5 ms·

I can't believe people don't use Linkedin. I've been a software engineer and more recently a delivery lead within the professional service consulting space work

by comlonq 12y ago

I can't believe people don't use Linkedin. I've been a software engineer and more recently a delivery lead within the professional service consulting space working with massive enterprise clients for a few years now. Everybody I've ever spoken to (outside of small JS type devs) has got a linkedin profile and expected me to have one. So many recruiters (I contract now) have used linkedin to contact me based on searches they've done which I have converted into 6 separate projects now (and at £650 per day that's a lot of money). Depending what circles you move in (I move in big enterprise software and services circles) it's just a given that you will have a linkedin. I have a domain name which directs to my blog and one page profile but even then people still ask for my linkedin. I don't know what the smaller time software dev world is like but for me linkedin is essential.. Saying you can't believe why anybody in the HN crowd would use linkedin probably shows that you only know about the bubble that you operate in.

ToastyMallows 12y ago
I agree with this. I honestly think this is the only reason why Linkedin/Facebook/et al. are still around, because there's such a social stigma about not having one. Just like you said: > Everybody I've ever spoken to (outside of small JS type devs) has got a linkedin profile and expected me to have one. With Facebook the stigma is lessened, but still there.
enginerd 12y ago
Read your last two sentences.
- comlonq 12y ago
  Maybe you need to read what I've written. I know that I'm not part of his world but I at least understand there is a world outside of what I do. He just thinks that everyone here is the same as him and what he does must be the only thing in software development.
- enginerd 12y ago
  I apologize if it came off caustic - my point was purely understanding, to not be critical of his 'bubble' while admittedly working in one of your own.
  - bowlofpetunias 12y ago
    That insight should help you understand the relevance of LinkedIn because it operates across 'bubbles'. I'm all in favor of replacing LinkedIn with something decentralized (or just less exploitative), but isolating yourself on GitHub (which is not even the software dev industry but a minority subset of it) is not a solution, it's immature clique-ish behavior.
scrollaway 12y ago
I have the same results as you do with an active Github profile. Except I don't get cold-called by recruiters but more directly by the people who need me. It's a lot more personal, friendly, and a better experience overall. I've had people ask me for my LinkedIn and I sent them my personal site instead - they were just as happy with it. When people ask you for your linkedin, what they really want is a business profile; portfolio, cv, etc. They don't want to "friend" you and "share funny pictures" or something.
- freshhawk 12y ago
  Why not have both? Github isn't a social network. I frequently get contacted by people through LinkedIn because of the network aspect of LinkedIn. We both know the same person so they trust me rather than me just being a random name on the internet. They probably found me by searching through their LinkedIn network.
  - petepete 12y ago
    > Github isn't a social network Isn't it? I can join, commit no code, fill out a profile, create and join groups, add (well, follow) friends. It's not Facebook, but it appears to tick most of the social network boxes.
    - freshhawk 12y ago
      Yeah, good point. I guess I just don't think about it that way because you I go there to browse code rather than people.
    - spbaar 12y ago
      Can you message people?
      - naturalethic 12y ago
        I kinda wish it had this feature.
      - 12y ago
rayiner 12y ago
Linked-in is entrenched in my industry (legal). I was job-searching recently, and I noticed that almost every place where a resume submittal lead to a callback, a recruiter checked my Linked-In. It's also been really helpful for finding people I have some connection to, whether it be people who went to the same school, worked for the same firm/judge, etc. Yeah, as a software developer you're probably in high-enough demand that you can get away with not having one. I hope that state of affairs lasts forever. But for everyone else who still has to hustle for work, the benefits of Linked-In outweighs the scumminess (which is significant, I grant you).
gadders 12y ago
This pretty much mirrors my experience as a Contract PM in London.
TY 12y ago
Agree - if you consult in enterprise world, LinkedIn profile is a must-have. This is the first place where prospective customers go to check you out - your history and your connections. It does not have to be the only tool in your toolbox (own site, blog, Twitter all come into play), but it is expected that you have one. It is also very useful to keep in touch with former colleagues/customers after projects are over. These are the people who you would not add to your Facebook account but would like to exchange a message with every couple of years or so...
benaston 12y ago
Off topic and a little nosey, but what skills do you have that command 650/day?
- ghshephard 12y ago
  I don't believe, in the last 15 years, I've ever hired a contractor, for any IT work, from Jira consulting to installing telephone lines, (and certainly not any type of skilled development coding) that charged less than $800/day. Usually a contractor charges from $150 - $200/hour, with a discount if you need them for more than a couple weeks.
  - marcins 12y ago
    It was £650 a day, not $ - so about US$1000
- boyaka 12y ago
  You know that every year the USD gets inflated more? A person making $100k salary gets paid about 400/day (I just divided by 260) with holidays and no breaks. 650/day for freelance where the pay is not consistent sounds pretty modest to me. Really the way inflation and money printing and the market for money has been going these days we should all be getting paid a LOT more. But we will just continue to be happy with our 50-200k salaries as the rich 1% keeps gathering more and more of it.
  - rluhar 12y ago
    Just being pedantic here - grand parent post mentions £650 a day, which is around $1000 per day depending on the prevailing exchange rate.
  - antihero 12y ago
    It's in GBP, so £650/day is actually $285,356.50. I wouldn't call that modest in the least.
    - runako 12y ago
bradleysmith 12y ago
I agree. I'm a project manager, have been in multiple industries. Aviation, intelligence, product dev & mechanical engineering, and oil & gas all use Linkedin, and I benefited from using its service. Linkedin has provided both clients and meaningful job interviews for me; I even give them dollars for upgraded service from time to time. If you are in sales, it's invaluable in finding individuals in organizations. Maybe some think this is a bad thing and that's fine; I do not. If you are job hunting, it is unbelievable to be able to put something directly in front of the actual person hiring before getting in the door. Despite being filled with strangeness, many of their industry groups are good for finding specific knowledge. It's scummy (and much less knowledgable than HN or forums around the net), but that's just how some of the internets be, I guess. It does seem a bit like MySpace; something almost exactly like what they are actually trying to accomplish. I understand the disdain some have for Linkedin, but I myself have benefited from using it.
bane 12y ago
You aren't enough of a special hipster snowflake to ironically not use popular job networking services.
eevee 12y ago
This is very strange to me. I had a LinkedIn for a couple years, but it served me absolutely no purpose except one or two pings from recruiters who were looking for vastly different skillsets anyway. I got sick of the security issues, endless deluge of useless email, and generally having to care about it at all, so I deleted my account a few years ago. Now I get more recruiter email, except they actually sort of know what I'm good at, because they found me through GitHub (or my blog) instead. Not to say that GitHub is inherently a better indicator of capabilities, but it's more likely to be looked at by someone with some technical understanding, whereas LinkedIn is basically keyword soup. I don't believe I've ever once been asked for my LinkedIn. But I work for an SF company, so maybe your experience is a reflection of enterprise and its love of résumés.
zodiac 12y ago
I think parent and grandparent just operate in different sub-industries/geographic regions etc. I find it easy to believe that some communities find linkedin indispensable while some consider it an anti-signal. I also find it strange that while you clearly know that over-generalizing your own experiences shows that one "only knows about the bubble that one operates in", your first sentence is that you can't believe people don't use linkedin...

by comlonq 12y ago

ToastyMallows 12y ago

I agree with this. I honestly think this is the only reason why Linkedin/Facebook/et al. are still around, because there's such a social stigma about not having one. Just like you said: > Everybody I've ever spoken to (outside of small JS type devs) has got a linkedin profile and expected me to have one. With Facebook the stigma is lessened, but still there.

enginerd 12y ago

Read your last two sentences.

comlonq 12y ago
Maybe you need to read what I've written. I know that I'm not part of his world but I at least understand there is a world outside of what I do. He just thinks that everyone here is the same as him and what he does must be the only thing in software development.
enginerd 12y ago
I apologize if it came off caustic - my point was purely understanding, to not be critical of his 'bubble' while admittedly working in one of your own.
- bowlofpetunias 12y ago
  That insight should help you understand the relevance of LinkedIn because it operates across 'bubbles'. I'm all in favor of replacing LinkedIn with something decentralized (or just less exploitative), but isolating yourself on GitHub (which is not even the software dev industry but a minority subset of it) is not a solution, it's immature clique-ish behavior.

scrollaway 12y ago

I have the same results as you do with an active Github profile. Except I don't get cold-called by recruiters but more directly by the people who need me. It's a lot more personal, friendly, and a better experience overall. I've had people ask me for my LinkedIn and I sent them my personal site instead - they were just as happy with it. When people ask you for your linkedin, what they really want is a business profile; portfolio, cv, etc. They don't want to "friend" you and "share funny pictures" or something.

freshhawk 12y ago
Why not have both? Github isn't a social network. I frequently get contacted by people through LinkedIn because of the network aspect of LinkedIn. We both know the same person so they trust me rather than me just being a random name on the internet. They probably found me by searching through their LinkedIn network.
- petepete 12y ago
  > Github isn't a social network Isn't it? I can join, commit no code, fill out a profile, create and join groups, add (well, follow) friends. It's not Facebook, but it appears to tick most of the social network boxes.
  - freshhawk 12y ago
    Yeah, good point. I guess I just don't think about it that way because you I go there to browse code rather than people.
  - spbaar 12y ago
    Can you message people?
    - naturalethic 12y ago
      I kinda wish it had this feature.
    - 12y ago

rayiner 12y ago

Linked-in is entrenched in my industry (legal). I was job-searching recently, and I noticed that almost every place where a resume submittal lead to a callback, a recruiter checked my Linked-In. It's also been really helpful for finding people I have some connection to, whether it be people who went to the same school, worked for the same firm/judge, etc. Yeah, as a software developer you're probably in high-enough demand that you can get away with not having one. I hope that state of affairs lasts forever. But for everyone else who still has to hustle for work, the benefits of Linked-In outweighs the scumminess (which is significant, I grant you).

gadders 12y ago

This pretty much mirrors my experience as a Contract PM in London.

TY 12y ago

Agree - if you consult in enterprise world, LinkedIn profile is a must-have. This is the first place where prospective customers go to check you out - your history and your connections. It does not have to be the only tool in your toolbox (own site, blog, Twitter all come into play), but it is expected that you have one. It is also very useful to keep in touch with former colleagues/customers after projects are over. These are the people who you would not add to your Facebook account but would like to exchange a message with every couple of years or so...

benaston 12y ago

Off topic and a little nosey, but what skills do you have that command 650/day?

ghshephard 12y ago
I don't believe, in the last 15 years, I've ever hired a contractor, for any IT work, from Jira consulting to installing telephone lines, (and certainly not any type of skilled development coding) that charged less than $800/day. Usually a contractor charges from $150 - $200/hour, with a discount if you need them for more than a couple weeks.
- marcins 12y ago
  It was £650 a day, not $ - so about US$1000
boyaka 12y ago
You know that every year the USD gets inflated more? A person making $100k salary gets paid about 400/day (I just divided by 260) with holidays and no breaks. 650/day for freelance where the pay is not consistent sounds pretty modest to me. Really the way inflation and money printing and the market for money has been going these days we should all be getting paid a LOT more. But we will just continue to be happy with our 50-200k salaries as the rich 1% keeps gathering more and more of it.
- rluhar 12y ago
  Just being pedantic here - grand parent post mentions £650 a day, which is around $1000 per day depending on the prevailing exchange rate.
- antihero 12y ago
  It's in GBP, so £650/day is actually $285,356.50. I wouldn't call that modest in the least.
  - runako 12y ago

bradleysmith 12y ago

I agree. I'm a project manager, have been in multiple industries. Aviation, intelligence, product dev & mechanical engineering, and oil & gas all use Linkedin, and I benefited from using its service. Linkedin has provided both clients and meaningful job interviews for me; I even give them dollars for upgraded service from time to time. If you are in sales, it's invaluable in finding individuals in organizations. Maybe some think this is a bad thing and that's fine; I do not. If you are job hunting, it is unbelievable to be able to put something directly in front of the actual person hiring before getting in the door. Despite being filled with strangeness, many of their industry groups are good for finding specific knowledge. It's scummy (and much less knowledgable than HN or forums around the net), but that's just how some of the internets be, I guess. It does seem a bit like MySpace; something almost exactly like what they are actually trying to accomplish. I understand the disdain some have for Linkedin, but I myself have benefited from using it.

bane 12y ago

You aren't enough of a special hipster snowflake to ironically not use popular job networking services.

eevee 12y ago

This is very strange to me. I had a LinkedIn for a couple years, but it served me absolutely no purpose except one or two pings from recruiters who were looking for vastly different skillsets anyway. I got sick of the security issues, endless deluge of useless email, and generally having to care about it at all, so I deleted my account a few years ago. Now I get more recruiter email, except they actually sort of know what I'm good at, because they found me through GitHub (or my blog) instead. Not to say that GitHub is inherently a better indicator of capabilities, but it's more likely to be looked at by someone with some technical understanding, whereas LinkedIn is basically keyword soup. I don't believe I've ever once been asked for my LinkedIn. But I work for an SF company, so maybe your experience is a reflection of enterprise and its love of résumés.

zodiac 12y ago

I think parent and grandparent just operate in different sub-industries/geographic regions etc. I find it easy to believe that some communities find linkedin indispensable while some consider it an anti-signal. I also find it strange that while you clearly know that over-generalizing your own experiences shows that one "only knows about the bubble that one operates in", your first sentence is that you can't believe people don't use linkedin...