Quitting LinkedIn may seem tempting, especially if you find the platform overwhelming or don’t use it much. However, deleting your LinkedIn account completely could have negative consequences for your career. Here are some key points to consider when deciding whether to leave LinkedIn or not:
Pros of Deleting LinkedIn
- Avoid distractions and focus on more important tasks
- Gain back time previously spent mindlessly scrolling
- Take a break from self-promotion and social comparisons
- Prevent random people from contacting you
- Feel relief from pressure to constantly update your profile
Cons of Deleting LinkedIn
- Lose connections with former colleagues and new contacts
- Miss out on job opportunities only posted on LinkedIn
- Employers may see it as a red flag if they can’t find your profile
- Harder for recruiters and networking contacts to reach you
- Won’t see updates and conversations in your industry
While deleting your account may seem liberating, doing so permanently severs valuable connections and limits your visibility. For most professionals, the cons outweigh the pros.
How LinkedIn Benefits Your Career
LinkedIn provides several key benefits that can enhance your career opportunities when used strategically:
Networking
With over 722 million members, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform. It allows you to connect with colleagues, employers, recruiters, and experts in your industry or location. You can join relevant groups, follow companies, and connect with people you meet at events. This expands your professional network and gives you visibility.
Job Search
Many companies post jobs on LinkedIn that aren’t advertised elsewhere. You can find openings, apply directly through LinkedIn, get notified when relevant jobs are posted, and ask connections for referrals. Proactively searching for jobs on LinkedIn increases your chances of finding the right opportunities.
Building Your Brand
Your LinkedIn profile serves as an online resume and personal branding tool. It allows you to showcase your skills, experience, accomplishments, recommendations, and expertise. Recruiters and hiring managers frequently review candidates’ LinkedIn profiles. So it pays to craft a strong profile that positions you as an attractive candidate.
Thought Leadership
LinkedIn provides options to publish long-form posts, share articles, and create other content. This allows you to share your knowledge and establish yourself as a thought leader. You can gain visibility and position yourself as an industry expert.
Professional Development
From online courses to expert insights, LinkedIn contains abundant resources for professional development. You can follow influencers, learn skills, and stay on top of industry trends. Investing in your own growth will benefit your career over time.
Tips for Managing Your LinkedIn Presence
While complete deletion may be excessive, you can take steps to thoughtfully manage your LinkedIn presence:
Clean up Your Connections
Review your connections and remove contacts you no longer interact with. Having 500+ contacts you barely know clutters your feed. Prune it down to just those you want to stay in touch with.
Customize Notifications
Limit notifications to reduce distractions. Turn off nonessential emails and push notifications.
Set Boundaries
Check LinkedIn just 1-2 times per day or week. Set a time limit for how long you’ll spend reading updates or messaging.
Toggle Between Active and Passive Job Searching
Actively apply to jobs and message contacts about opportunities only periodically. In between, just check listings and updates more passively without overdoing applications.
Refine Your Profile
Update your profile to showcase your best self. But don’t obsess over it. Set it and forget it once you have an optimized profile.
Engage Thoughtfully
Comment on a few relevant posts, share occasional updates, and endorse connections for legitimate skills. But don’t get caught up in hollow social media style interactions. Focus on quality over quantity.
Potential Downsides of Deleting LinkedIn
Here are some specific ways permanently deleting your LinkedIn could be detrimental for your career:
Missed Job Opportunities
- 9 out of 10 professionals use LinkedIn to search for jobs
- 70% of professionals were hired at a company where they had a connection
- 85% of jobs are filled via networking
Without a LinkedIn presence, you’ll miss out on jobs only posted there and connections that could refer you.
Damaged Employer Perception
- 93% of recruiters review candidates’ LinkedIn profiles
- Not having a profile raises questions and doubt
- Employers may see it as lazy or suspicious
If employers can’t review your profile, they’re more likely to eliminate you as a candidate.
Severed Professional Relationships
- 78% of professionals have gotten business through people in their network
- It’s hard to maintain connections without LinkedIn messaging and updates
- Out of sight, out of mind—people forget about you
Valuable professional contacts and opportunities can fade when you disconnect completely.
Limited Learning and Growth
- LinkedIn Learning has over 15,000 online courses
- Industry influencers share key insights and trends
- Can’t absorb knowledgeable content without a profile
The resources LinkedIn provides for professional development are hard to replace.
Why Recruiters Value LinkedIn So Highly
Here are key reasons why recruiters and hiring managers rely heavily on LinkedIn:
Verifying Credentials
Recruiters use LinkedIn to fact check resume details like job titles, companies, dates, and education. Fibbing is harder on LinkedIn because connections can contradict false claims.
Assessing Fit
Beyond skills and experience, recruiters review profiles for culture fit—shared interests, volunteering, academics, etc. that indicate alignment with company values.
Evaluating Communication
How you present yourself on your profile and communicate via messaging provides insight on your professionalism, personality, and approach.
Passive Candidate Sourcing
Even if you aren’t actively job hunting, recruiters search LinkedIn profiles to identify high-quality candidates to approach proactively.
Building Talent Pipelines
LinkedIn is crucial for identifying and networking with professionals to build a pipeline of future potential hires.
Alternatives to Completely Deleting LinkedIn
Rather than permanently deleting your account, consider these alternatives to improve your LinkedIn experience:
Temporarily Deactivate
You can deactivate your account for up to 90 days without permanently deleting it. This takes a break from notifications and visibility.
Increase Privacy Settings
Adjust your settings so only connections can see your profile and activity. This reduces unsolicited outreach.
Limit Usage
Check in just periodically instead of daily. Set a time limit for browsing like 30 minutes per week.
Cancel Premium Subscription
Downgrade to the free version. You’ll still have a basic profile without advanced features.
Clean Out Your Feed
Follow only useful voices you want updates from. Unfollow accounts that clutter your feed with noise.
Focus on Quality Conversations
Don’t spread yourself too thin. Regularly communicate with your top connections rather than lots of shallow conversations.
How to Delete LinkedIn If You Really Want To
If you still decide deleting LinkedIn is the best choice after carefully weighing the pros and cons, here are step-by-step instructions for permanent removal:
- Click on your profile icon in the top right
- Select “Settings & Privacy” from the dropdown menu
- Click “Account preferences” in the left sidebar
- Scroll down and click “Close account” under “Account management”
- On the Close Account page, select your reason for leaving from the dropdown menu
- Enter your account password to confirm you want to close your account
- Select whether to download an archive of your data or not
- Click the red “Close Account” button at the bottom of the page
Once you go through this process, your account will be deactivated for 30 days before being permanently deleted. You won’t be able to reactivate it after this time.
Key Takeaways
Here are the key points to consider when deciding whether to remove your LinkedIn presence:
- Weigh the pros and cons carefully based on your career goals
- Understand the many career benefits LinkedIn provides
- Recognize how recruiters use LinkedIn in hiring processes
- Consider alternatives like temporary deactivation or limited usage
- Maintaining connections and discoverability typically outweighs downsides
- Deleting completely severs your professional network and visibility
While LinkedIn has flaws, the platform remains invaluable for networking, job seeking, employer visibility, and career growth. Proceed with caution before choosing to delete your account. But evaluate your unique needs and do what feels right for your situation.
Conclusion
LinkedIn is the world’s dominant professional networking platform, with over 722 million members and continuing rapid growth. While deleting your account may seem liberating in the moment, doing so permanently severs invaluable career connections and reduces discoverability.
For most professionals, the downsides of deleting likely outweigh the upsides. But the decision depends on your specific circumstances and goals. If you do choose to remove your presence, be aware this will impact networking opportunities, access to jobs, employer perception, and ability to build your brand over the long-term.
Approach the choice thoughtfully. And consider alternatives like temporary deactivation or limiting usage before resorting to permanent deletion. But ultimately, do what feels right for you after carefully weighing the pros and cons. Just be sure you understand the full implications before making your decision.