Speaking personally, the activity you're describing sounds like a major time sink, and doesn't align with the LinkedIn experience of anyone I know.
It shouldn't fall on the shoulders of a social network's users to learn how to optimize their representation on that one website.
To your credit, maybe you're getting contacted by well-off companies because they admire the effort and techniques you're using to boost your profile. If so, having everyone pour the same kind of effort into it would arguably help no one stand out, and only "add value" to the platform itself.
Speaking personally, I spent much less time creating and updating my LI than creating and updating my resume in order to target specific jobs.
> It shouldn't fall on the shoulders of a social network's users to learn how to optimize their representation on that one website.
Agreed, but LI gives me the option to do so, and that is exactly what I do.
> To your credit, maybe you're getting contacted by well-off companies because they admire the effort and techniques you're using to boost your profile. If so, having everyone pour the same kind of effort into it would arguably help no one stand out, and only "add value" to the platform itself.
It wasn't much effort on my part.
When reviewing résumés for a software quality assurance position in a trendy sector, I saw numerous résumés from people with no apparent desire to do software quality assurance, but plenty of desire to move into the trendy sector. One was from a senior manager, who had sometimes supervised departments that included lots of stuff, including QA. His targeted résumé differed from his public profile basically by appending “& QA” in several places. After that, I largely ignored targeted résumés.
I get that randoms invites and messages are annoying, but the inconvenience shouldn't outweigh the benefit from LI replacing resumes for professional branding.[1] The 1 page resume is an obsolete concept. LI is like a living resume, with the added benefit of having employers reach out to you.
The resume needs to die. LI should replace resumes. Maybe it will replace recruiters too (where hiring manager reach out to you directly).[2] But it won't happen if you think like the author.
The flip side is waisting time by applying to job, and you'll get ghosted either way.
Yes, the feed is annoying. Yes, sometimes recruiters suck. But those annoyances should be tolerable considering the benefits.
FWIW, I got a very good job from a recruiter that messaged me on LinkedIn. Great companies reach out to me bc I use LI effectively.[3]
[1] Yeah, I hate the word "brand" too. Pro tip - figure it out and use it to your advantage, bc you certainly wont be able to change it. This blog post is an example - the irony is that the author's blog post will do more harm to his image than his LI profile ever did.
[2] Recruiters are not bad people. They're hustling hard just like everyone else.
[3] How to use LI effectively: buzzwords, appropriate profile pic, readable, accept lots of recruiter connections so it looks like you're popular and special.