I may have made the mistake of updating my Linkedin status to 'Retired'

[cyber888]

I retired middle of last year, but I wanted to communicate with a friend on Linkedin who works abroad. At any rate, without thinking much about it, I update my profile to 'Retired' and put in the description 'retiring early and never working again'.

Now, to my surprise I started getting several 'Likes', 'Congratulation' messages, and private messages from previous people I have worked with in previous jobs. Most messages are congratulatory, but some were asking like Why? Where will you live? and 'You must a plan or something'. My previous boss at another job, who I'm sure is in his 70s and still working also commented that 'I must have a plan.' Suddenly, they are curious. These are people I have not heard from in 5 years or more. Now I'm thinking I should not have bothered updating my status there.

Anybody updated their Linkedin status to 'retired'?

 

[scrinch]

No, but I have been auto-notified when LinkedIn friends have updated their job status when they change jobs or get a promotion. LinkedIn provides several canned congratulatory responses to choose from, or you can write your own. Sounds like that may be the case when your status is updated to "Retired" also.

 

[mystang52]

I may have made this comment, here, about LinkedIn before. I describe LinkedIn as joining the Mob - it seems one can never leave. I have seemingly tried everything, but somehow I still get notices from them, announcements, and at least once a year an inquiry from a headhunter based on my LinkedIn profile. And that hasn't changed after 14 or so years.

 

[Midpack]

I updated my LinkedIn profile to retired, but I quit caring or looking at my LinkedIn status as soon as I retired. Why would I look or care once retired? I was able to delete my account a couple years after retiring, I don't get anything from LinkedIn.

 

[oscar1]

I updated mine to retired 6 years ago. I still get weekly emails for “retired” jobs. Lol

 

[marko]

Deleted my account a few years ago. It was a regular reminder of my old life and then, one day I just decided that it was time to formally move on.

Just stopped caring about what my former colleagues were up to.

 

[Dtail]

I also updated my profile to retired. I still get occasional inquiries from recruiters and folks wanting to join my network. I ignore the network requests and politely respond to the recruiters (who I mainly do know) that I have been retired now 6 years.

 

[camfused]

LinkedIn is for people who w*rk. I deleted my profile about a year after I retired. I got tired of getting contacted by recruiters.

 

[audreyh1]

Fortunately I never had a LinkedIn account. It was just becoming popular when I retired.

 

[Ronstar]

I updated my status to retired 10 years ago. I still get emails almost daily from LinkedIn asking to connect or congratulate people I don't know. I read the emails, but never go to the linked in site.

 

[athena53]

I retired about 10 years ago and changed my description to "Portfolio Manager" at "Home Office". Yes, I get e-mails for "Portfolio Manager" positions as well as actuarial ones, since that word is in my profile a lot. One in a very great while I get someone wanting to connect, offering some type of "partnering" under the assumption that I have a bunch of moneyed clients they can access. I tell them I don't.

I have a lot of friends, nieces and nephews, etc. on LinkedIn and I enjoy seeing what they're doing. It's also nice to be able to comment on business issues without worrying about how it will reflect on my own employer.

 

[FREE866]

LinkedIn
And I thought Facebook was bad!


I did not change my status, but when I do go on I get such an overwhelming feeling of gratitude that I'm not working. The BS corporate jargon on there ugh. What a relief!

 

[retire48in2018]

I did the same. Yes, LinkedIn system is not smart as to what “Retired” means…

I kept LinkedIn profile as a way to stay in touch with a few coworkers, as we left quickly - and many did not have any other way to contact us

(We moved, I was primarily using a company phone number, and we did not share our FB account).

It’s been 3 years since retiring, and I ignore all the automatic LinkedIn system emails and notifications. Maybe another 2-3 years before I delete account.

 

[jollystomper]

I still have my LinkedIn account. When I retired, I updated my description to include that I was now retired, and I posted a little story about how I started at Megacorp, how surprised I was that my career there lasted so long, and how I enjoyed working with by colleagues and clients. I also added that my retirement plan was going to be either do whatever I want, or make me an offer. I received zero "negative" or "why" responses. Instead, I received hundreds of well wishes, thanking me for being a colleague, reminders of past corporate "adventures" that folks enjoyed having with me, and some "if you ever consider working again, contact me" responses. It was very moving to get that type of reaction.

So I have no problem with my LinkedIn account. I get on a couple of times a months, I like to see how my colleagues are doing and will congratulate them on their achievements. I currently receive 3-4 "can we talk about a position that may interest you" queries, but I have canned cut-and-paste answers for them . Since I like to be aware of IT technology trends across hardware and software, I can see those updates, and a few times a year I will join free live webinars/lectures/classes that end up in my LinkedIn feed and that interest me.

I enjoyed my career, and the people I worked with, and find LinkedIn to be relatively "sane" compared to other social media platforms. Maybe that is why I am still there .

 

[38Chevy454]

No LinkedIn account, no worries. I moved 1500 miles away from my last job location when I retired, and only keep in touch with a couple former co-workers that are friends using phone mostly (text or talk).

 

[5Miler]

Retired 12 years next month and never had a LinkedIn account. By the time it became a real thing, I was beyond caring about a next position as I was developing my exit strategy.

Never had a Facebook account either until after I retired to keep my personal life and work life from mixing for whatever reason. Even now I just go on Facebook once in a while just to keep up with my far flung family.

 

[Montecfo]

I did not change status to retired. I just wrote a bit about the types of things I plan to do. I did not make some big announcement as a lot of folks do.

I keep active with a handful of former coworkers and also some kids I used to coach so I find linkedin rather useful.

But I do get pitches from headhunters and job ideas.

 

[Sunset]

Deleted my account a few years ago. It was a regular reminder of my old life and then, one day I just decided that it was time to formally move on.
......

+1

While all the job offers were flattering for a while, I realized I'm not going to take anyone up on those and don't need the emails.

 

[Route246]

I don't change mine so it has a previous role which is plenty OK with me. I'm still working but plan to NOT say I retired when I quit for the final time. I use it to social network with colleagues and ex-colleagues. I ignore all of the spam from investment advisors and headhunters.

 

[pacergal]

I created an account years ago, but have no idea what I used for username/password, etc. I get notifications occasionally, just ignore them
I probably could figure it out somehow, except it may have been connected to my work email and that is locked.

 

[PaunchyPirate]

I updated my status and work info upon retirement 5 years ago. I guess I have my profile set to not send me any emails since I don't get any from LinkedIn. I still sign in every now and then to check on former co-workers that I consider to be friends. Nothing more.

 

[schenbew]

I still have a LinkedIn account and profile, but don't use it for anything resembling paid work. I DO keep it as a tool to help me in my work with several nonprofit groups I belong to as a means of connecting with and mentoring separating and/or retiring veterans, as well as college students.

I also use it to keep in touch with the many colleagues I served with over a long military career, internationally and in the US. I especially enjoy it as a means of staying in touch with my then junior teammates, who have now all been promoted into senior positions.

My status does have retired in it, and I also get those weekly "Retired" opportunities from LinkedIn. The retired status also generates lots of sales pitches...I can almost recite from memory the "Incredible Franchise opportunities!", and Financial Planners looking to "help me plan my retirement future"! I occasionally will tell them I don't need any help accompanies by a link to this site...

To each their own, but I find it very worthwhile to maintain my LinkedIn account.

 

[Alex The Great]

I do have LinkedIn account and I did not update my status after retiring. I do not get any head hunter's attention so far. But if I eventually do I would not care about it. I keep LinkedIn just out of curiosity what is going on with my former coworkers.

 

[kgtest]

I updated my LinkedIn profile to retired, but I quit caring or looking at my LinkedIn status as soon as I retired. Why would I look or care once retired? I was able to delete my account a couple years after retiring, I don't get anything from LinkedIn.

I cannot wait. I merely need it to stay networked. Once LI came along, it seemed it was much less pressure to find employment opportunities. I was using Monster, indeed, dice yahoo jobs...remember when we found jobs in the paper!

There is a lot of noise on LI, but I feel like I need to maintain a certain level of engagement beyond NEW JOB CONGRATS and Open to Work - Poor Me Status.

All of it has been helpful for sure. But I can't wait to shut all that off and just ride around on a lawnmower, or setup an ice shack, hit a few golf balls and take a nap. 8 to 10 yrs to go.

 

[RetiredHappy]

I deleted my LinkedIn account the day I retired.