4 ms·

Why would you add your current boss to LinkedIn to begin with?

corin_ 13y ago
The purpose of LinkedIn is to connect in the business world, I don't know a single user who doesn't connect to their current colleagues, including their boss.
- stuartcw 13y ago
  I didn't and have had people say to me that they don't connect with current colleagues. I also don't connect with recruiters until I have announced that I am leaving. I'll happily chat with them via private messages or give an alternative email address. There is no benefit in the default behavior of having the system send all your contacts, including your boss and HR colleagues that you have made a new recruiter friend today.
  - corin_ 13y ago
    I guess it depends on what you want to get out of LinkedIn, and your situation. Personally, my relationship with colleagues/boss is such that if I think about leaving they'll know about it from me first, and if I added a recruiter as a contact they wouldn't even think about it. But apart from that, my use-case for LinkedIn is primarily connecting with people I do/have work/ed with, to help us stay connected should we need to work again in the future, and so other people can see who I know and who knows me. If and when I leave my job, I won't be looking at adverts or to be contacted by recruiters, I'll be leaving for a job offered by someone I already know in the industry. But appreciate that for other people, they might want to use it completely differently.
jinushaun 13y ago
LinkedIn is where you're supposed to connect with your boss and other work colleagues. You certainly don't do that on Facebook.
- itsybitsycoder 13y ago
  Aren't you already connected to your boss and other current work colleagues through, you know, work? I've only connected with current colleagues when I know they won't tattle, and never connected with a boss until I've given notice. If your main use case for LinkedIn is to find work through your connections (as it is for many people), it seems a little thoughtless to connect with people who not only won't help you find work, but will be unhappy to know that you're even looking. EDIT: OK, I don't mind downvotes, but could you please explain why? After factoring in actual work hours, company social events/groups, water cooler/lunchroom chat, and internal company communication channels (email/phone/IM/etc), what sort of connection is missing that LinkedIn provides?
  - NamTaf 13y ago
    It provides a sense of validity to people who may know your boss and see you, as an employee of theirs, as being competent and proficient at your job role. Say I work as a design engineer. My boss is probably older and more experienced. He may have worked at competing firms previously and has connections there. I connect with him, and he's connected with former colleagues. They want to recruit and so start looking around the networks of people in the industry and region. Because I'm connected to my boss, I am more exposed in their ads. They see the mutual connection and consider that partial confirmation that if I'm employable under him, I'm probably a decent employee. Networking with existing colleagues, including your boss, helps create exposure of your profile to others in the industry by utilising the connections that your (usually more experienced and more connected) boss has. I'd almost be willing to bet that connecting 'upwards' to more experienced people is on the whole far better for your profile exposure than connecting 'downwards' to lesser-experienced employees (e.g.: you as a mid-level employee connecting to new graduates entering your workforce).
    - itsybitsycoder 13y ago
      I understand that connecting 'upwards' is better (I'm connected with all my former bosses). But if my boss's former colleagues got into the habit of shopping for new employees in his current workforce, they would not remain connected for very long. Perhaps this is a regional difference (I am not in SV). After I'm no longer a current employee (and socially OK to extend a job offer to), I still get all the benefits you mention, except that I also have the benefit (in several cases) of my former bosses sending me tips about jobs in their network that aren't listed on LinkedIn, and I don't have the downsides of announcing to my current boss if I'm shopping around.

The purpose of LinkedIn is to connect in the business world, I don't know a single user who doesn't connect to their current colleagues, including their boss.

stuartcw 13y ago
I didn't and have had people say to me that they don't connect with current colleagues. I also don't connect with recruiters until I have announced that I am leaving. I'll happily chat with them via private messages or give an alternative email address. There is no benefit in the default behavior of having the system send all your contacts, including your boss and HR colleagues that you have made a new recruiter friend today.
- corin_ 13y ago
  I guess it depends on what you want to get out of LinkedIn, and your situation. Personally, my relationship with colleagues/boss is such that if I think about leaving they'll know about it from me first, and if I added a recruiter as a contact they wouldn't even think about it. But apart from that, my use-case for LinkedIn is primarily connecting with people I do/have work/ed with, to help us stay connected should we need to work again in the future, and so other people can see who I know and who knows me. If and when I leave my job, I won't be looking at adverts or to be contacted by recruiters, I'll be leaving for a job offered by someone I already know in the industry. But appreciate that for other people, they might want to use it completely differently.

jinushaun 13y ago

LinkedIn is where you're supposed to connect with your boss and other work colleagues. You certainly don't do that on Facebook.

itsybitsycoder 13y ago
Aren't you already connected to your boss and other current work colleagues through, you know, work? I've only connected with current colleagues when I know they won't tattle, and never connected with a boss until I've given notice. If your main use case for LinkedIn is to find work through your connections (as it is for many people), it seems a little thoughtless to connect with people who not only won't help you find work, but will be unhappy to know that you're even looking. EDIT: OK, I don't mind downvotes, but could you please explain why? After factoring in actual work hours, company social events/groups, water cooler/lunchroom chat, and internal company communication channels (email/phone/IM/etc), what sort of connection is missing that LinkedIn provides?
- NamTaf 13y ago
  It provides a sense of validity to people who may know your boss and see you, as an employee of theirs, as being competent and proficient at your job role. Say I work as a design engineer. My boss is probably older and more experienced. He may have worked at competing firms previously and has connections there. I connect with him, and he's connected with former colleagues. They want to recruit and so start looking around the networks of people in the industry and region. Because I'm connected to my boss, I am more exposed in their ads. They see the mutual connection and consider that partial confirmation that if I'm employable under him, I'm probably a decent employee. Networking with existing colleagues, including your boss, helps create exposure of your profile to others in the industry by utilising the connections that your (usually more experienced and more connected) boss has. I'd almost be willing to bet that connecting 'upwards' to more experienced people is on the whole far better for your profile exposure than connecting 'downwards' to lesser-experienced employees (e.g.: you as a mid-level employee connecting to new graduates entering your workforce).
  - itsybitsycoder 13y ago
    I understand that connecting 'upwards' is better (I'm connected with all my former bosses). But if my boss's former colleagues got into the habit of shopping for new employees in his current workforce, they would not remain connected for very long. Perhaps this is a regional difference (I am not in SV). After I'm no longer a current employee (and socially OK to extend a job offer to), I still get all the benefits you mention, except that I also have the benefit (in several cases) of my former bosses sending me tips about jobs in their network that aren't listed on LinkedIn, and I don't have the downsides of announcing to my current boss if I'm shopping around.