LinkedIn

I don't know how many of you are on this site, but it's a great resource for jobs, people you worked with and lost touch with, and to see what's going on in the market place. I've been on here for a few years now and I don't visit this site as often as I do my Facebook page, but then again who does? If you're looking to network online in the business world, or find a job, this is a wonderful site with a few exceptions:

1.)Requests from people you never liked: I still get request to get connected to people who are complete assholes. The type of people that if they could do anything to gain an advantage, even if it's unethical, they will do it. The kind of person whom everyone knows is an asshole but still gets ahead. When I get these requests I cringe and then ignore them. Those people are now someone else's problem not mine.

2.) Connect with a boss you hated: Isn't it funny how horrible bosses have no clue how bad they are and try to reconnect with you later on. I remember after I transferred to a new company, mainly because my general manager was a complete idiot, that same manager tried to connect with me on LinkedIn to come back and work for him. When I said to him, "I think I f#$king quit" wasn't that a clue that I didn't want to work with him anymore? How stupid can a person be? And what's ironic is that same boss sent his resume, after he was fired, to my new company and cited me as a reference. And his resume was filled with spelling errors! Yeah I wanna hitch my wagon to that train.

3.) Get messages from people in countries/cities you've never heard of: I understand the market place has gone international but that's really in relation to the computer industry and the tech market place, not necessarily medical devices. I will get random messages to connect with people in Latvia and Sri Lanka to Kuala Lumpur. People who will assist with my Internet marketing. I have no idea if they can help and I don't want to establish an online connection if I can't actually meet the person. I'm "old school" like that...I wanna see who I'm working with.

4. Receive random solicitations from old colleagues looking for jobs: I always feel bad when I get these messages because there's often not a lot I can do for the person. I don't work as a manager anymore, and chances are if I did, I would have contacted them already. Nowadays, with many people having a difficult time, I feel for the people who are out of work, and even worse because I can't help them. These connections just depress me.

5.) Random messages from people in companies that have obviously taken your online data from some place and are direct marketing you:  I'm not sure you're aware but all of your online cookies transaction, or just about anything you do online is available to THOUSANDS OF COMPANIES! This is no joke. If you think you're information is secure, you're kidding yourself. I received a Viagra message from some rep working at a medical supply company. I don't need Viagra, but I guess they thought for some reason I could use a prescription.  Thanks for the encouragement?
I am serious about the information exchanges...your information is shared every time you visit a site. It's kind of frightening.

So even if you have a job or don't have a job, check out LinkedIn and reconnect with old colleagues, get annoyed with people you don't want to connect with, look for jobs you want, and enjoy the endless trail of messages from people trying to get you to buy Viagra. Have a good day selling.

-M