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13 Comments

Linkedin Competitors

As we all have seen LinkedIn has become more of a social networking platform rather than professional network. No new updates have been released. I am looking for alternatives for LinkedIn.
Also I wanted to brainstorm about the ideas what can be done to create a similar platform. What should be included??

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    Initially a number of individuals used to flock to LinkedIn to search for jobs. However, from what I have experienced so far, recruiters in several countries are relying more on referrals in order to hire a candidate, LinkedIn is not their first choice.

    Apart from that, LinkedIn groups are next to useless with exceptional low quality.

    So if your platform can address these two issues (especially the first) then you already have a good product.

    Some individuals came up with this product called Contra recently which is also a networking site like LinkedIn https://contra.com/ . IDK how successful they have been so far.

    Re alternatives to LinkedIn I've noticed that people are using Twitter, Lunchclub and Meetup to connect with prospects.

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      Exactly since its acquisition to Microsoft. It has become useless somehow. I worked on something similar back in 2015. I tried to work my way up from talent recruiting to community platform but since it was mainly focused on one region Pakistan. It badly failed (not market fit) (too early). My tech team left so the project got abandoned.

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    I feel like Polywork is what all the Cool kids are on now: https://www.polywork.com/

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      You are right. Love what they are doing. Still it doesn't solve issues professional network have

    2. 1

      This one actually looks promising!

  3. 2

    What have you seen that LinkedIn has skewing towards more social than professional network?

    If you’re making a similar platform, why should people join yours but not the existing platforms?

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      Well you can see by just opening up your feed. Memes, videos (not professional) being shared, People making fun smallest of the smallest thing can be found on feed.. it is absurd
      I am not making a similar platform yet but i am discussing to find out the problems being faced by Users and brainstorming ideas about what can be done as we have a Gen Z market

      1. 1

        If I’m not wrong, your feed should be primary based on 1st and 2nd degree connection as well as your interest. For that reason, does it means what you see is based on your demographic data?

        If you’re targeting Gen Z market, what level of professionalism do you expect they’d contribute on the respective social media platform and how do you ensure they start away from and generate memes?

  4. 2

    I agree, it is weird seeing people post memes or self-congratulate for the smallest things on LinkedIn.

    Still, I think it does the job of business directory fairly well? If I want to talk to any former colleague I use LinkedIn, same when I want to find a job or talk to people at some company.

    1. 1

      that's because we don't have any other alternative yet

  5. 1

    Part 1 - My career and day job

    I have experienced some similar pains recently when looking at new jobs on LinkedIn. I work in Large Enterprise IT company for my day job outside of the maker and startup scope.
    I cold email many recruiters and maybe get 1/4 of replies back and my profile and background shows i have experience and skills the job needs, but I see oh 174 applicants and I think how does a recruiter even view them all or do they even view them if at all?

    Part 2 - My tech or maker/ creator life outside of my career or LinkedIn

    There is an interesting disconnect between these two worlds. outside of my day job, I love nocode, building products and being apart of the awesome indie hacker and creator economy. It has changed my life. These are skills I have acquired from building and years of self teaching and learning from others. This knowledge does not transfer so well from twitter to LinkedIn where most recruiters might be for the time being.

    I think the assumption and question to investigate is to not think about another alternative to linked in but see if there is a gap in the knowledge and skills transfer between job seekers and recruiters. I am working on a similar ide/problem but still talking to folks as this is not so visible on the surface so I want to find the root problem before I build anything.

    1. 2

      What i have experienced is they pick handful of applicants and go with them. We should set a criteria so that not everyone can apply to certain job post. Whenever you apply for jobs on LinkedIn. You will see thousands of applicants applying for the position and most of them doesn't have that experience or skill set.
      Second and i have also found a huge gap between applicants and recruiters. Be it communication, overviewing candidate profiles etc. Applicants doesn't know which job they should apply for.
      For me, LinkedIn as Professional platform is failing you. Try to dissect the platform bit by bit and you will know the problems

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        I agree on that. Good feedback here. Much appreciated.

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