At one of my jobs, I was required to join LinkedIn. It wasn’t an option. The hope, I believe, was to get us all out there on the Internet. Maybe not so much us, but the name of the business where we worked. So I posted about myself and my favorite books and whatever else goes into LinkedIn. But, I was a failure at promoting the business, at which I worked. I should have never signed up at LinkedIn, but I was convinced the future of keeping my job, depended on it.
As a side note, I think there are millions of people out there, that really benefit from LinkedIn. I’m just not one of them.
I did update my employers when I switched jobs. But I really didn’t feel there was much of a benefit for me. I haven’t dropped off of LinkedIn, because if I do, I want to make sure I don’t have any regrets. Since I didn’t join by choice, this should be a no-brainer. Quit, Kimberly Anne, quit. What if I change my mind, once I drop off?
If someone wants to connect with me, I pretty much ignore them. I’ve noticed that a lot of men, I have never heard of, attempt to become connected. But why? I’m pretty sure they are trying to build their professional network, or offer me a job, or stalk me. I don’t know and I’m content with the few connections I have.
I still receive notifications of items that my previous co-workers have posted. Sometimes I read them, most times I don’t. They are in my past and really for the most part, I don’t care what they are doing now. I don’t mean to sound cynical, but really I don’t care if they attended an event that I didn’t or they have the latest information on something that could help me get ahead in my job. Honestly, I’m content with my current job. I plan to retire from this job. I don’t want that better job, you want to offer me. I’m very happy where I am at this time in my life.
Another common notification is to celebrate the number of years in the employment of the company. I have seen people celebrating three years at a company where they didn’t last a year. Why? Because, like me, they are not motivated to update their profile. So beware, if you are congratulating someone, be sure you really know them well enough to know, if they still work there. Their employer will not be updating their LinkedIn account. I’m pretty sure it’s up to them, and obviously they have forgotten to make the update.
The worst thing that I saw on LinkedIn, was a congratulations to a person at my church for his years of service at his job. What’s wrong with that you might think? Well, I do know him. Or should I say, I used to know him. And unfortunately, when you die, LinkedIn doesn’t know it. So I guess next year I will receive another notification for another year of service to his employer. He doesn’t work there anymore. He is actually in Heaven now, and has been for several months.
So, I really think I should pull down my account. Because, I really don’t want people to try to notify me about new jobs. I don’t want people congratulating me for another year at my job, if I haven’t been there in months or years. When I die, I realize, I won’t know it’s happening, but I don’t want people to get the annual notice to congratulate me, on another year of service.
I’ll probably pull it down tomorrow. If I remember. If you notice I’m still up there in a week, can you remind me please? For someone like me, and apparently many other LinkedIn members, it’s kind of the last thing on my to do list.
Update: I just closed it. I had a tough time finding out how, so in case you want to delete yours, here is how to do it: 1) Log into your account. 2) At the top click on ME 3) Go to Settings and Privacy. 4) Then go to Account Management. 5) Then, Closing your LinkedIn Account. 6) You need to check a reason. 7) You will need to enter your password, which fortunately, I had saved it or I would never remembered what I used 9 years ago. 8)Once that is done, you can click Close Account. Simple.