Hi Everyone,
I was laid off about a month ago so I have been in the process of looking for a new position. This is the first time I have used LinkedIn as a primary tool in the process. Most of my previous positions have been through word of mouth or some local job boards, but I am going for a fully remote position so LinkedIn seemed a good place to start... but now I am questioning it.
Below are a few of the things that I have noticed (terrible UX aside!) that make me wonder if I am doing things wrong, or if I should be trying another strategy / tool. I would love to hear other people's stories or advice.
1. Issue 1: Position / profile matches appear to be completely random
I am working on a career transition from software project manager to UI / UX designer. I have many years of UX and a couple years of UI experience, but only just switched my profile to focus on this in the last few weeks. Despite this, LinkedIn has told me that:
a) My profile has been viewed by people searching for: Software Developer, Salesperson, Recreational Professional
b) It shows when my profile matches a job posting, but it has included: Platform Engineer, Controller, Junior School PE Teacher, Venue Lead Technician, Senior Product Developer (meat production, not even software)
I understand it getting mixed up between designer and PM, but it just basically seems like it is way in left field. Is it just that the algorithm is that rudamentary and just matches a few keywords? Even if it is... how can my profile be a good match for so many diverse positions???
2. Issue 2: Job postings create an intense sense of pressure
I am looking at the app frequently, and often I see that jobs posted even with the last hour or 2 have hundreds of applicants, those on longer than that often have many hundreds of applicants and some even over a thousand. With that many people, it makes me feel like I don't have any time to follow any proper process, to look up potential people to chat with, to network with anyone, to look at the company... I just need to get my application in ASAP, because often they close the posting quickly due to the overwhelming numbers...
3. Issue 3: Many companies appear to be closing and reposting jobs very frequently
Now that I am monitoring the job posting feeds, I am seeing a several companies that put up postings for the same position on a regular basis. Some post the same job in many locations, even though it is remote (maybe just so it shows up in more searches?). But those same ones also seem to be closing the posting and making a new one regularly. I can see if a company does a posting and doesn't get any good candidates, they might try again... but this is more than that. It seems to be happening often, like reposting a position a few days after the previous posting. Do any recruiters or hiring managers out there have insight as to why they would do this? Is there some strategy for it? Is it again just poor UX on LinkedIn and the "date posted" day is actually "last updated"??
Sorry this post got so long!! Hopefully it generates some good conversation :)