I joined LinkedIn back in June 2005, back when on-line social networking was still in its infancy. Back then, Facebook only had five million users.

It’s amazing how much has changed. Five years ago, LinkedIn was more of a curiosity than anything. When I used to ask people if they were on LinkedIn, they would ask, “What is that?” Frankly, I didn’t use it much back then and knew little about its functionality myself. A few thousand connections later, I’ve learned a thing or two about the site. These days, LinkedIn is as ubiquitous as Kleenex.

LinkedIn is probably the best thing ever to happen to recruiters. Still, I find myself wishing that a few things were different…

1. 1. I wish that people would stop sending me generic invites, and instead tell me a quick, concise thing or two about their skills and career goals.
2. 2. I wish people would update their profile to include a picture. It’s more personal and appealing to put a face with a name.
3. 3. I wish people would use their summary and headline to express their expertise or career goals in a meaningful way.
4. 4. I wish I could tell whether or not someone had opened my Inmail, or if it was just sitting in their in-box like a forgotten time capsule.
5. 5. I wish that I could tell the city instead of just the greater metro area where someone lived.
6. 6. I wish that there would be more meaningful discussion in the medical device industry groups.
7. 7. It would be terrific if everyone’s profile were complete and up-to-date, including education and their most recent position.
8. 8. I wish active job seekers uploaded their resumes to their profiles in the Box.net application.
9. 9. I wish it was easier to search my contacts and organize them into a list.
10. 10. I wish that people who list “career opportunities” as one of the things they are interested in would not decline my inmail as “not appropriate”! I just learned from LinkedIn that this will still count against me- doesn’t seem fair that I get dinged for following the rules!

The great thing about LinkedIn is that it is constantly evolving. I’ve even seen one suggestion I made adopted in the Recruiter solution. In general, I have found LinkedIn is pretty tuned into its customers.

That’s why I am hopeful there will soon be a change in the “greater metro area” concept. I am hounding them every chance I get, especially since it seems half the east coast falls in the “Greater New York City” area. Hopefully this change will be coming soon, as well as many other clever ideas that I never could have imagined of myself!

“The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives.” ~ Anthony Robbins

Lisa McCallister specializes in recruiting for medical device sales and marketing positions with an operating room focus, such as orthopedics, electrosurgery, endoscopy and a wide range of surgical specialties. She has recruited two Rookie of the Year award winners. Connect with her on LinkedIn or check out her blog, MyJobScope.com.

“LinkedIn -logo” image above by Shekhar_Sahu acquired on Flickr.