Do you need an LinkedIn to get a job in 2026?
https://piefed.social/c/asklemmy/p/1873477/do-you-need-an-linkedin-to-get-a-job-in-2026
Do you need an LinkedIn to get a job in 2026?
https://piefed.social/c/asklemmy/p/1873477/do-you-need-an-linkedin-to-get-a-job-in-2026
Currently looking for a job in around the same field, and I think LinkedIn is not as mandatory as people can make it sound like.
Most often offers are listed on different other platforms or directly on the company’s website. You’ll definitely miss on some offers but not all. It also depends on what type of company you are looking for, as I find that most big companies are LinkedIn only.
Overall, imo it may be more difficult depending on what you are looking for, but definitely doable
The more “corporate” the job is, the more the hiring team will expect a LinkedIn.
My last dev role was like that. My current role is one I found through a personal connection where the interview was a chat over some lunch, and they wouldn’t give two hoots if I had a LinkedIn or not.
So yeah, it depends. If you want to play the corporate game, you have to play by the corporate rules.
The industry I graduated from, which I held a job for 2 years, exclusively advertises through LinkedIn.
The jobs I held for other two years or so, in retail, were hell, but I got them through Seek.
The job I got, in retail also, I got it dropping a resume in person at a shop.
I used to work in a different field altogether. Those jobs I got through word of mouth.
So yeah, it depends a lot on of what kind of job you are searching for.
Or if you are HR would you see it as a negative if you received an application with no existent LinkedIn account?
Not HR but hiring manager, one of the best guys I hired has no LinkedIn account and I didn’t mind. I go purely by resume and interview.
I pretty much only get work my accepting messages from recruiters on linked in. In 2018 might be the only time in the last 15 years I’ve applied to a job through a website, gotten an interview, and was accepted.
That said… I’m a technical lead without a 4 year degree in a field where pretty much everyone I work with from mid-developer on up has one. It wouldn’t surprise me if that hurts me specifically in applications other than through recruiters.
I’m also too old to go back and spend years getting a piece of paper that says I can do the job I’ve been doing for 30 years. So… I guess I’m just saying that my experience may not map well to people in a different stage of their career.
I think it depends on your industry.
I actually just got a new job. Went through the usual, job boards, linkedin, friends and family. Nothing worked for 3 months. Longest Ive ever been out of work.
what actually got me a job was a cold email I sent to a local company, explaining that I was new in the area and looking for work.
I picked that company to “cold call” simply because I had bought something of theirs in the past and remembered the name when I was learning the local maps.
None of my jobs ever came from LinkedIn.
Just got a whole bunch of shitty offers from them.
I technically have a LinkedIn account, but haven’t so much as visited it in nearly a decade. Everything on it is long out of date, save for my name. The listed home town and job history aren’t relevant to where I am and what I do today.
Despite that, I got a new job last year. Like you, I used a typical job-finding site… sort of. I searched on there, but didn’t find the job I have - rather, a recruiter for this company reached out to me. Not sure if that info is good news or bad news for you, but it worked out for me, even without an active LinkedIn page.
I got my current job a few years back. I made an account thinking it would help. It was basically useless for finding a job. The folks on there that were hiring would all demand you engage with their posts (I guess as a way of increasing “influence”) but would not actually hire.
It is possible that prospective employers might look at your account during a job interview process which is why I have kept my account. But it did not help me find a job.
You more not wrong, but people’s material conditions don’t pause just because some horrible asshole is doing horrible shit. Still gotta pay for housing and to feed the family.
We’re allowed to discuss more than one thing at a time.
I started a new career this year after searching/interviewing for 14 months, in 2020 deleted LinkedIn. It was a long slog and discouraging as hell but I finally landed one I was seeking.
So yes it’s doable.
I’ve been contemplating deleting my LinkedIn for years. I personally do get recruiters reaching out to me occasionally for jobs.
My problem is that it’s just Facebook now. Got an email the other day from LinkedIn about LinkedIn games. Like what? I have self respect so I play real games.
I’m self employed now so my finger is on the trigger.
Like others have said, I don’t think its needed to get a job but it does help in two ways:
More passive. It let’s you expand your resume/CV to give more detail etc since you aren’t restricted on size/length. This can also be done with a personal website
More active. It can help you network which is honestly the biggest advantage to getting a job, but also the most work.
I could probably delete LinkedIn and still walk into several companies to get a job.
It is still good for me to have it out there as a public facing version of me.
A few years ago LinkedIn was a must have. Recruiters and sourcers would scour LinkedIn for their candidates.
Now it is just trash. Ghost and fake job opportunities, AI slop, and bots have turned LinkedIn to a cesspool.
I work with companies who pull LinkedIn data for B2B leads and 99% of them stopped because it is ineffective and a waste of time.
If you have a profile that’s great. If you don’t have one, there is no need to make one unless someone specifically tells you they need it.
You are fine.
Our HR department advertises and recruits from there. I wish they wouldn’t.
On the other hand when I am on a hiring panel I view any mention of LinkedIn on your resume or application a huge red flag.
LinkedIn is not a job site. Not a professional meeting space.
It is a tool for Microsoft to harvest data. Only fools would willingly participate in that.