There is no denying the fact that Linkedin has over the years become an invaluable platform for all job seekers, but are some of its services really worth paying for? Let’s take a closer look and find out what kind of paid services you can avail of and if they worth the money:
A badge that declares you are looking for a job: Linkedin feels that such a badge will make you really attractive to companies that are hiring, but as it turns out that might not be the case. Sarah Stamboulie, who is a career coach and has earlier worked in human resources in Morgan Stanley, feels that such a badge is actually counterproductive and makes the person look pathetic. Basically, those recruiting and hiring want to see that you are really busy and in demand rather than so very available that you need to publicly announce it.
You will be placed at the top of the list when you apply for jobs via Linkedin: Stramboulie feels this feature might not really be helpful. Instead she suggests that a job seeker zero in on the company he/she wants to work for, find a contact and personally get in touch with this contact rather than going through Linkedin.
You can find out who all checked out your profile: This is another feature that Linkedin claims can be really helpful in pinpointing exactly the kind of recruiters who are interested in your profile. Stamboulie on her part begs to differ, saying you as a job seeker should take the initiative yourself and approach companies you want to work for instead of waiting for recruiters to check out your profile. Also, if some recruiter went through your profile but didn’t touch base with you, in all probability they aren’t interested in hiring you.
You can send a Linkedin “InMail” to other members who you want to get in touch with: This feature allows you to get in touch with Linkedin users whose contact info you do not have. Linkedin feels that this feature will grab the attention of the person you are trying to target because the mail has been sent through Linkedin rather than via regular mail. Stamboulie again disputes this claim, saying this kind of mail is only one step away from spam. She feels it is better to take the pains to find out the contact info of the person you want to get in touch with and directly send the person a mail, so it looks as if you are really interested. Despite your efforts, if you are unable to dig up someone’s contact info, you can pay $10 here and send a single “Inmail”.
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