4 ms·

Wish they'd adopt a code of conduct but at least they'll be able to mine my phone contacts 60% faster. I always feel held hostage by LinkedIn. I have to write

Wish they'd adopt a code of conduct but at least they'll be able to mine my phone contacts 60% faster. I always feel held hostage by LinkedIn. I have to write a resume for every posting, and update LinkedIn and connect with every working person I've ever met on there. Otherwise I don't exist. What a plague of a company.

hdjjhhvvhga 3y ago
A piece of Anecdata: I managed to live around and still have no problems finding a new job. Yes, some job application sites have a mandatory "link to linkedin" field but I just ignore these.
- Raed667 3y ago
  Yes you can live without it. But you'll be missing you whole lot of jobs that are "linkedin only" in the form of posts, DMs and people spontaneously discovering your profile and reaching out. Some people will be fine finding jobs without it, a lot won't be that fortunate.
  - olliej 3y ago
    I feel “LinkedIn only” is a class of job that many people aren’t interested in (biz/fintech maybe?). I’ve literally never seen a LinkedIn only job for a field I was interested in let alone a job - but I don’t work biz/fintech.
    - rusticpenn 3y ago
      I am not in either of the fields. I get "confidential" offers from headhunters usually on Linkedin or Xing.
    - berkes 3y ago
      I've found my most interesting jobs on LI. Sure, several of them, I could have found elsewhere, e.g. on a dedicated job board. But I wasn't at those other job boards, nor was the recruiter who brought them onto my radar. If I had avoided LI, I would have missed out on some of my best gigs.
  - hdjjhhvvhga 3y ago
    I'm sure I'm missing a lot of job offers but I reply to a person who is afraid without it's as if they didn't exist. I can assure you it's not like that at all. I have no any problem finding new jobs, and new jobs finding me. I left my contact info with the recruitment agencies informing them they can contact me with the offers exceeding a certain rate. They regularly send me offers and sometimes I pick one. The system I adopted guarantees my pay only increases with time. Maybe I could be earning even more if I used LI, but I value my privacy a lot.
- doix 3y ago
  Yes, I refuse to engage with LinkedIn out of principle. I probably miss out on some opportunities, but I just tell myself that those jobs would have made me miserable anyway.
  - squokko 3y ago
    > I just tell myself that those jobs would have made me miserable anyway This is certainly wrong because the usage of LinkedIn is very high. It's equivalent to saying, "I don't take recruiting calls from meat-eaters." I mean, if it's extremely important to you, go for it, but if not, you're doing yourself a disservice.
    - Given_47 3y ago
      Well they said it’s out of principle so I read that as simply a rationalization that helps them stick to their principle(s)
nottorp 3y ago
> they'll be able to mine my phone contacts 60% faster You give... random applications... access to your contact list?
- pcthrowaway 3y ago
  I realize maybe a minority of HN even remembers this, but at some point ~10 years ago, LinkedIn would agressively spam your contacts lists. If you logged in on your phone they would somehow get your phone contacts. When you signed up they had you log in with your email address, and then would try to get you to spam your entire contacts list there too. I think web integrations have gotten locked down since then.. not for altruistic reasons, but because Google and Apple don't want to give Microsoft access to the data they have on you, so yeah, it's at least harder to accidentally give LinkedIn access to your contacts list now, but the damage has already been done for a lot of people
  - nottorp 3y ago
    Pretty sure on iOS they always had to get permission, and I've never given it. As for email, i think there was a wizard when i signed up and of course i canceled it. Don't sign up in a hurry ;) And to come back to the current topic, their app felt so bloated that I removed it.
    - mleo 3y ago
      Contacts permission was introduced in iOS 6. Before that, an app could just read and write the contacts data.
      - llanowarelves 3y ago
        Also some apps, like the old Zynga social games, would hold you hostage, you had to approve everything (at once, not granular like it is today) to use or even install. It's been a while since early Android, but I'm pretty sure that's how it worked.
Kiro 3y ago
How is that LinkedIn's fault? Sounds like you're complaining about other companies making LinkedIn mandatory.

hdjjhhvvhga 3y ago

A piece of Anecdata: I managed to live around and still have no problems finding a new job. Yes, some job application sites have a mandatory "link to linkedin" field but I just ignore these.

Raed667 3y ago
Yes you can live without it. But you'll be missing you whole lot of jobs that are "linkedin only" in the form of posts, DMs and people spontaneously discovering your profile and reaching out. Some people will be fine finding jobs without it, a lot won't be that fortunate.
- olliej 3y ago
  I feel “LinkedIn only” is a class of job that many people aren’t interested in (biz/fintech maybe?). I’ve literally never seen a LinkedIn only job for a field I was interested in let alone a job - but I don’t work biz/fintech.
  - rusticpenn 3y ago
    I am not in either of the fields. I get "confidential" offers from headhunters usually on Linkedin or Xing.
  - berkes 3y ago
    I've found my most interesting jobs on LI. Sure, several of them, I could have found elsewhere, e.g. on a dedicated job board. But I wasn't at those other job boards, nor was the recruiter who brought them onto my radar. If I had avoided LI, I would have missed out on some of my best gigs.
- hdjjhhvvhga 3y ago
  I'm sure I'm missing a lot of job offers but I reply to a person who is afraid without it's as if they didn't exist. I can assure you it's not like that at all. I have no any problem finding new jobs, and new jobs finding me. I left my contact info with the recruitment agencies informing them they can contact me with the offers exceeding a certain rate. They regularly send me offers and sometimes I pick one. The system I adopted guarantees my pay only increases with time. Maybe I could be earning even more if I used LI, but I value my privacy a lot.
doix 3y ago
Yes, I refuse to engage with LinkedIn out of principle. I probably miss out on some opportunities, but I just tell myself that those jobs would have made me miserable anyway.
- squokko 3y ago
  > I just tell myself that those jobs would have made me miserable anyway This is certainly wrong because the usage of LinkedIn is very high. It's equivalent to saying, "I don't take recruiting calls from meat-eaters." I mean, if it's extremely important to you, go for it, but if not, you're doing yourself a disservice.
  - Given_47 3y ago
    Well they said it’s out of principle so I read that as simply a rationalization that helps them stick to their principle(s)

nottorp 3y ago

> they'll be able to mine my phone contacts 60% faster You give... random applications... access to your contact list?

pcthrowaway 3y ago
I realize maybe a minority of HN even remembers this, but at some point ~10 years ago, LinkedIn would agressively spam your contacts lists. If you logged in on your phone they would somehow get your phone contacts. When you signed up they had you log in with your email address, and then would try to get you to spam your entire contacts list there too. I think web integrations have gotten locked down since then.. not for altruistic reasons, but because Google and Apple don't want to give Microsoft access to the data they have on you, so yeah, it's at least harder to accidentally give LinkedIn access to your contacts list now, but the damage has already been done for a lot of people
- nottorp 3y ago
  Pretty sure on iOS they always had to get permission, and I've never given it. As for email, i think there was a wizard when i signed up and of course i canceled it. Don't sign up in a hurry ;) And to come back to the current topic, their app felt so bloated that I removed it.
  - mleo 3y ago
    Contacts permission was introduced in iOS 6. Before that, an app could just read and write the contacts data.
    - llanowarelves 3y ago
      Also some apps, like the old Zynga social games, would hold you hostage, you had to approve everything (at once, not granular like it is today) to use or even install. It's been a while since early Android, but I'm pretty sure that's how it worked.

Kiro 3y ago

How is that LinkedIn's fault? Sounds like you're complaining about other companies making LinkedIn mandatory.