“LinkedIn is becoming just another Job Board.” Is that true?
I think we are mixing up several unrelated things in a statement like this.
1) Job Boards seems to be used as a criticism. But Job Boards, such as Monster.com are still great for sourcing (you may skip the advanced semantic search when signing up if the price is a concern). Why is there a perception that Job Boards are not a place to go to? They have parsed resumes, structured search, and a good sourcer can still dig out a lot.
2) I agree, it’s too bad when LinkedIn is adding new restrictions. I have complained about LinkedIn quite a few times, but I must say that I haven’t been able to stay away from LinkedIn on any of my searches. It has become our top resource, especially given a great rate of response from potential candidates.
With any added restrictions and added functionality targeted at recruiters, LinkedIn will never become a job board, for two main reasons:
- Job boards have resumes vs. LinkedIn profiles, 80% of which are not filled out completely; this is a challenge but is also an opportunity
- on job boards recruiters and candidates are on the “opposite” sides and can’t view each other as members of a network; on LinkedIn we can check each other out and establish trust.
Sure, LinkedIn’s growing limitations are frustrating to all. But so far there are so many great ways to use LinkedIn for sourcing. Hope it remains this way.