Linking Out 2.0

 Last week I closed down my Linked Out account.

I did this once before as in turns out in January of 2017; my logic at that time was combination of leaving my professional information out there to be contacted by old organizations, its function as a  sales channel, a lack of real benefit, and leaving myself "out there".   Times change of course - being laid off will do that to you - and so last year I dusted off the old account and fired it up.

A little over a year later, I am re-powering it down.  Likely for good.

Some of my reasoning has not changed.  

Linked Out (now a wholly own subsidiary of Microsoft) is, on the one hand, the premier career linking and information site. Its competitors are either industry specific or not in the same league.   But for that size, it is surprisingly bland.  Part of that is due to a conscious movement to "Not Make Linked Out The Book Of Face" (e.g., limit or completely exclude typical social media fare). To that extent, it does not generate controversy.  But what it also brings along with it is a form of content uniformity that both (in my mind) supports a particular world view as well as likely subverts any meaningful discussion.

That is fine of course; I do not go to a career site inherently to discuss something like economics or my view of the decline of society or methods of making yogurt at home.  But neither do I go to a site to find that there is simply one view, and one view only, of the world.

A second factor - as before - simply that the site does not do anything for me.

Yes, it is useful to follow up with contacts from previous companies - but likely those contacts only ever reach out in the event that 1) They are looking for a job for themselves or another contact at another company; or 2) They are trying to leverage you for information on a current employer.  In terms of actual conversation, it is at a minimum at best.

Additionally, in terms of actual results for the reason I renewed - job searching - its results were minimal at best.

Of the 86 jobs I applied for during Hammerfall 3.0, the bulk of them were through the Linked Out Portal.  Some went directly to the employer's in-box, others sent me to the employer's website to complete the application there (e.g., I really could have found it on my own).  Of the four job listings that went farther than a rejection, only one came from a contact there.  One was through personal contacts and two were through directly applying at the employer's website (including the one I took).

In other words, I could have done just as well by searching websites and applying directly (as, it turns out, I did).

A third factor is simply the lack of different it makes in my life.  The postings are, for the most part, people getting jobs, leaving jobs, or talking about aspect of their companies (mostly about how great they are) with some "Why employers are failing us" sorts of lists and memes.  99% of these have no impact on my life and since I gained employment, I have done quite well without those sorts of updates.

The final reasons are personal.

The first personal reason is as before:  simply put, it is one more way to pull my personal information back into myself.  Yes, that posting is out there on the Wayback machine if someone wants to go to the trouble, but in principle on such things, it is probably better to make it as inconvenient as possible.

The second personal reason is that this is an extension of my policy in Responding To The World At Large II in that Microsoft (arguably) does not really support the sorts of things I believe in or my world view.  Yes, my puny single account going away (and a free one at that) will not impact their bottom line - except.  Except that that is one less marketing dollar they can get for me, on less "Out-mail" someone has to buy to contact me.  Not much, I grant you, but a philosophical victory all the same.

The third personal reason is simply that I intend this to be the end of the job line.

I do not know how long I have left to work (or how long left to live, if you get right down to it), but certainly my desire is that this current job in New Home 2.0 is the last formal "job" I hold.  In that sense, my canceling of Linked Out is the equivalent for me of burning the boats.  There is only, ever forward on this track.

Will I miss Linked Out?  The open secret is no - and I would bet that most people, if they were honest, would not.  Outside of the rarified atmosphere that permeates anyone that needs regular social media updates (and be clear:  Linked Out is a form of social media like every other), most people at best need it like that tool you need every six months to fix a particular problem:  nice to have, but not something that is front and center in your life.