I was in my local club in Edinburgh yesterday and found myself apologising to the steward for crumbs made with a biscuit. His reply perhaps summed it up perfectly: “That’s alright sir, we just can’t get the members these days.” Perhaps the real reason why senior managers are reluctant about giving their details is just that… the 70m other ’members’ of LinkedIn. Will they use this information to ’pester’ me with speculative approaches for jobs etc?

In another context, I met with a group of young men recently. Their remarks on its security and the inappropriate use being made by some users concerned me.
When Reid Hoffman, the founder/invester in such sites as LinkedIn, Facebook and Flickr, commented on the strategy stating that it was centred around the volume of and engagement of their members, it is these member ’owners’ who will determine its limitations and risk its future as a tool to be used and relied upon in recruitment.
Douglas J Tharby, director, FDM Career Management