Is this Facebook for the competitive, careerist who wants to 'network'? I find it a fascinating concept, because there is a school of thought that says it's a good way to protect yourself online by not putting things like your job on Facebook and similar networks and here we are there's a network devoted to jobs. To engage with a social networking site that tracks your previous employment in a very public way seems in many ways quite inadvisable.
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LinkedIn wants me to reconnect. Depending on your field, this social network seems in no way essential for keeping in touch with former colleagues. Keeping an email address may be just as useful, and it's unlikely everyone in your old office will all leave, so you'll still be able to trace an important contact through mutual acquaintances. If you can't there may be good reason for that. In librarianship there are so many professional groups and networks with their own sites and forums that this seems rather surplus to requirements. For socialising with old colleagues, there are probably other networks your already using that would aid you in doing this.
LinkedIn will apparently 'power my career' and I'll "Discover inside connections when you’re looking for a job or new business opportunity." As far as I'm aware it's illegal for someone to give you a job because they already know you, so you'd better hope you're actually the best candidate at interview. I also don't believe that this site will reveal jobs that are otherwise impossible to find. I think that for me various academic and librarian job sites and following relevant tweeters will put me in good stead.
Finally I can garner advice. Well, OK, that sounds pretty useful. Depending on your trade, though, you may have a union or professional association who can offer advice too, such as CILIP, who offer career advice as part of their membership package.
Anecdotally, my experience of LinkedIn is that in a previous position a new manager was brought in, we looked them up on this site and were filled with dread. That wasn't particularly useful, and indicates that a major attraction of this website is to create not just 'a buzz' and 'market yourself' but also a bit of gossip. Maybe not joining LinkedIn will hinder my career, if I do I may reconsider my position, but for now I think it's a way of putting an unhelpful amount of information about yourself online, the reason for which eludes me...
EDIT: I am interested to see that CPD23 have also been talking about this. I was interested to see (via @sphericalfruit) Dots and Loops comment on cronyism on LinkedIn and @booleanberry's change of heart.
Thanks for posting! This is exactly what 23 Things is about, having the time and space to expeiment and think about stuff. It's interesting that noone seems to like linkedin! My experience of FB a few years ago was that the only contact I got through it were people I was in email contact with at least weekly, if not daily, so it really didn't do anything for me.
ReplyDeleteLike all tools it does depend on how you use it. LinkedIn has reconnected me with a few people I'd not been in touch with for a while, especially useful since they may not have been aware I'd changed jobs. I've also given a former committee colleague a recoomendation. Yes there are other fora and discussion boards but Linkedin just gives another opportunity to discuss stuff.
I think most staff do look up new managers, whether that's on the internet generally, in FB, in linkedIn or even in CILIP's membership handbook. I bet you'd have found stuff about them in other places not just LinkedIn.
Anyway on to this week's Things. can you beat #jamgate?
Rowena 23 Things team