Why aren't more people on LinkedIn with enough information for someone to find them. 15

[SandwichEngine]

I have a paid LinkedIn account so I can message anyone, whether or not they're connected to me. I want to search for people with a variety of specific skill sets and give them a raise while allowing them to work from home. All anyone has to do to get consistent raises far beyond what one employer will give to retain someone is to just make themselves findable on LinkedIn. It frustrates me so much that the vast majority of people don't do this and I don't understand why.

Granted, I'm not giving this advice to people that work for me but I would think this would be common knowledge by now and also would be part of Engineering 101 at university.

 

[JLNJ]

While you may represent an actual employer, 99% of the time LinkedIn is just a headhunter tool. And headhunters don't care about their targets/victims. They just want people to change jobs so that they get paid. In a perverse way, it's in their best interest to make people unhappy so that they move more. It's a revenue generation scheme!

 

[rb1957]

ok, you want to hire and you're a good employer, etc. All good (sunshine and rainbows).

Then use a reputable head hunter. Find an agency that had a track record of finding good matches. There's a reason they cost money, and I think you're just looking for a cheap solution.

Your ideal candidate may be out there, but he may be happy and not wanting to move.

I picture this situation like a Venn diagram. One set is the set of candidates, with smaller sub-sets being the most appropriate; I also visualise as a vortex (tornado) ... the tighter the radius the better the fit. The other set is the set of people wanting to move jobs, with smaller sub-sets being most motivated (to move) ... another vortex.

Good Luck.

another day in paradise, or is paradise one day closer ?

 

[LittleInch]

The base issue / question ia bout linked in.

"LinkedIn is a social network for the business community. Founded in 2002, the site is a place for professionals to connect with past and current colleagues, increase business connections, network within their industry, discuss business ideas, search for jobs, and look for new hires."

Now many people just want to on there to see what their colleagues, business acquaintances etc are doing or if they've changed job.

It is not a pre-requisite that every on LI wants to display their capabilities to the world, because when times are good, you get a never ending stream of messages or contacts when in fact you are actually perfectly happy and content where you are. If you find yourself without a position or want to move then you get serious and start polishing everything, including LI and other CV websites and chase leads or companies looking to hire and you can get your head above the parapet with a "Open to work/opportunities" option.

By the time you've been around a bit you expect approaches every now and then from companies looking to grow and casting the net, but rarely does the added salary or type of work make it such that you would risk what you already have, imperfect thought it might be. Many people dislike and resist change, unless they are actively pursuing it.

I've normally been approached via people I know and have moved on for any positions that actually turned out to be significantly better than what I was already doing.

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[3DDave]

"a growing and successful company obviously needs to hire "

Yup. They do. And, no surprise, such companies will be noticed in the industry they are in and people considering working for them will make contact all on their own.

What's dubious about capitalism? They want to pay the least they can pay and get the most they can get. Using head hunters is the first clue as to their priorities.

 

[Cos0Sin90]

Ok but what about those who have LinkedIn? Does it mean that they are looking for jobs 24/7 and will leave their current companies any time?

 

[IRstuff]

I have LinkedIn, and haven't changed jobs in 25 years. Additionally, I would consider an opportunity presented by a personal contact vs. either a random headhunter or random employer, since I'd have at least a semi-unbiased perspective of the prospective company.

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[Enable]

I have a LinkedIn account and more often than not it only serves to make my barf when I scroll down the feed. Pictures of contractors extolling the virtues of safety meanwhile the pictures show their worker with a harness but no lifeline / any secondary barrier, consultants proudly saying "XYZ engineering consulting on another successful project" without any mention of their partners (like I don't know...the owner, contractor, sub-consultants), and random people in various industries posting shit as if it's the first time this information has been disseminated meanwhile they got it from a journal I follow and it was published in 1996.

I joined because my former (romantic) partner setup an account for me, and I've kept it out of inertia / it is somewhat useful for my shoring business as I can readily see what my contractor clients are up to (since they post and it comes to my feed) which I can use to talk to them about when I do the keep in touch call or whatever.

IMHO SandwhichEngine an issue you face is that for most good engineers they care about the work, not this highschool circus that we call virtual life, and thus have a natural revulsion to the entire enterprise. Insofar as they maintain accounts it's probably because it's part of the game these days but they don't generally like the game, hence they're not making it easy for you to find because they don't want to invest in it.

 

[dhengr]

SandwichEngine:
Every time I complete a page of calcs., I update my CV on LinkedIn. I recheck all the boxes, at the moment: I’m on the phone at the moment, don’t call right now; I’m on the can so wait 20mins. to call; I’m taking a break for a nooner for the next hour, and my pencil will be out of lead for an hour or so after that, so please don’t call while I’m smiling; I’m answering questions on ET, and the boss doesn’t even know that I am wasting his time and money, not to his benefit, etc. And, still, you never call me.

 

[IRstuff]

dhengr, I guess you don't have the "skill set" that the OP is looking for ;-)

TTFN (ta ta for now)
I can do absolutely anything. I'm an expert!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

faq731-376 forum1529 Entire Forum list

http://www.eng-tips.com/forumlist.cfm

 

[ALK2415]

@ SandwichEngine
check this one linkedin.com/in/adnan-l-8b40b086

 

[robyengIT]

till yesterday I had a Linkedin account : today no more (some difficulties in cancellation procedure). I feel better

 

[JStructsteel]

I find that my life is better is if I am Linked-out. No Linkedin, facebook, yada yada on my phone. Just Reddit for arguing with people, lol.

 

[SandwichEngine]

I've got so say, this is a very cynical bunch. I probably should have expected some of that since that's a valuable trait in structural engineering, but goodness, the level of suspicion and cynicism is really surprising to me.

Also to agree with some posters, I have no interest in LinkedIn beyond recruiting. Every now and again, someone will post something about an interesting building that's being erected that I'll find interesting/educational. Mostly though, if I scroll LinkedIn, I have to keep telling LinkedIn that I don't want to see the political/religious/personal content that people are posting. In a perfect world, LinkedIn would be a place to network, recruit and show what's possible. Mostly though, the same type of people who made me cancel Facebook years ago feel the need to post their views on guns, religion, politics or whatever non-job related topics.

That being said, it's valuable for recruiting and I've sometimes had great success using it to find people. However, it's a limited resource. Based on what I know, I'd estimate that only around 5% of engineers in my industry have a profile that makes them findable. To be candid, I'm looking to steal the best employees from other companies and a lot of those employees could benefit greatly from allowing me to steal them. This sub seems very dubious that I somehow work for a reputable company that would be offering an upgraded situation. Think of it this way: are you capable of figuring out if a new opportunity is a good one? You are? So are the people I'm interested in.

In conclusion, I'd like some of the posters here to comment on the idea that's been thrown out that if your company is any good, great employees will be sending in unsolicited resumes, making recruiting unnecessary. Is that an actual reality? I've been in some part of a hiring position for around 10 years for different companies. I've had a handful of randoms send in unsolicited resumes but never anyone of any quality. Is this really a thing or is this idea just being thrown out to troll. Whether or not you posted one of the comments saying that this is a thing, I'd love anyone's opinion on whether or not they think quality professionals are in the habit of sending out unsolicited resumes to "good" companies. If it is, I've got some work to do.

 

[SandwichEngine]

adn26,

I'm not trying to recruit people off this sub. I would consider that if there were any other PEMB engineers here, but I don't think there are any, at least not any who are active much. The type of person I'd be interested in would be top 10% of PEMB engineers with experience in the software we use, so a niche within a niche. They're hard to even locate, much less find a right fit. That's the root cause of this whole thread--me being frustrated I cant find them on LinkedIn. This sub has basically answered that the vast majority would be highly skeptical of hearing from anyone they didn't know via LinkedIn so that answers why I have a hard time finding people that way.

My only remaining question is in the post above--Are quality engineers really providing unsolicited resumes to companies, as was suggested in multiple posts above? I've never heard of that happening but maybe it's just not common in my niche corner of the industry. Genuinely curios if anyone believes that is or isn't a realistic expectation for a "good" company.

 

[3DDave]

How does one reinterpret "make contact on their own" with "unsolicited?" I thought companies posted job openings for prospective job seekers to find.

I can see why you are having so much trouble.

If you are using Tekla, go to

https://www.tekla.com/resources/events/dimensions-2022.

MBS has a user forum:

https://mbsweb.com/

SDS/2 has a user conference:

https://sds2.com/sds2-summit

Use some imagination.

 

[rb1957]

I'd've thought that personality was at least as important as technical ability in finding a good fit.

another day in paradise, or is paradise one day closer ?

 

[SandwichEngine]

3DDave,

Earlier in the thread, I explained why I don't prefer to do job postings, although I do them. Someone replied that if company was any good, they'd be contacting me. I took that to mean unsolicited since not wanting to do job postings was specifically discussed. Who knows. Been wrong before. Will be wrong again. That's why I'm asking these questions.

I will take your advice and look on software forums.

rb1957,

Personality is the most important thing out of a pool of technically qualified people. I'd certainly take someone who's less technically talented with a good attitude over the opposite. In fact, I don't care how talented you are if you don't have a good attitude, we can't use you. Adding that to how niche the roles and experience I need makes the pool of qualified candidates somewhere in the 100s across the entire US. Maybe like 200. This is why I'm trying to get proactive and creative.

Thanks again everyone for your insights.

 

[1503-44]

"Beware of job offers. Hackers pulled off a $620 million crypto heist by tricking an ( computer) engineer into applying for a fake job (LinkedIn) and opening an offer letter containing spyware, report says"

https://www.businessinsider.com/axi...fake-job-offer-letter-spyware-phishing-2022-7

A black swan to a turkey is a white swan to the butcher ... and to Boeing.

 

[KootK]

Well again, this thread has taught me that I'm the outlier here-someone who wants to be findable and presented with options.

I am also that kind of outlier. I'm generally grateful to be approached about opportunities and welcome connections with well behaved recruiting professionals. The only difficulty that I've had is with recruiters who bait me into "informal" conversations that turn out to be unsolicited job interviews, complete with a barrage of generic questions and requests for a copy of my resume that the unscrupulous recruiter can forward on to their client to pad their stats. I try not to let those experiences sour my outlook on recruiting and recruiters in general but confess that to be a struggle at times.

 

[Lomarandil]

The only difficulty that I've had is with recruiters who bait me into "informal" conversations that turn out to be unsolicited job interviews, complete with a barrage of generic questions and requests for a copy of my resume that the unscrupulous recruiter can forward on to their client

Or recruiters who refuse to accept that I'm not interested in the role they are offering, and in fact do not know anyone who I'd like to refer to them. No means no kids.

And of course the keyword hounds. I just ignore them.

SandwichEngine -- I'm not aware of anyone sending unsolicited resumes to top companies (actually, I can think of one case), but I am aware of engineers building informal networking relationships with companies they admire, particularly those which are focused on life balance and positive work culture at the expense of accolade and achievement.

----
just call me Lo.