can use to further myself professionally.
  - folkrav 8y ago
    > legitimate business connections which I can use to further myself professionally Legitimately curious, how do you use these connections to further your career? Other than coworkers and people interested in hiring me and/or recruiters, and some bigger names, I didn't really see any other use to LinkedIn yet...
    - bradenb 8y ago
      To be fair, I said "can" use them, not necessarily that I do :) But, I have actually reached out to connections to discuss business opportunities. Since the connections live in the world where I have done business, they are more likely to know and trust that I can deliver on their business needs.
  - emodendroket 8y ago
    They have a gazillion other connections they'll put you in indirect contact with, making it easier to view their profiles, message them, etc. Unless you're trying to "inbox zero" LinkedIn or really care about curating your feed or are adding really infamous characters I can't see much downside to accepting requests.

lovelearning 8y ago

"I can always point people there if they want my CV." That's a little risky because LI sometimes shows an auth wall - a blank page with a login dialog. It looks like they don't show it every time, but I've seen it happen. I moved on without logging in.

robg 8y ago

Indeed, that's like "friending" everyone in a stadium or concert hall. Without a genuine connection, what is a relationship? Definitely better than any other career site, imho.

emodendroket 8y ago
A "relationship" is something completely orthogonal to a LinkedIn connection.

dfsegoat 8y ago

I've gotten my last several jobs through it, literally using my linkedin printout as my resume in place of a word doc.