I had to check out that website. It’s the best evidence I need _not_ to buy whatever it is selling.

Real money goes to people who solve real problems. Life coaches, instant headhunters, and Linkedin miners generally don’t do the latter.

What’s truly amazing is that all three expect the former. PT Barnum had it right…

Hmmm…let me see. What shall I do since being laid off? Oh — I know. I’ll create web sites. Wait, that’s been done already…

Hmmm…I know. I’ll be a life coach. Geez; that too has been done already.

Okay then, I’ll become a recruiter since who is better at knowing the industry that I’ve worked in for over ____ years, ‘eh? (fill in the blanks)

And, don’t you know that there are many employers out there just waiting on-the-edge-of-their-chairs to find me because I’m hungry and eager to do it!

Meanwhile, back at the employer’s office, a conversation can be heard with someone saying “…I don’t care where the money comes from just find me that right candidate, now…!”

Repeat and rinse…

Phil, you suggest that by connecting to a recruiter you are exposing your contacts to them but this is unlikely to make any difference.

If you are in the overall network of the recruiter (which you must be to be found) then your first level contacts are also likely to be in it regardless of whether the recruiter is approved by you or not. Besides, if you join Linkedin as a business user or higher, you get access to everyone on Linkedin anyway. A recruiter that relies on Linkedin for their business will always have this level of access.

In your example given about your co-worker, it is likely that all the names were identified before he was contacted and he was simply one of the names on the list. You don’t need to be a connection to reach people because of inmail, email or even better, picking up the telephone (That will make some recruiters go cold). In other words, they don’t need your acceptance of connection to reach the people they want to get to.

However, there is an even worse Linkedin Recruiter out there than the Linkedin Miners mentioned by Nick that fit into the profile he highlights above. I call them the Linkedin Leaches and they are the ones that use Linkedin to contact other recruiters to help them fill the positions. They can’t even be bothered to use Linkedin to find the candidates for themselves. They would rather get someone else to do the work for them.

I get at least 6 requests a month to help fill a position and all from the US. This shows that these recruiters are not fussy or check who they send these messages out to because if they did, they would see that I’m based in the UK.

Great subject Nick and on the money. Sadly the issue is much deeper and is made worse by our “Corporate Counterparts” trying to be Headhunters (when they are not) and being guided by the self proclaimed experts.

Need I say more? This is what’s wrong with the headhunting business.

Recruiters used to pay to get internal company phone directories. Now all they need is one employee to put them on their LinkedIn list. Of course, discretion and integrity are the issue. A good headhunter might use that information to discreetly contact other employees. A sleazy one will run through them like meat through a grinder. And everyone winds up hamburger.

Discretion. It’s a huge part of any relationship. Beware who you deal with, and who you invite into your circle, whether it’s at Joe’s bar for beers, or on your LinkedIn list. Trouble is, it’s far easier to hand out LinkedIn affiliations than to invite people out for beers.

Moral: Meeting people over beers with friends is smarter than meeting them through a data base.

Why would they solicit a stranger? Because once they are approved as a contact on LinkedIn they can, in effect, raid your entire rolodex, complete with names, companies, and job titles.

Let me tell you a story. Recently a coworker was solicited by a recruiter for a position. He must have approved this person as a LinkedIn contact because the next thing you know half our department is getting solicitations for this same job from this same “recruiter” at or about the same time. This kind of synchrony doesn’t happen with the recruiters who comb through resumes on job boards. The recruiter just lined them up and ran them through the mill.

Although my coworker was the most qualified among us for the position in question, he inadvertently set up his own competition. Worse yet, having that kind of a list at hand may have contributed to the recruiter’s “you’re not worthy” attitude when my coworker stated the industry standard compensation for the job description.

I was familiar with the toxic reputation of that particular employer so I declined discussion of that “opportunity”, but the recruiter’s “throw a bunch of candidates at the wall and see what sticks” M.O. should have been the first red flag about the client for whom he was soliciting.

Unless you have solid confidence in the integrity of a recruiter with whom you’ve worked, repel all solicitations from recruiters on LinkedIn. A lack of discrimination could result in legitimate contacts not wanting to be linked to you. And if you’ve found a recruiter to be top notch, explain their presence in your contacts with a recommendation.