Several overseas agents and customers have sent me invitations to join and I’ve always ignored them. Now my Pakistan agent is pestering me. Is it worth it? What’s it for? Will it make me faster on my bike?

Will it make me faster on my bike?

No, it’s facebook for work, with the potential to be internet dating for work if your looking for work/business.

Can be handy, depends how you work really? As much as you can see of others, they can see of you, so as above a bit like FB. You can deselect people to show in your profile, and to some extent limit your visibility. You have to ask yourself, why is this guy pestering me as its likely he wants something else from the connection, perhaps telling others that he’s connected to you which may carry some influence?

I use it instead of keeping business cards. I’ve got boxes of the bloody things over the years and it’s easier to keep track of people this way I find.

Well it won’t help him much because he would be the first! Can always invent some story that our IT department blocks LinkedIn emails.

TBH at the risk of sounding cocky we know everybody who is worth knowing in our export territories and we know where we are good and not so good. It seems like just another thing to clutter up my desktop.

TBH at the risk of sounding cocky we know everybody who is worth knowing in our export territories and we know where we are good and not so good. It seems like just another thing to clutter up my desktop.

It’s a web page so nothing for your desktop, if you know everyone i your business area and there is nobody else then ignore it. However we get enquiries through it from strange places, if your selling it’s another avenue to sell/connect through, and when your after a new job it’s useful too.

Are you likely to have to look for a job at some point in the future?

TBH at the risk of sounding cocky we know everybody who is worth knowing in our export territories….

While this may be true it’s: –
a). Not likely – unless you are in the worlds most niche of niche markets for a super niche product/service
b). Subject to change… Your role, organisation, services/products and customers are likely to be at least slightly dynamic. Make sure you use every channel. It helps you stay in touch, grow your contacts and keep informed – so why not do it?
c). For reasons a & b – just a smidgen shortsighted.

J

It takes more than 10 mins to sort out a useful network of people in there. It’s worth a little time for just in case.

I use it instead of keeping business cards.

Other than that, completely pointless. I look at it maybe once ever few months.

NB You’ll get millions of emails saying your contacts have recommended you for skills you never knew you had (it’s LinkedIn’s very own SPAM scheme).

It has it’s benefits. I use it to find pictures of customers so I can form an opinion of them based on their face.
However, it I doesn’t help me to understand apostrophes.

We are very niche – specialised industrial raw materials and my territory is all of Africa with some extra bits that nobody else wants to cover. The company is doing unbelievably well (like many exporters) and we don’t exhibit at trade fairs because we find they tend to attract tyre-kickers. We know all the manufacturers in our territories and we know the ones where we are doing well and the others where we haven’t “gelled” with the owners. I certainly don’t plan on changing my job in the nine years remaining until I retire and if I did I definitely wouldn’t want to relocate to anywhere in Africa or Pakistan!

I think you can safely ignore it then.

Run away. Now.

They only want the connection so they can harvest your network for new leads.

How do you know that you know everyone in your business that you need to know? That is an impossible statement as there will be poeple you don’t know. I was asking a friend, who is a recruitment consultant, the exact same question recently. Ultimately if all you want to do is maintian contacts then other things can do that too, but he explained that it links people up, so you may think you know everyone you need to know in your business, but you wont know who they know, and who they know etc. So if you’re dealing with someone you can establish any connenctions or links with other people which may have a bearing on how you deal with them, how you structure your business with them etc. also it is quite handy to make contacts or at least identify other people that you need to make contact with.

I personally don’t see much of a benefit in my line of work, but in some other lines of work I can see a significant benefit, and certainly if you’re looking to move jobs it seems like a good idea. It seems now that if you’re not on Linkedin these days then alot of Recruitment Consultants simply wont deal with you.

I have found it quite helpful. It isn’t like facebook for business, insofar as you don’t get invitations to play ‘farm’ or whatever. It’s just like an online business card. I have made a number of contacts in my field through it.

I think it what I meant by Like facebook for business not full of the I played a game for 47hrs straight but still with I like this news story and someone went to somewhere added. The concept is the same just some of the people have grown up a bit. It’s also worth keeping it work only.

work contacts in linkedin
outside work in facebook

that is all

I’ve been told recently that LinkedIn is becoming, or _is_, the first place that people look when you are applying for jobs.

Which worries me because I really don’t bother keeping the profile I have their up to date.

I’ve been told recently that LinkedIn is becoming, or _is_, the first place that people look when you are applying for jobs.

They’ll have to look for a long time in my case then

I’ve been told recently that LinkedIn is becoming, or _is_, the first place that people look when you are applying for jobs.

Nonsense, it’s still pretty niche i.e. IT jobs mainly and full of out of date profiles (mine included). I occasionally log on to delete all the recommendations for skills I don’t have, which always amuses me.

In engineering its becoming useful, but I don’t know if it is essential.

Nobody has ever heard of a job like mine; it’s one of those jobs that, when you do hear about it, you think: “Ah yes, somebody must have to do that!”

Nobody has ever heard of a job like mine; it’s one of those jobs that, when you do hear about it, you think: “Ah yes, somebody must have to do that!”

I reckon I could give you a run for your money there!

Globalti – will you be recruiting at any point. Linkedin can be useful for recruiting (although you probably need the perseverance of a recruitment company to get the best out of it). However I have also found most people coming for an interview with me have done a little research on my linked in profile before they get here – in fact if they haven’t i’m suspicious that they are stuck in 1995. I also find its quite useful when you have a CV in front of you to look them up (1) the CV doesn’t always match [anyone seriously looking for a job in 2013 in any form of modern business should have updated their profile] – I’ve spotted the ones where the recruitment agency have ‘over polished’ a cv and the one where the LinkedIn profile was XYZ Assistant but the CV was XYZ Director! (2) its all about networks – you may find someone you know who can give you a reference on a candidate – which may be much better than the referee they would suggest.

LinkedIn also tells me some of the people who have visited my profile. Its not unusual for customers to look me up to see who this crazy guy is.

Been told that I need to be on there. Have seen it provide valuable advice from experienced people at no cost in a matter of hours. YMMV

Pros and Cons – fwiw I’ve been on there for quite a few years. It’s very useful for headhunters so if you care about beng noticed by them then join. I know a umber of people who when applying for new jobs have said that the prospective employer has checked them on linkedin to see whomthey are connected to (ie do they have good / senior level connections) and to check any endorselments / recommendations. It’s is quite public in that competitors can use it to find out who your clients are (if you link to them yourself), also any job changes are broadcast.

Looking at this from an entirely different perspective, the the above replies all have elements of truth, but that is speaking from a British perspective. Other cultures perceive accepting/ ignoring differently, so consider this if you deem the person requesting a link worthwhile.

Amongst my African customers you don’t even get considered for a job if you are from a different race, tribe, religion or sometimes even family. My customers simply wouldn’t employ an “outsider”.

is it a social symbol to have white friends in pakistan ?

i know it has been in some of the places i work.

I dont mind adding folk i know personally from these places to linkedin if we have worked together – they get a big fat rubber stamped no when they add me to facebook.

In IT it has been quite interesting place to be and it used to be difficult to get hold of mates who changed jobs before Linkedin. Now it also very common to see flurry of “xx has joined talent pool / xyz professionals” just before the layoffs in respective companies.