[verdverm]

You're missing out on a lot of opportunities by not giving LI consideration. A lot of good companies use it, GitHub is also important for developers.

However, you can double your income by thinking differently about LI. If that doesn't speak to its value as a network, I might need to reassess what network value means.

[greggyb]

> However, you can double your income by thinking differently about LI.

How? I would love to double my income.

[sgerenser]

My current compensation is more than 4x what it was at my first job out of college 14 years ago. It would have been difficult to pull that off without getting in touch with recruiters at major tech companies on LinkedIn.

I did not have an expert write my profile and in fact I’ve hardly touched it in years.

[greggyb]

So is mine, and none of it is due to LinkedIn.

My most recent job search consisted entirely of friendly intros (most by colleagues at the hiring manager level) at a mix of startups and major tech companies. I have met these people through the normal course of business and life, and never through LinkedIn.

Maybe I'm special, because I've spent my career in tech consulting, so I got to network that way, but this is hardly a unique career path.

[sgerenser]

I think people that already live in tech hubs or are just in a position to network in person certainly don’t need LinkedIn as much as I did to get introductions to the major tech companies. For me, living in a smaller market and working for a small company it would be very difficult (not impossible) for me to have broken in without a LinkedIn introduction.

[verdverm]

How does it compare to industry average today?

Those numbers are highly tied to an independent event (your first salary, you could be a better negotiator today) and have been changed by inflation

[sgerenser]

My initial salary was pretty low, I started at a small company in a small market not near any tech hubs. But like I said, I think it would have been hard to network my way up without LinkedIn. All of my peers were making about what I was.

[piva00]

Inflation in a developed country for the past 14 years would account very very little for a 400% increase in salary.

[verdverm]

Yes but that plus 14 years of experience will add up to at least half if not most, super depends on that starting number. But really a comparison to today's numbers is most telling

[verdverm]

1. having a really well written profile, hire an expert

2. less LI, but become a thought leader

3. Network, write, promote. People are more likely do business with people they "know" so make sure they see your face on a regular basis.

4. Sales skills and business acumen, you will need this if you want to break out of the average

[greggyb]

1. Never did spend more than a few minutes at a time, but have recruiters reaching out on the regular.

2. This is not a LinkedIn skill. I speak at industry conferences regularly through relationships I've built entirely outside of LinkedIn.

3. Conference speaking does this for me.

4. This isn't even tangentially relayed to LinkedIn.

My first job out of college was from a bunch of cold applications. Since then, I've gotten all my roles by reaching out to people (outside of LinkedIn) to connect, and through my network. The skills you highlight as important are not exclusive to, or necessarily learnable on LinkedIn.

[verdverm]

Yes, my point is that LinkedIn is part of an overall strategy.

The best way to use recruiters is to give them a few minutes regardless of the job, they have more, it's their business, and they will start pimping you out. Best job search hack ever!

I'm doing a few extra steps now

1. Tell them the company salaries are far too low, take a sample point back, hopefully a hack that raises everyone's salary

2. Getting intros to companies I want to do business with, not go work for. This has not been fruitful, but it is a recent strategy change