No doubt you have had people message you here on LinkedIn and then suggest you become “friends” or talk over other social networks. There is a new twist to this scheme.
Yesterday I had an inmail from someone who said they were impressed with my profile and wanted to know more about what I offer. I was immediately suspicious but I try to be open-minded and give people a chance. I then was hit with a copy and paste from my profile summary and asked if I thought this was a good time for her to do what I did for a living.
Ridiculous. Why would I bother talking to someone who can’t even put what I do into their own words? It seemed like I was even talking to a bot with a preprogrammed response. I blocked her and accepted that I had wasted my time giving her a chance.
It is almost universal that if someone says “I’m impressed by your profile” they are giving you a line of BS. Most of us have done things that thousands or millions of other people have done. It doesn’t matter how technical you think you are in IT someone is better. Being humble in IT is far better even if it means you don’t get as many jobs as your overconfident competition.
It is remarkable that these scammers think we aren’t onto them. All of their profiles are identical. It is always a young attractive Asian woman who is the CEO and has gone to prestigious IVY league universities. There are plenty of Asian women who have really done that, but they aren’t messaging you to talk about talking on Telegram/Whatsapp/asking you for advice that is a copy-and-paste request.
The number of people I have met on LinkedIn who have been vulgar, stupid, and insulting is ridiculous. One recruiter called me about a consulting gig and I did it successfully. Then she wanted to meet me and then showed me her purse full of medicine. Then she would call me and share she was going into the shower and coming out of the shower.
Most of the time the stupid people I have met on LinkedIn have been people who think I want to buy certifications from them. Not even. I don’t buy illegal certifications and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I did that.
The insulting people are people who message me and who disagree with what I post and insult me as well. I have had a few of those people who when we discussed things politely in a forum didn’t want to be fair and insulted me when I tried to take the discussion private in Inmail and be respectful. Listen everyone has their opinion, but everyone deserves respect.
LinkedIn has become a place where increasingly your time is wasted by people who don’t want to talk about jobs, things relevant to jobs, or even things that are respectful. I don’t participate in non-respectful conversations. I am worried that LinkedIn is getting overrun by people who only are looking for a quick buck.