Sadly, using the #OpenToWork hashtag on a LinkedIn post will open a whole world of pain for you.
Whilst I will happily admit it has been useful and helped me in my search for a new job, it has also meant a lot of time wasted as I trawl through the spam & bots that swarm on the hashtag. Let me explain.
Last night I re-posted something I wrote a couple of months ago. I added a couple of relevant hashtags to the content and also included the #OpenToWork as well. This is where it starts.
As you can see below, in the four minutes since I posted to LinkedIn there have been 8 reactions and 9 reposts. Of the responses, two are genuine connections (thank you) and a welcome reaction to a post written and shared for genuine conversations around learning and technology. Of the reposts, none are genuine accounts. The reposts always have something like “Hello, let’s connect. Send a request if you’re open to opportunities …” or “Your expertise is truly impressive, and I would love the opportunity to connect and explore opportunities that match …” or “I came across your profile and was genuinely impressed …”
Take a look at the profiles of these reposts and none of them have more than 5 connections, rarely have a completed profile or there are obvious red flags on the experience details (eg “HR Director for Office of XYZ”. Yes, really).
When you’re looking for work or want a meaningful connection to your content, to collaborate and learn from your network, you cannot ignore these reposts in case something important is to slip through unchecked.
But what can you do? Well, I have no idea if it works or not, but I’ve been reporting each repost and account as ‘spam’ or ‘fraud or scam’. So far there has been no change, the posts and accounts are still visible and reposting content without engaging … what do they expect, a repost shares the content to their network and is not a viable way to engage with the original poster. If this was genuine you/they wouldn’t ask to connect in this way! Would you?
If you come across these, please be aware and warned. Don’t engage or follow them. Eventually, hopefully, LinkedIn will work to engage the community and eradicate spam. Until then, we carry on but have another level of awareness and filtering to contend with as we try and use the platforms for what we want them to be.
Photo by Diego PH on Unsplash
