LinkedIn - hints - it works even in Singapore

[McMarco]

Mid-term passive forum reader share his LinkedIn story.

Came to Singapore 3 months ago. Started working for company X. After ~1 month decided it's not good place for me. Started looking for other employer. It turned out it's not that easy Posted CV on monster, indeed etc. Got some offers - not so good. Decided to invest in pr0 account on LI (I have profile since 2006 and think it's quite decent). Didn't got more attention (there was small peak but no serious offers). In the meantime applied for some job offers on jobs section on LI. It turned out that one of them clicked (it might have or might not have been because of premium account). After interview process accepted the offer.

While I'm not sure if Job Seeker account was worth the money (~S$20/m) I've actually found a job through LinkedIn while other job-boards were not that helpful.

[PNGMK]

Mid-term passive forum reader share his LinkedIn story.

Came to Singapore 3 months ago. Started working for company X. After ~1 month decided it's not good place for me. Started looking for other employer. It turned out it's not that easy Posted CV on monster, indeed etc. Got some offers - not so good. Decided to invest in pr0 account on LI (I have profile since 2006 and think it's quite decent). Didn't got more attention (there was small peak but no serious offers). In the meantime applied for some job offers on jobs section on LI. It turned out that one of them clicked (it might have or might not have been because of premium account). After interview process accepted the offer.

While I'm not sure if Job Seeker account was worth the money (~S$20/m) I've actually found a job through LinkedIn while other job-boards were not that helpful.

I clicked on a job ad the other day on LI as well. I find their algorithms are ok at selecting jobs to show me.

[Sara.D]

Thanks for the great advise! I've been applying like crazy in the last couple of months but never got any response. It's so frustrating. I do have a basic LinkeIn account but will def consider a Premium account now, just have to figure out how the whole keyword thing works! Apparently the AAS (American Association of Singapore) even offers workshops on how to optimise your LinkedIn account as well as other career and networking events. Will probably also invest in a membership since they also seem to post more 'expat friendly' jobs and you don't have to be American to join. Networking (online and offline) really seems to be the key to finding a job here.

[the lynx]

Thanks for the great advise! I've been applying like crazy in the last couple of months but never got any response. It's so frustrating. I do have a basic LinkeIn account but will def consider a Premium account now, just have to figure out how the whole keyword thing works! Apparently the AAS (American Association of Singapore) even offers workshops on how to optimise your LinkedIn account as well as other career and networking events. Will probably also invest in a membership since they also seem to post more 'expat friendly' jobs and you don't have to be American to join. Networking (online and offline) really seems to be the key to finding a job here.

See if the LI has started offering you free premium membership for 3 months. That'd be a great help if it has. LI has been bugging me to take up its free premium membership but I have no need for it at the moment so I think they do that after you use LI basic for a while.

[Sara.D]

Thanks for the great advise! I've been applying like crazy in the last couple of months but never got any response. It's so frustrating. I do have a basic LinkeIn account but will def consider a Premium account now, just have to figure out how the whole keyword thing works! Apparently the AAS (American Association of Singapore) even offers workshops on how to optimise your LinkedIn account as well as other career and networking events. Will probably also invest in a membership since they also seem to post more 'expat friendly' jobs and you don't have to be American to join. Networking (online and offline) really seems to be the key to finding a job here.

See if the LI has started offering you free premium membership for 3 months. That'd be a great help if it has. LI has been bugging me to take up its free premium membership but I have no need for it at the moment so I think they do that after you use LI basic for a while.

No, I don't have that offer . Probably I haven't been registered long enough. Decided to invest in a Premium LinkedIn account anyway + join the AAS and do their workshop on how to optimise my profile. Both measures will involve some costs but I have high hopes that it will eventually pay off so I have high hopes

[Sergei82]

Just a word of warning: don't forget to switch off auto renewal of your premium membership when you don't need it anymore. Otherwise you may find with surprise that it is charging your credit card every month long after you don't need it anymore (I was the one foolish enough )

[PNGMK]

Just a word of warning: don't forget to switch off auto renewal of your premium membership when you don't need it anymore. Otherwise you may find with surprise that it is charging your credit card every month long after you don't need it anymore (I was the one foolish enough )

It's easy enough to find that feature and turn it off... unlike some websites.

[nakatago]

Just a word of warning: don't forget to switch off auto renewal of your premium membership when you don't need it anymore. Otherwise you may find with surprise that it is charging your credit card every month long after you don't need it anymore (I was the one foolish enough )

It's easy enough to find that feature and turn it off... unlike some websites.

Funny how some companies would let you login into their job search portals with your Facebook login.

[DiegoU]

I got to this topic out of the blue and have a question about Linkedin. Some years ago i made contact by email with an architect in Singapore to work there, after seeing an offer in jobsDB. I didn´t fit the profile at that point, but he replied me very kindly and told me my CV was impressive, so they would keep my information on file due to my interest and experience.

This week i have received an invitation to connect with him trough Linkedin, which i don´t use but have a blank account created. I guess he sent a batch of invitations through Linkedin to all his mail contacts, so this doesn´t mean too much. But any light on how this works would be appreciated, just out of curiosity.

Maybe he is even a forum member, so hello if you are here!

Nice forum in the other hand, thanks all!

[watchy]

I had a dilemma using LinkedIn.

I am a job seeker and when i tried to apply for a job, i tend to customize my keywords to match those in the job description. Sometimes I change the name of my functional group as well.

However, with several applications out the door, i suddenly realise that the mismatch in description will spell some red flags for Hiring Manager/Recruiter when they search for me in Linkedin.

Anyone has similar experience?

Also, i hate that you cannot block anyone on LinkedIn. I am currently out of job and there are just people that i do not wish to share my status with.

[yogaloungeforever]

As for me, I cut through all the hassle and clic on Jobs on LI and then advanced search and I select the options on all jobs posted and from the last posted. It gives me a long list of jobs to look through. Time consuming for me to go through 1 at a time but at least that way I know I am not missing out on any jobs if I do a selective search

[Wd40]

I have noticed that most big companies(especially banks) either place ads in their internal Taleo based websites or through external recruiters.

These big companies post linked In ads but they are merely links to their internal taleo based websites. Its only some of the small time companies, where internal recruiters post job ads and accept job applications directly via Linked In.

So if you are targeting the big companies, you are better off just maintaining a good linked in profile and then let those external recruiters find you.

In order to reach the internal taleo based(or others) websites a good jobs search engine is www.indeed.com.sg

[Sergei82]

That's "Taleo" being used TOO many times in one post! The day is spoiled......

[beppi]

I have, in the course of the last few weeks, received several Linkedin contact requests supposedly from Singapore headhunters who were all European-looking, pretty ladies with largely empty profile, working for various "XXX Staffing Company" that I've never heard of, and the contact request contained no message or introduction. To each of them I replied (as I always do with unexplained contact requests) "Please tell me where you know me from and/or why you want to be connected to me?" and I got not a single reply.
I was already suspecting something fishy (after all, are there so many pretty Ang Moh headhunters in Singapor?). Today, I received two such contact request, and one used the exact same profile picture as one who contacted me (under a different name and from a different "Staffing Company") a while ago.
Has anyone experienced the same?
What's wrong with them and why are they doing it?
(The irony is that I am currently not even looking for a job change ...)

[zzm9980]

I've gotten a few recently, two from Singaporeans one from an Australian looking to place me in Singapore. Quite vague, but their message at least indicated they were specific to my industry.