I’ve been on LinkedIn almost since its creation. When I joined, it seemed like a great way to keep track of people I met in the course of my work.
Over the past couple of years, I feel like it has lost its usefulness. My main feed seems to be full of vendor ads, punctuated by individual posts that are annoyingly self-promoting and contain way too many emoji. I feel like I have to weed through all of that to find things that are genuine or feel like something more than just an attention grab. When I look at the messages features, it seems that most of the people reaching out are trying to sell me something.
Looking through the last couple of months of messages (which I rarely check, ignoring the notifications that come into my inbox as well) I saw a half dozen solicitations from financial advisors. Based on the content of those messages, they are clearly targeting physicians. In particular, those who are on the downhill slope towards retirement.
A couple were looking for people to invest in various new ventures. At least for me, if you have something like “turning income into legacy” as your headline, your message is guaranteed to go straight to the trash. You’re also going to be ignored if your outreach looks like multilevel marketing.
I also tend to get quite a few messages from people trying to sell services to physician offices. Things like revenue cycle management, bad debt management, collections, phone services, call centers, and the like. If they read my profile for more than two seconds, they would see that I haven’t been in traditional practice in a long time and don’t need any of their services. Their messages are also routed to the discard zone.
You’re also likely to wind up in that place if you include a personalized message that’s addressed to someone other than me, as the person did this week who started his message with “Dear Correen, It was great to meet you last week.”
Then there are the entrepreneurs who are trying to connect with “like-minded individuals” and who are “interested to hear your opinions” or something similar. One said he was “having conversations with several of my colleagues and would love to hear how you’re navigating the current landscape.”
Based on reading this person’s profile, I can’t even begin to figure out what specific landscape he might be thinking about, let alone how I might contribute. In the past, when I’ve seen messages like this, they have felt like someone who is just trying to get some free consulting.
I got an entertaining spam message this week for a free brow waxing session at a business that plans to open in 2026. It is trying to generate Instagram likes by contacting random people on LinkedIn and requesting that they follow him and/or his business on that platform. The message was from someone listed as a “verified recruiter” with a corporate license. For entertainment, I clicked on his profile, and found that in addition to owning the waxing business, he also owns a burrito restaurant, a carpet cleaning company, and a hair salon. Needless to say, that was a quick delete as well.
I also get a kick out of seeing the reports of how many people viewed my profile. Quite a few recruiters made the list. Normally if a recruiter reaches out and asks to connect, I will accept the request just to see if they have interesting roles available. Not that I’m looking, but I have plenty of friends and colleagues who are, and I’m happy to help them out if I see something that’s a good fit.
Most of the time, there is some brief back and forth. I let them know that I’ll be sharing their opportunities with others, and then that’s the end of it. This week, however, I had a plot twist with a recruiter that I hadn’t seen before.
I accepted the recruiter’s connection request, so they could see my email information. They apparently used that, as well as the information in my profile, to enter me into their organization’s “Talent Community” as if I were job hunting. They also created referral links for several specific jobs and invited me to apply, as if we had discussed those jobs and I had voiced interest.
I know from my own experiences in large organizations that usually if you’re trying to score a bonus by referring someone, you have to at least attest to the fact that they were aware you’re referring them and agreed to it, so it felt a little odd. Maybe this particular organization plays fast and loose with their referral process.
The roles for which they created referral links were highly specific. It was clear that they had read my profile in detail and were targeting particular skills and certifications that I list.
I know that this particular organization is going through an EHR change. Several of the roles were related to that project, although one role was for a position with a title that was identical to my current role.
This is certainly the first time I’ve experienced this kind of recruiting flow. I’m wondering if it is unusual, or if this is a new way that organizations are trying to source people. Since it’s the end of the year, maybe it’s just someone trying to hit a quota, but who knows. If you’re in the human resources or recruiting realms, I’d be interested to hear what you think of this approach and if it’s common or more of an outlier.
I’m glad Mr. H mentioned celebrating Yalda, which marks the passing of the longest night of the year and the return of light as days gradually grow longer. For the last couple of years, I’ve noticed that the shortening days have played havoc on my sleep schedule, to the point where I’ve tried to spend as much time in more southern latitudes as my work allows, and it’s been helpful.
This year, I was invited to a celebration. Although I wasn’t able to stay until dawn, I really enjoyed the opportunity. Although I do like a good New Year’s Eve party, Yalda Night was more cozy than blingy and felt like a better way to reset in preparation for the new year.
This year has been a tough one for me personally so I’m all about celebrating hope and renewal as we head towards 2026. Given the way the US health system works, however, I’m not looking forward to the resetting of my health insurance deductible, but there’s not much I can do about that.
What is your favorite way to mark the passing of the years? Leave a comment or email me.
Email Dr. Jayne.
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