5 ms·

Linked in is a very strange world; maybe it's good for job seekers or recruiters, but I find that the most frequent interactions I have there are either recruit

by mjt0229 12y ago

Linked in is a very strange world; maybe it's good for job seekers or recruiters, but I find that the most frequent interactions I have there are either recruiters contacting me for ridiculous jobs that I would never be interested in (and sometimes am not qualified for). The second most frequent type of interactions I have there are where people endorse me for various skills. Inevitably, I get endorsed by people who have no knowledge of said skills: I'm not sure why a technology-phobic college admissions officer would endorse my skills in distributed software engineering, and what would be the value of such an endorsement?

artmageddon 12y ago
> Inevitably, I get endorsed by people who have no knowledge of said skills: I'm not sure why a technology-phobic college admissions officer would endorse my skills in distributed software engineering, and what would be the value of such an endorsement? I have to agree. I've gotten so many endorsements from non-software engineers who I've never worked with for my apparent XML abilities. I literally don't know what to think about that.
- ovulator 12y ago
  A childhood friend added me on LinkedIn, I haven't interacted with her since I was maybe 10 years old. But I guess she knows I rock at SQL! A previous boss endorsed me for PHP, at that job I used PHP exactly 0 times. Needless to say, he wasn't a very good boss either.
- mjt0229 12y ago
  It's also weird that I'm most endorsed for some of my weakest skills. Everyone thinks I'm a great Python programmer except me, it seems.
  - kiksy 12y ago
    I keep getting endorsed for jQuery. I keep being reminded of this: http://www.doxdesk.com/img/updates/20091116-so-large.gif http://www.doxdesk.com/img/updates/20091116-so-large.gif
    - mitochondrion 12y ago
      What did I just read?
    - mjt0229 12y ago
      I had a number in my Javascript variable once and it took a lot more than jQuery to get it back out.
- hnnewguy 12y ago
  >I literally don't know what to think about that. The "endorsement" system is an utter joke. When it was implemented, "endorsing" people consisted of clicking on any and every little oval that was in front of the user. I bet everyone here has been endorsed for multiple things they are unassociated with. The idea that someone thought that a real-life, personal "endorsement" could be recreated by clicking a button that half the population won't read is beyond me. LinkedIn seems to be useful because it's hot (as in, everyone is there). But outside of that original, clever idea (a professional social network) it doesn't offer much outside of its network effect.
  - adrianhoward 12y ago
    It's why I made sure "coffee" made it into my top 10 endorsements. Shows how seriously I take the the system ;-) (BTW It's slipped to #9 now... if anybody wants to endorse me for coffee that would be lovely ;-)
  - shadowwolf007 12y ago
    An ex-coworker and I are both endorsed for endorsements. The system is such an utter joke - the worst is getting endorsed for things and skills I don't care to advertise.
  - josephschmoe 12y ago
    It's strange - because it would be so easy to make a reasonable one: 1. Users must give a comment with their endorsement 2. That comment must be at least 141 characters long. 3. Allow users to "agree" with endorsements. Let the owner choose the order.
- codva 12y ago
  I think it's sometimes easier to click on a couple of endorsements just to get the damn box to go away. I'm pretty sure many of my endorsements come that way.
Ryel 12y ago
It's supposed to be a "I helped you, now you help me" WINK WINK kind of a thing. I can't wait for the day LinkedIn goes the way of the Myspace. The only thing people will be wondering is how it took so long. That being said, I'm looking for a job now and couldn't imagine not using LinkedIn. Everyone asks for it.

by mjt0229 12y ago

artmageddon 12y ago

> Inevitably, I get endorsed by people who have no knowledge of said skills: I'm not sure why a technology-phobic college admissions officer would endorse my skills in distributed software engineering, and what would be the value of such an endorsement? I have to agree. I've gotten so many endorsements from non-software engineers who I've never worked with for my apparent XML abilities. I literally don't know what to think about that.

ovulator 12y ago
A childhood friend added me on LinkedIn, I haven't interacted with her since I was maybe 10 years old. But I guess she knows I rock at SQL! A previous boss endorsed me for PHP, at that job I used PHP exactly 0 times. Needless to say, he wasn't a very good boss either.
mjt0229 12y ago
It's also weird that I'm most endorsed for some of my weakest skills. Everyone thinks I'm a great Python programmer except me, it seems.
- kiksy 12y ago
  I keep getting endorsed for jQuery. I keep being reminded of this: http://www.doxdesk.com/img/updates/20091116-so-large.gif http://www.doxdesk.com/img/updates/20091116-so-large.gif
  - mitochondrion 12y ago
    What did I just read?
  - mjt0229 12y ago
    I had a number in my Javascript variable once and it took a lot more than jQuery to get it back out.
hnnewguy 12y ago
>I literally don't know what to think about that. The "endorsement" system is an utter joke. When it was implemented, "endorsing" people consisted of clicking on any and every little oval that was in front of the user. I bet everyone here has been endorsed for multiple things they are unassociated with. The idea that someone thought that a real-life, personal "endorsement" could be recreated by clicking a button that half the population won't read is beyond me. LinkedIn seems to be useful because it's hot (as in, everyone is there). But outside of that original, clever idea (a professional social network) it doesn't offer much outside of its network effect.
- adrianhoward 12y ago
  It's why I made sure "coffee" made it into my top 10 endorsements. Shows how seriously I take the the system ;-) (BTW It's slipped to #9 now... if anybody wants to endorse me for coffee that would be lovely ;-)
- shadowwolf007 12y ago
  An ex-coworker and I are both endorsed for endorsements. The system is such an utter joke - the worst is getting endorsed for things and skills I don't care to advertise.
- josephschmoe 12y ago
  It's strange - because it would be so easy to make a reasonable one: 1. Users must give a comment with their endorsement 2. That comment must be at least 141 characters long. 3. Allow users to "agree" with endorsements. Let the owner choose the order.
codva 12y ago
I think it's sometimes easier to click on a couple of endorsements just to get the damn box to go away. I'm pretty sure many of my endorsements come that way.

Ryel 12y ago

It's supposed to be a "I helped you, now you help me" WINK WINK kind of a thing. I can't wait for the day LinkedIn goes the way of the Myspace. The only thing people will be wondering is how it took so long. That being said, I'm looking for a job now and couldn't imagine not using LinkedIn. Everyone asks for it.