Ask HN: Two LinkedIn profiles, acceptable, advisable? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Two LinkedIn profiles, acceptable, advisable?

2 pointsSimpleDog4 comments

I am wondering whether it makes sense, is acceptable, and/or advisable to have a 2nd LinkedIn profile for yourself if you have both a professional career and also a side business for which you're an entrepreneur? For example, if you are a software engineer with over 15 years experience and a strong reputation, and also are starting a startup, it seems inadvisable to advertise that or even make it known from your regular LinkedIn profile, if only because it dilutes the seriousness of your professional determination. I don't mean to suggest one should be dishonest, however it is surely the case that one would want to hedge against the failure of their new enterprise by protecting their professional appearance, and not let potential employers think that one might just be about to quit the industry.

I'm not sure what LinkedIn says about this, I've seen a lot of accidental double accounts, and I can't tell that they really care. Perhaps their TOS are more specific, I haven't read them yet, and probably should have prior to posting, and will now go do so. But the question still has merits in a general sense, even if LinkedIn forbids it. How does one deal with this challenge?

From what I've seen, lots of people have no problem at all mentioning their "non $DAYJOB" stuff on their LinkedIn profiles. Out of my contacts, I see plenty who list a dayjob and also list themselves as the owner/founder/president of a startup, or a consulting company, or some other "side" business.

I actually do that myself... my current $DAYJOB is listed right alongside my startup project. I really don't see it being a problem. <shrug />

I guess it depends on your $DAYJOB. If you've cultivated a very straight laced, highly dependable profile for top tier firms, that pay big, and want to feel that they're getting someone who's entrenched in their business for the foreseeable future, a startup reference can be a very odd distraction and just the thing to push you down a notch when being compared to another candidate. For those folks, the question still stands.

Fair enough. I try to avoid that world like the plague, so it's hard for me to relate. I prefer to cultivate a very unlaced, slightly insane but very intense, offbeat, quirky and eclectic profile that no sane person working for a "top tier firm" would look twice at.

To each his own. :-)

Yes, I understand, and it's the right approach to go with you are and play that angle to the max. I wish I was that guy sometimes, but being somewhat uptight and button up has its perks. There tends to be a lot of immaturity in the professional world, and extra trust is rewarded to us boring types. In your world the exact opposite could be true :)

Well, I would still love to hear thoughts on this. I'm thinking that for me I really need a 2nd profile. However that means building one from scratch, and also making sure it's OK with LinkedIn's TOS.

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