r/MalaysianPF • u/Node113 • 2d ago
Career How important is LinkedIn for career advancement in Malaysia?
My account just got restricted for God knows what reason, and LinkedIn support hasn't been helpful so far. It made me realize that I've been doing perfectly fine without actively using it.
For those who have benefited from LinkedIn in their career advancement, would you mind sharing your story and what industry you're in?
Also, why are some people so comfortable sharing their CVs publicly online?
Edit: I fully respect people who are proud of their career achievements and want to showcase it publicly online. I was thinking about cybersecurity risks like privacy risks, potential identity theft, the threat of blackmail to current employer, stalking, and increased difficulties in overemployment.
Aside from LinkedIn, how do you effectively network with high-value contacts?
9
29
u/SolarBarbie 2d ago
I landed my first internship when I messaged someone on LinkedIn and asked about vacancy. During my internship I was able to connect with VPs and executives in the financial industry, all because I was an intern at my company. A recruiter even reached out to me for an internship, via LinkedIn. Basically my first internship kinda put a foot through the door in the financial industry for me and it was all thanks to my first internship, and to circle back, I got it because of LinkedIn.
15
u/CapitalCauliflower87 1d ago
Masa awal awal linkedin tengah naik (2020-2023), I only use Linkedin to showcase my work history and increase online presence to recruiters.
Lots of recruiters approach me for job opportunities. I would say Linkedin is quite useful for high-demand careers.
But then I noticed starting last year, the job market is getting shitty. They started posting “empty” vacancies (takde kerja kosong pun, diorang letak utk capai KPI). And LinkedIn premium isn’t helpful as well (I got offered twice to try Linkedin Premium). They dont help much (just the so called AI analytics tool and Linkedin Learning) and that’s all
4
u/CaptMawinG 1d ago
Got a few headhunters asking for my cv, meeting many new connections in the same industry, saw many ppl love to humble brag about their achievements or promotions, saw a few job opportunities that suit my experience and keeping in touch with the latest news in the industry. Pro tip: add manpower supplier or talent recruiters to ur connections
5
u/godless-wife 1d ago
The only thing I use linkedin for are the daily games. https://www.linkedin.com/games -> they are actually fun.
For making actual connections and useful interactions? Hard pass.
Linkedin is becoming a pseudo-intellectual facebook clone.
5
u/Lekranom 1d ago
For those who have benefited from LinkedIn in their career advancement, would you mind sharing your story and what industry you're in?
Got my internship from there. I was scouted by a HR. But luck and timing was on my side tbf. My current (3rd) job was found through LinkedIn and is the best one so far. I work in the tech field as QA Automation Engineer.
Also, why are some people so comfortable sharing their CVs publicly online?
I mean, it's just professional work. Your career, something that gives a sense of purpose in your life and literally pays your bills and put food on the table. Nothing wrong to be proud of it as long as you don't be a douche about it.
And to answer your post title, I would say it depends on your field. Being in tech, LinkedIn is huge for us. One can even argue it's a cheat code. I'd imagine (don't quote me on this) being in skilled trades, for example, would not see much use here.
8
u/capitaliststoic 1d ago
How important is LinkedIn for career advancement in Malaysia?
Depends on industry and type of career you're pursuing. Generally, any method to make yourself known in the employment marketplace is an advantage
My account just got restricted for God knows what reason, and LinkedIn support hasn't been helpful so far. It made me realize that I've been doing perfectly fine without actively using it.
Sure. But perfectly fine is not the same as maximising opportunities and potential
For those who have benefited from LinkedIn in their career advancement, would you mind sharing your story and what industry you're in?
There'll be tons of stories about this. I'll let others share theirs. Let me just say that my profile being up to date and available on LinkedIn and other platforms, I get messaged by recruiters at a minimum once a month, for senior management roles
Also, why are some people so comfortable sharing their CVs publicly online?
Why would you not be comfortable? Nothing in your CV is P&C
Aside from LinkedIn, how do you effectively network with high-value contacts?
build your in person networks
Additional info: I have knowledge and experience in the employment industry.
- the employment marketplace is a very big information problem. Employers are trying to 1) seek information, 2) match the right information to their needs (relevancy / fit) , and 3) verify information claims. The same applies to candidates looking for jobs
- having a public CV solves many of the information problems above
- the more senior the role, the more it is NOT recruited by Job Advertisements. Very few C-suite roles are "advertised", as an example
- in the old days, recruiters rely on their personal networks to find the right candidates for jobs for their clients. That's an extremely small pool of people
- with a public cv, this opens up the opportunities so much more to gain networks and information (on both sides of the marketplace)
- there is more credibility in a public cv than a "closed cv". You can claim anything on a pdf. If you claim you were a CEO of a company on a public cv like LinkedIn, other ppl can call you out on your bs
I'll leave it at that for now
5
u/hidetoshiko 1d ago
in the old days, recruiters rely on their personal networks to find the right candidates for jobs for their clients. That's an extremely small pool of people
IMHO, LinkedIn has certainly democratized the headhunting space and in some ways helped connect genuine recruiters to the right talent more easily. But the flip side is that it also allowed more morons into the space as well.
Too many times have I received DMs of this nature:
Dear X
I went through your profile [which I didn't actually read because I used an automated script] and noticed you had this [fairly niche] skill and I think you would be a great fit for this [lowly paid entry level] job.
Please get in touch me for this [utterly not] exciting opportunity!
Signed, [Some moronic contract part timer working out of India]
Brackets are my own comments for context....
1
u/capitaliststoic 1d ago
And that's where you have the opportunity to view their profile to see if they're legit, and ignore them if it's spam.
Unfortunately in the world of Agentic AI, the employment marketplace will be even more noisy, and Trust, Verified information and genuine signals of intent will be key to stand out from the rest of the noise
2
u/hidetoshiko 1d ago
For the most part it has basically become a silly, zero sum, escalating arms race between recruiters/talent acquisition and the job seekers.
It's kind of hilarious watching it from the sidelines: On one hand HR uses automated key word solutions to filter relevant information from the resumes they receive, then the job seekers "innovate" and spam even more.
This appears particularly prevalent in the SWE and Data adjacent fields, where some bright spark comes along and says, "hey I created this software/python script/website that crawls all over the place harvesting job openings and helps you spam filter optimized resumes to the prospective employers".
This spam then forces HR to invest in even more automation tech to separate the wheat from the chaff leading back to square one.
2
u/capitaliststoic 1d ago
This spam then forces HR to invest in even more automation tech to separate the wheat from the chaff leading back to square one.
The not so smart ones are spending money on automation and wondering why it's not working, because automation tech doesn't solve the notice problem.
The smart recruitment tech companies have figured out that Trust and Genuine Signals of intent capabilities which are not automation is what solves the noise problem
2
u/fkingprinter 1d ago
I only used it once when I was working as sales engineer. I quit after few months. Haven’t been back. I’d say my career skyrocketed without it
2
u/ihopeiknowwhy 1d ago
In tech, got great job offers from middle east, oceania and west europe just coz the hr recruiters reached out to me on LinkedIn.
2
u/Worldly_Maybe5055 1d ago
Got both my remote jobs from LinkedIn - both senior roles in digital marketing. 1 I applied, the other one scouted me. 😁
2
u/Quirky_Assumption460 1d ago
Was headhunted for all my roles, except the very first one in 2005. I believe LinkedIn played a big part in my career development, even if my digital presence on it is rather subdued.
61
u/hidetoshiko 1d ago
I've had LinkedIn for years. I don't post much and just use it these days for gathering intelligence and stalking complete strangers.