Atlantic Xpat

I believe Linked In is a useful resource but you must manage your presence there correctly. Treat your profile as you would your resume & ensure that it's professional, focused and informative. As Oak & others have indicated, you need to be smart about how you use it to connect with others that you feel might be of use or interest to you. The out of the blue "Please join my network" message from someone I don't know or know of invariably gets ignored. Often they are from people trying to sell me something or recruiters trying to recruit me. Some are just completely random.

I do think that LI sits uneasily as social media & hardly if ever post any status updates in the same manner as I would on FB. The endorsement thing is also a complete farce. I'm endorsed by people who have no clue about my abilities simply because with the job title and experience I have, I really ought to be knowledgeable about those subject areas. Endorsements are a waste of time and I never give them.Recommendations, yes where appropriate and when asked. As an example, a MBA classmate who is a Realtor asked me to recommend him and I politely declined as, although he's a decent guy and a fellow student, I've never used his services professionally so couldn't comment. On the other hand the student who did a work term in my team a whiles back wanted a recommendation & I was happy to do that as he'd done a good job while with us.

It certainly makes recruiters jobs easier, in fact it almost makes them redundant at one level. Although cutting through the chaff and hyperbolae still requires some knowledge. One of the amusing things is to read former colleagues profiles, touting the things they've done and reflect that my recollection of working together is very different.

I work in a very geographically dispersed company of 2000 or so employees. I used LI as much to build an internal network as an external one. I'm also waiting for the moment when my networks from my "before moving to Canada" and "after moving to Canada" cross (other than through me).

happyhammers

I use LinkedIn (I work in construction) and it has really paid off for my job search in Canada
It is as previously someone wrote, you get back what you put in and it helps more than others depending on your profession .

Tigger1

What do you mean by healthcare/youth industry? The company I recruit for hires psychologists and counsellors and I find a lot of people through LinkedIn, there are a lot of groups for those roles; but not sure if that falls in your area at all?

beckiwoo

No I'm a senior residential care worker with youths and young people and I also work as a youth worker - I'm not qualified for counselling

Tigger1

I Just did a quick search in LinkedIn & came up with 289 groups for Youth Work; so it sounds like it's worth a look?