how the hell do you use LinkedIn in a job search, anyway?

June 13, 2011

This is how.

{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }

Jamie June 13, 2011 at 11:19 am

I’m curious about how selective others are when accepting a connection from former co-workers.

I personally won’t accept one unless it’s from someone I could genuinely recommend – and have no guilt about not accepting those who I know to be lousy employees (not only couldn’t I recommend them, but it wouldn’t make me look good to be recommended by them) – but what about people you worked with in a more distant way?

Perhaps another department – you don’t have any negative impressions, but you don’t know them or their work well enough to vouch for them.

Do most people accept those for the networking opportunities?

Ask a Manager June 13, 2011 at 11:38 am

I accept anyone I know, even if I don’t know them well enough to recommend them. But I know some people accept anyone at all, even total strangers, which expands your network but which also (I think) cheapens its usefulness a bit. Interested in dissenting opinions on this one!

John June 15, 2011 at 10:20 am: I only accept connections from professional contacts. I wouldn’t assume that a connection is an endorsement. LinkedIn has other features for publicly recommending someone’s work.

One mistake I’ve made is accepting connections from recruiters I’ve worked with. Since they tend to be so well-connected, it provides connection paths that aren’t particularly useful.

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Anonymous June 13, 2011 at 11:21 am

Bookmarking!

Jamie June 13, 2011 at 2:38 pm

Speaking of networking – I’ve been dealing with a situation today which really illustrates the beauty of networking.

I received a call this morning from someone with whom I used to work – of my former co-workers there are maybe three who I think are so awesome I will really go to bat for – he’s one of them. He asked if he could still use me as a reference.

After agreeing, I stupidly hung up before getting current contact information from him. I immediately went to my boss and said he was back on the market (we wanted to hire him a couple of years ago when our mutual company was closing, but he was snatched up before we could get him in for an interview (the perils of foot dragging in hiring)).

I then spent the morning trying to contact him with the old contact info, the owner of the company was helping me search the web for a way to get in touch with him, all the while I’m kicking myself for hanging up without a way to get a hold of him.

I finally find a phone number – call him to plead a case for him to consider interviewing with us – and was very politely told it wouldn’t be possible.

He’s still currently working at his job and while he wasn’t looking someone else made him an offer that was too good not to explore. He was lining up references just to seal the deal.

His current boss knows about the other job and has made him a counter offer to woo him into staying. He’s weighing his options – none of which involve working for us which is disappointing to me and the owners of my company because he would have been such an excellent addition here.

So…he has a prospective employer trying to poach him because they heard about him though word of mouth, a current employer sweetening the pot so he doesn’t jump ship, and another employer disappointed that he’s not on the market.

My point is – none of these jobs were posted – we would have created a position for him. This is 100% due to networking and a stellar reputation.

So sometimes it is just letting people know you’re looking – he wasn’t even looking and we were ready to bring him on board!

Joe June 14, 2011 at 3:05 pm

Any thoughts on using LinkedIn from the other end? I’ve tried using it in the past to find someone for a position we were hiring for, but had no luck. What techniques are useful there?

Ask a Manager June 14, 2011 at 4:21 pm: You know, I’ve never actually used LinkedIn to find candidates. I’d be interested to hear from anyone who uses it that way and likes it.

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Erin O'Brien January 26, 2012 at 1:53 pm

I’m curious if it’s acceptable to send a letter of intent/general job inquiry to a recruiter via InMail on LinkedIn? I would like to send my information to a newspaper in the area but currently no positions advertised fit my qualifications.

And I suppose that’s my big question: When “Career Opportunities” and “Job Inquiries” are listed as acceptable reasons to contact a recruiter for a specific company, is it professional to do so through LinkedIn in lieu of an e-mail or snail mail packet containing the letter and resume?