Is LinkedIn Overrated?
On another social media forum few hours ago, I made a post that majority of the messages I received on LinkedIn are either from loan marketers and land marketers.
Many people agreed, which is expected. But two people made some other very important, perhaps disturbing, remarks. The comments:
I still don’t understand the purpose of Linkedln. Can anyone tell me the opportunity he/she has gotten from LinkedIn ? I think it’s a platform for showing off too many credentials to employers who are 3rd class or WASSCE holders, who might not even be on the platform. Everyone there seems to be looking for opportunities, so who is available to grant them their requests ?
I am yet to understand what is the purpose there, may be people get jobs in other countries, but I am yet to see anyone who has gotten a job through it, they only advertise promotion, job anniversaries or something else. I am thinking of going off it. Even google+ that has been phased out is more useful
I think the purpose of LinkedIn goes beyond job search. When I changed job far back in 2012, LinkedIn played a very important part. I researched my interviewers in advance via LinkedIn. I stylishly played on some sentiments – that one of them was once a staff of my former company, that another one finished from my department in the university. Having some idea about the company’s HR team – a small company, so with a small team – helped me tailored some answers.
I have also used it to research a couple of candidates I wanted to interview myself.
It has also been useful to research about companies. I have had situations where I needed info about a company and I used LinkedIn to connect with one or two of their employees who volunteered the info.
So it looks more like a research tool than a job search platform in Nigeria.
I tend to agree with the guys up here that its usefulness for job search in Nigeria is still very limited.
For example, I have never seen anybody come to my inbox to say “Hey, your profile is interesting, you will fit the role of Tax Manager in our company, do you mind speaking with our Directors?”. Nah.
The above assumes poaching, I have not really had any cause to aggressively apply for job in recent years, so I have not had any cause to send anybody LinkedIn message that I’m looking for job, so I may not be able to confirm the gentlemen’s observation.
But generally, in Nigeria, it looks like if your aim is to find jobs, LinkedIn is not your sure banker.
Afterthought: Is LinkedIn really a job search engine or a career networking site?
LinkedIn is as deceptive as the name sounds.
It’s just another Facebook for corporate individuals.