Confessions of a LinkedIn Addict

Chihuahuas in the Mist – the Condo Diaries

Observation, day two.

The human female native is off hunting. The canine natives appear to be taking a break. Badly needed, apparently. They guard the habitat from the windows, barking away potential predators.  That lady walking to the beach on the street below is really ticking them off.

(PS – props to AJ for the title suggestion)

Confessions of a LinkedIn Addict

One of the core networking tools these days is LinkedIn.  The social networking site for professionals is like highly addictive heroin for recruiters, people looking for jobs, or anybody selling something B2B.

I’m something of a LinkedIn whore.  I’ve got somewhere in the neighborhood of 17,000 direct connections. You want to connect to me?  No problem.  Don’t know you from Adam?  No sweat.   You sell kazoos for a living?  Could come in handy to know you.

In case you don’t know what LinkedIn is, it’s the place where you put up your resume and picture, and gobs of people from countries you’ve never visited ask to connect with you.  The more connections you have, the more desirable it is for people to connect to you, because they can reach other people through you.  Here’s some fairly typical sample emails I receive(d) on a regular basis through LinkedIn (with some creative paraphrasing):

• “Hi, we’ve never met before, ever.  Ever.  But can you please endorse me on LinkedIn for my skills as a yak herder?”
• “You are connected to President Obama, and I would like to be his coffee table. Will you please introduce me to him?  Personally?”
• “I’m looking for a job.  The past three years I have been working in covert operations and can’t tell you anything about my work history, or I’d have to kill you.  When can I interview with your company?”

I’m the one who sent you messages you ignored about jobs you may kinda sorta want.  I’m the one who sent out so many unsolicited invites to people, my account had been locked down by LinkedIn at least three times, until I grovelled back into the site’s good graces.  You read that right, I had to apologize for being a serial-inviter.

I’m hooked on these emails.  Seriously.  As a recruiter, you’re out there as the face of the company, and the volume of mail you get on LinkedIn becomes an surrogate indicator of your value.  Now that I’ve stopped recruiting, and I’m no longer the face of my company in that regard, the mail has dropped off precipitously.

And more connections, equals more mail, equals LinkedIn giving you metrics on how important you are. I’d been ranked in the top 5 percent of LinkedIn users.  They even emailed me a certificate telling me so.  That and $3.50 will get me a cup of coffee.

You thought I was kidding, didn’t you?

I’m weaning myself down on LinkedIn for a while.  I think Facebook will end up being my fix for a while.

Random Thoughts:

• For the record, I’d like to be a yak herder, but I think I’d have a bitch of a time getting it through the condo association.
• I’m debating what I should put as my occupation on LinkedIn while I’m in transition?  Some thoughts:
  • Raconteur and Man-About-Town
  • Human-to-dog park Ambassador
  • (mysteriously blank)
  • The other day I saw somebody walking a small dog with a haircut that made it look like a miniature alpaca. I’ve seen Pomeranians with lion cuts, but this was a new one for me.
  • My wife, the Lovely and Talented Rochelle (a professional editor), has told me the writing standrad these days requires only one space after periods (as opposed to the two I am using).  Great.  Another way to feel old.  As if the grey hair wasn’t enough.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. He is a Human Resources professional and staffing expert with almost two decades of in-house corporate HR and staffing firm experience, and is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).

Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, and career coaching services, including a free resume review. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.