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Comment by bobwaycott | Hacker News Reader

> 1. Have elaborate excuses for why they can't update their LinkedIn profile to show the new job. Obviously they can't tip the old company off that they have a new job.

Why is this being stated as if a person is required to update LinkedIn with their current employer? What employer is pressuring new hires for an explanation on why they haven’t publicly claimed their new relationship status?

I don’t often update LI, but your phrasing of someone having “elaborate excuses” means there’s pressure from an employer (or coworkers?) for an LI update before anyone could even receive such “elaborate excuses” … and that’s just plain weird.

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> What employer is pressuring new hires for an explanation on why they haven’t publicly claimed their new relationship status?

I honestly don't care for in-person employees, but it's something I ask remote employees to do for this exact reason.

If a remote employee makes vague excuses for why they must keep their old employer on their LinkedIn, it's worth investigating further.

Fortunately it's usually easy to call up the old company and confirm the person's start and end dates. Companies love to learn that one of their employees has started a new job but hasn't actually quit yet.

> I honestly don't care for in-person employees, but it's something I ask remote employees to do for this exact reason.

It sounds like you're just nosy, then. The content of my LinkedIn profile is no more your business than the content of my Tinder profile, and just as relevant to my work.

> The content of my LinkedIn profile is no more your business than the content of my Tinder profile, and just as relevant to my work.

What? LinkedIn profiles are literally about your work.

It's not about being nosy. It's about noticing inconsistencies. If someone is going through the trouble of maintaining a LinkedIn profile but they're also listing a different company as their current employer, it's time to start investigating.

LinkedIn isn't the final say, obviously. However, it can act as a canary in the coalmine for further investigation.

No, my work is about my work. If you're happy with my work, you, as my current manager at a company I already work for, have no business checking up on my LinkedIn profile. If you're not happy with my work, checking up on my LinkedIn profile isn't going to make you any happier.

I wouldn't be looking if I was happy with the person's work.

Empathetic managers trust their employees when they say a task is difficult and will take longer than expected.

Double job workers (and slackers in general) thrive on taking advantage of this empathy by lying and manipulating their way into perceptions that they are doing more work than they really are. Not fair to the manager, company, or team mates.

It's basic due diligence of any manager to check these things.

No, it's a waste of time and you being nosy. If you're not happy with my work, your responsibility is to come to me and tell me that, then see if we can work together to get to a point where you are happy.

Tell me honestly for a second: if you weren't happy with someone's work, would anything on (or not on) their LinkedIn profile make any difference to that situation whatsoever?

> Tell me honestly for a second: if you weren't happy with someone's work, would anything on (or not on) their LinkedIn profile make any difference to that situation whatsoever?

The LinkedIn point was about looking for clues that you might need to investigate further. I think you're trying to twist my statement into something else entirely.

Is that an admission? Being evasive about the question is not a good look. It's precisely what you're accusing the employee of here.

You've been breaking the site guidelines badly in this thread, particularly these:

"Have curious conversation; don't cross-examine."

"Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith."

And some of these cases have been egregious:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29668822

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29668427

Those kinds of comment are bannable offences on HN. I don't want to ban you, but this has been a problem many times before, and we need it to stop. Can you please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and stick to the rules in the future?

Can you tell me what company do you hire for, so I don't apply? People's LinkedIn profile are private to them, none of your business. I wonder if you just hire in 3rd world countries, or focus on hiring people in need with no leverage, coz, if you ask me about my LI profile, I will tell you to take a hike.

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