Any good libre alternatlives to LinkedIn?

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kalvin2023
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Joined: 03/07/2023

Hello everyone. I do not know which forum this falls in, but I am in need of some suggestions on some good libre alternatives to LinkedIn. I know Richard Stallman completely denounces LinkedIn (and for good reasons).

It's unfortunate that job hunting requires non-free services. It's even more unfortunate that you have to submit your ID to LinkedIn to "verify" your identity. I feel helpless right now. Currently, it seems that you have to rely on these invasive services to even get a chance at a job interview.

I've searched on this forum to see if there was another topic like this, but I'm not aware of any. I even searched the FSF's website, and also sent an email to them about a year ago. That didn't get me far.

Are there any suggestions you have? Or are there workarounds that I'm not aware of? I feel that this subject hasn't been discussed as much in the free software community.

Thanks.

Other_Cody
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Joined: 12/20/2023

https://www.fsf.org/resources/jobs/listing

has information about "free as in freedom" software jobs sometimes, though I did not yet search for any alternatives to LinkedIn, or other job sites yet.

kalvin2023
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Joined: 03/07/2023

Thanks for pointing that out. Sadly for me, I'm no software engineer.

My main issue is finding a way to network and showcase my resume to potential employers without having to be handcuffed to proprietary services like LinkedIn.

I guess there's an idea for a new libre project.

eric23
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Joined: 06/30/2017

I guess before LinkedIn there were personal websites where people put their dating/job seeking profile. I guess someone could put their profile on a site like mastodon or one of the other suggested programs on the below link, asking people to look at it.

https://directory.fsf.org/wiki/Collection:SaaSS

kalvin2023
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Joined: 03/07/2023

I like the idea. So basically an individual self-hosting profile? And placed on a simple directory anyone can look at?

I've heard of mastodon, but I wonder how would one adapt it to be a tool for job hunting?

I had a look at the link you posted. I see the table where it suggested some possible LinkedIn alternatives.

Looking over the potential alternatives, I see some of those are related to microblogging, which I am not familiar with. And Twister is a site dealing with bitcoin? I'm kind of confused.

The issue from how I understand it is that finding a new job requires connections and having a profile that recruiters look at.

Simply applying to hundreds of jobs with just a resume and a cover letter won't cut it anymore, sadly.

Unfortunately, LinkedIn (or Handshake) is what almost all recruiters use.

andyprough
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Joined: 02/12/2015

Where I live people still go to job fairs and hand out paper resumes and meet with a lot of companies and a lot of recruiters face-to-face all in one day. They might also be using LinkedIn or one of the other job sites, but job fairs are still big around here, and many people do not have LinkedIn profiles. Probably depends a lot on your industry and the availability of local job fairs.

Also I think the majority of people I've spoken to over the past few years about their process of landing a job used a network of friends and contacts in their particular industry. Being a member of a local industry association (if available) is always good in that regard.

I think if you combined a face-to-face approach with industry networking and you had a personal website which promoted some aspect of your work then that would be a good combination. Obviously if you are a programmer then having a git instance of some sort where you can display your own software or your contributions to software projects is also super important.

kalvin2023
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Joined: 03/07/2023

I agree! My former university hosted career fairs before. I did attend those a few times, but they were a hit or miss for me.

I should revisit the idea of utilizing job fairs again. As for hosting my own profile website, that is beyond my capabilities at the moment. I'll probably take this one step at a time.