LinkedIn

[koenigtv]

I've had a linkedin profile for at least 5 years and in that time have probably been contacted twice about a job lead. I don't know if that's normal or an industry specific limitation, but I was wondering if anyone has a linkedin premium account and if it has been beneficial.

[sanantone]

I've had a premium account twice for a short period of time. I took advantage of free trials and forgot to cancel one time. LOL. LinkedIn is not helpful in my fields: government, law enforcement, and social services. I haven't even found it to be useful for education. I've had more luck with applying to government websites and Craigslist. As a matter of fact, the teaching job I have now I found on Craigslist. LinkedIn seems more geared toward business, and people in the IT field might also have some luck.

[Lindagerr]

I had a premium account for a while but I did not find it very useful for me either. My husband ( he is in scientific field) got his current job through linked in and has just had a new job offer from someone who saw his linked in profile. Neither one of these used the premium services. The only benefit I saw from premium was getting a better look at who was looking at me (Usually friends and acquaintances).

[burbuja0512]

I didn't find LinkedIn premium beneficial at all.. what did help me was making sure that I had all of the relevant information on my profile, specifically keywords that I know people in my field would be looking for. However, the real key with LinkedIn was being TOTALLY and completely obsessed. Don't wait for a recruiter to contact you... I have been contacted by recruiters, but mostly it's for lateral positions working for competitors. This isn't what I wanted to do. So, what I ended up doing to land my current job was to literally check the job postings EVERY SINGLE DAY. Do not skip a day - go to the advanced search and be specific, perhaps have 5 or 6 different terms that you look for on a daily basis.

For example, my current job is Head of Global Sales. However, I didn't know to look for this particular title, so I would search terms such as worldwide, international, global, etc. The first few times you do this, you'll take hours, but once you're doing it on a daily basis and only searching for postings within the past 24 hours, you'll only take a few minutes. Don't skip checking on weekends - yes, most postings come through M-F, but I've seen a few good ones where the recruiter posted on a Sat or Sun.

The process I've described is exactly how I found my job now. It did take months, not weeks, but I was also looking for something very specific. I declined several interviews during this process when I was contacted for regional positions such as Latin American Sales Director or other ones that were not 100% global. So, I was a bit picky, but the persistence paid off. You can send me a PM if you want to connect on LinkedIn.

[BIPolarGuy]

burbuja0512 is spot on there. I got my current position from a post on LinkedIn in a similar fashion. I was obsessed with checking. I am not sure how much the premium account helped, but I was contacted fairly quickly after I hit "Apply". My profile was complete and up to date so that it was identical to my resume. I even forgot to attach a cover letter and resume to the submission. ( crazy how it just happens some times).

At my previous job, I was never contacted by anyone through LinkedIn. However, at my current position I am contacted 1-2 times a week by recruiters via LinkedIn alone. Again, as burbuja0512 mentioned, it is usually for lateral moves. Personally, I think its a combination of the industry you're in and your company's size/profile. Unless your a hiring manager, or actively looking for a new position, I don't know that the premium account is worthwhile.

[SteveFoerster]

I've never signed up for premium, despite many years of them trying to interest me in it. I've found two positions through LinkedIn because I had a complete profile. In one case it was like burbuja0512 said, from being proactive in applying for positions that interested me. In the other case the hiring manager contacted me directly, which was possible because I made sure to have publicly viewable contact information on my profile, rather than requiring people to be a connection to know how to contact me directly.

[nleamons]

Although I use LinkedIn.com, I am not sure about the effectiveness of using it. I applied in person for my current retail job. Now, it is possible that the person that hired me may have viewed my profile. My profile is very creative and very unique to who I am. That will change depending on the type of work, I might be interested in looking for.

[Prloko]

I got my current job applying through a government portal, but I've received several offers for employment through LinkedIn. I have even received two firm offers, but I turned them down because I didn't want to commute into DC traffic wheras my current commute is in the opposite direction.

To effectively use LinkedIn, you have to have a strong profile and be proactive in your search. LinkedIn is first, and foremost a professional networking social media site. Go ahead and join groups, participate in discussions, make real connections. It gives you excellent exposure to recruiters and hiring managers, especially if you are able to show your professional expertise in group posts.

Also, you have to make sure if you are actively looking, that you basically have your resume (minus your personal info) up ,with lots of accomplishments, not just generic job descriptions.

Finally, a few of us on here are members on an instancert linkedin group. Feel free to join and connect.

[instant000]

I've not updated my profile in over a year. My profile doesn't even list my current position.

I get low-ball offers several times a week, decent offers at least a couple times a month, and a good offer about once a quarter.

Of course, since I work in IT, as another poster mentioned, that may have something to do with it.

I'll probably be updating it this month or next, if only because we're being required to update our "company resumes" (currently work for a government contractor). In this case, I'll use it as an excuse to update everything.

One positive thing that I DID get from this thread was to check the LinkedIn postings on a daily basis, if you may be interested in something specific. (I also advocate perusing linkup.com and indeed.com.)

I desire to connect with others from this forum, but ... I don't like the way LinkedIn will ask you to lie sometimes. I'm not necessarily your friend. It's cool when you can just say "we're in this group together" ... but that may depend upon how others have their profiles set up.

If you try to connect with me, I tend to accept about 99% of the time.

[cooperalex2004]

I'm on LinkedIn too! It's mainly about setting up connections for the long-term and establishing a presence to portray your skills and education to others. I've used their job search and had some interviews in the past but overall I'd agree that it seems to have some specific career areas which are more useful.

Feel free to connect: http://www.linkedin.com/in/alexcooper