Aug23

LinkedIn social hack

Would you like to contact people listed on business networking site LinkedIn without a paid account or even an approval? I have received a few calls from recruiters lately using LinkedIn as a prospecting service but paying anything for the service.

How? They simply look at my current company and search the web for corporate contact information. A quick call to a receptionist at a small company like Technorati and the recruiter asks to speak with me. It's not too difficult, and the recruiter just avoided the LinkedIn InMail cost of about $5 an e-mail.

The practice seems to threaten LinkedIn's business plan as recruiters I have spoken to seem very aware of the service hack.

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  1. Jackson West on August 23, 2005 at 11:56 PM wrote: #

    It's funny, I had a similar thing happen to me on a dating site...the more personal information they provide, the easier it is to contact you.
  2. austin on August 29, 2005 at 10:02 AM wrote: #

    Amazing that the recruiter could 'remember' where they got your information. These guys are never honest about where the dig up contact information.
  3. Jim Stroud on August 29, 2005 at 7:11 PM wrote: #

    I have no problem paying for a service that I receive value from, my biggest gripe is what some people do with that service. Check out Why Social Networks Don’t Work!
  4. jdragon on October 9, 2005 at 11:53 PM wrote: #

    The exact thing happened to me recently. I really dislike these recruiters. You know they'll make $10-$25k on referral bonus if they place you and you stay there for more than 6 months.

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Niall Kennedy Niall Kennedy is a web technologist in San Francisco, California in the United States. I am very interested in the world of... MORE »

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