Nowadays, we are advised to advertise our education and our working credentials, but in reality is that even helpful? I want to discuss some pros and cons behind LinkedIn from an HR perspective.
Working in Human Resources we advise our clients to apply to jobs through LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a self-promoting platform for professionals. Applying through LinkedIn makes the job recruiting process a lot faster/easier. Some pros to consider;
- LinkedIn gives the recruiter access to your profile and/or recent projects
- Your resume and education is easily accessible
- Great resources for networking with like minded individuals
- Capability to personally DM recruiters for a company you want to work for
- Opportunity to join groups of interest for further networking.
So depending on the industry of profession LinkedIn can be beneficial in enhancing your career and opening other profitable connections.
However, my experience was completely different! I figured by sharing my personal experience, this would be a great way to highlight some of the cons. I had a LinkedIn account for about six years till I realized that this avenue wasn’t bringing me any job prospects. I had received a total of three callbacks in six years. I was diligent in my efforts and followed all the guidelines provided from one of my Professors in undergrad, along with colleagues. I upgraded my account to a premium account and continuously networked, while promoting myself.
Although, my experience wasn’t fruitful, I started to tap into other avenues for job applications. I deleted my account and further did my own investigation. I came up with a theory that perhaps the possibility of me being a visible minority could be the difficulty that I was experiencing. I am a woman of colour and I do wear the hijab, maybe my appearance wasn’t the representation companies were looking for. Since I have been off LinkedIn, I have received over ten + plus callbacks in a matter of two years verses the six years with only three callbacks.
Through this all, I have now developed a passion for Diversity and Inclusion, in hopes to normalize woman who look like myself in more HR top management roles. Even though, LinkedIn was not useful for myself I have heard many success stories of others landing their dream jobs.
YasiminAbir HR 