CONTINUA…
The Bank Queue
In a bank experience that culminated with me watching Richard Werner’s Princes of the Yen and later playing with Akimitsu Hamamuro’s Gravity Points, I got a chance to brood over people’s behavior in today’s Maputo. was on a queue at a certain bank, since queues seem to be embedded into our culture past, present and apparently the near future, I followed the queue rule by the book, “who is last?” A man in his late thirties answered “me” and I quickly confirmed he was behind a pregnant lady wearing a brown checkered Capulana dress that reached to the knees. Immediately a lady with deadlocks entered the bank and asked the same question to which I replied “me” then to my indignation she said “I am just looking for some information …but…”
I perceived this negatively and saw her as she tried despite her voluptuous frame to stand next to me instead of behind me, so told her I didn’t know much about that, “the only thing I know,” I said “is that I’m following this gentleman here” Ganted, my manners really become strained in these situations, that is where the man you are inside is put to the test.
As I went to sit down on the nearby benches, looked at her hard for couple of seconds, and started thinking of why people are so rushed to the extent that they think they have to cheat or cut in in front of other people, some people would say it’s human nature. while I was just starting to ponder over these things two ladies came in, they immediately seemed to be pensioner’s wives or widows, well the older woman seemed to be that, a common sight, due to illiteracy some people still need company to assist them at the bank. One older man didn’t take it well, he complained that they were not respecting the line, and affirmed that he too was over fifty but he gave up when he realized support was scanty.
I saw the pregnant lady leave and realized she had just earned her queue privilege of priority attendance, there was justice after all!
The pevious lady with the dreads lady came and sat next to me, and I stooped my head and started reading through the internet looking for something to distract me from tallying the slowly passing minutes, when I came across an interesting blog about taxes, she said “Can I please ask you watch my space I have to go out for a moment”, in my mind I forgot to count to one thousand so I replied “well, ma’am I honestly think you should tell that to the person following you!” I know I could have articulated my reply more tactfully, after all she was a gentle person she just smiled and said “ah, yes” and she beckoned a young man who had come after her. Undeterred by my threats of her losing her place she left and went away to take care of whatever business she elsewhere.
“I dislike this bank” I said in my heart “it tends to bring out the worst in me”, one of my former workmates highly praised this bank, I still remember what he used to say “I got married thanks to this bank, I bought a house thanks to this bank, and I recently purchased a car thanks to this bank!” although I followed suit in that last mention, my relationship with this bank had soured over the years, with varying episodes and issues, at one time they had told me they had transferred my account to another branch without consulting me, the solution? I simply chose to forget that and kept coming to this branch, in fact one of the reasons I had started giving any attention to this account was that since my mother held an account on the same bank, I was caught by surprise when I assisted her with some bank related stuff and the teller asked me “Sir, don’t you have an account with us?” Unable to lie I said “Ah yes, but it’s been long since I did a transaction, I wonder if it’s still active” he asked for my account number which unlike some people I don’t memorize so I gave him my bank card and he looked it up, and said it was still active, I honestly think he activated it or something. The other reason was PayPal, for all their faults and lapses these guys gave easy access to online transactions, a friend of mine who had been to China woke me up to this fact.
Yet all of that didn’t matter now, the queue was getting more fuzzy and unable to contain myself I found myself reacting harshly when another young man described a couple of people he was following, after the misunderstanding was clarified I had to apologize “desculpa bro, foi um mal-entendido” why was everyone so nice? Except for, well me, and bank.
I began to wonder whether this bank had been doing market research lately, they probably were, but boy! Their communication was strange, one felt dominated subdued to be a client! instead of being enticed to be part of the deal i just felt I had to be in this, like a bad marriage.
When the person I was following was about to disappear beyond an unoccupied used-to-be account manager office cubicle I decided to forfeit my seat and stand closer, my experience with these situations dictated that you didn’t want the two people ahead of you disappearing if you earnestly intended to avoid altercations in the bank, that’s when a huge gentleman dressed in civilian clothes but with an obviously imposing physique said directly to me “Excuse me Sir” and I was like “Sorry, can I help you?” (I didn’t exactly say that but I hope that was the essence of what I said)
“Please take off your hat sir”
“oh, ok”
Presumptuousness comes before a crash says the Bible, and I had been had, again! So I moved closer to “late thirties” and since the pregnant lady had been rescued I asked “The lady is gone right?” “
“Indeed, she used up her right of priority”
“Um, that means you are following the pai right there? Right?”
“Yes, I am, unless some hocus pocus takes place”
My first grin, the “Pai” was runner up to a mulata lady who looked like a character from either Futurama or The Simpsons, it was nice seeing her engaged in conversation with the older gentleman and they seemed to be talking about life in general, she was talking about how her family had a house somewhere in Catembe and another one elsewhere, the other house was where her mother sickbed or deathbed was. I remembered I had the device in my hand I could go back to reading the blog.
Just when my blog reading was getting warmed up again, I saw one of the bank tellers, a young man probably in his late twenties handing out forms to the people on the queue, when he got to me, he asked “What services are seeking Sir?”
“To update my personal information, I got the text”
“Ah ok, what is your occupation?”
“Self-employed”
To make things easier he wrote “Self-Employed on a section, and explained how to fill the rest,
That was somewhat refreshing, were they being practical or it was just this one dude, full of aspiration and goodwill?
I went back and took a seat and filled the form satisfied that I had my own pen, and hoping no-one came borrowing, and went back to catch up with the queue by this time, more than an hour had elapsed, but it was ok I had decided to devote the morning to this endeavor! Now I’m standing behind Late Thirties, Mulata and Pai’s convos has shifted to the issue of alcohol abuse by the youth, she says
“too much beer is killing young people!”
A tall man with a corresponding head span says, “It’s not even beer, beer doesn’t do that to a person”
Another voice joins this interesting conversation “it’s those spirits”
Pai sees his chance to share old age wisdom “These alcoholic beverages are like the old Dib’indoda”
“oh yeah, Dib’indoda was terrible, dozens of men lost their lives!”
Mulata asks “is that so? How was it?”
My attention was now drawn to the fact that most of the story-tellers looked like victims of the cheap spirits on which they were blaming the juvenile downward spiral; Late Thirties was a sorry sight he joined the conversation but seemed to be having a hard time simply putting a sentence together. But one shouldn’t judge.
By the time I was two people away from getting attended to, two things happened that I wished wouldn’t, or at least should have transpired after my leaving, the dreadlock mama came back with a wry smile, and I was unable to muster enough energy to smile back and congratulate her, I must have mumbled something that got stuck in my throat. The other occurrence was that the helpful teller left his post and started dealing with those two older ladies who had come for the husband’s pensions, a young round faced, very confident of her voice girl came to his post, and all of a sudden, we could hear of the system being slow. oh man! not now, not não há sistema, not now!
A young fellow who I had just seen arrived seemed intrigued by the forms in our hands, so someone told him that the super teller had distributed them to us, since he came to renew or apply for a new card he was granted permission to ask the new round faced teller for a clean form, the answer was,
“Was if you are looking for a new card, we are without”
“But-”
“were Sir, if you want to insist and try your luck, be my guest” I would have chosen not to be he guest but the young decided to take his chances, brave optimistic chap he was!
Things were cold again, for a moment I thought there was hope but it seems this bank was doomed. In order not to drown in my own sorry feelings for a mere financial institution, one that had loaned me money years back which I had successfully paid without any upheavals, I decided to remind myself that I had successfully parked my little car right at the entrance, a rare feat since this branch is one of the busiest and they have a VIP reception for prestigious clients, who naturally foce the guards to hoard the parking space, I had succeeded despite that.
It turned out that mama dread and I were attended to simultaneously since both tellers called next, but she got the round-faced extrovert one, I got one who looked meeker, I would be cool I thought.
And meek she was, “sorry Sir, this form is not correctly filled”
“What’s the problem with it?”
“Well, it has to do with your occupation”
“what about my occupation? doesn’t it say there “Self-Employed?”
“it does say self-employed but what exactly is it that you are self-employed in?”
“oh, ok let me see that”
She handed me my two forms back plus a fresh one, I didn’t bother raise my head, I knew where the check desk was.
Mama dread had to wait also, it seemed she wanted a loan, I hope she pays on time, I don’t think she can survive financial woes, at her age I felt it would be too much, though one couldn’t be sure anymore these days, it depended on each person’s metabolism and stature, body mass. But then what if she was some kind of business mastermind? Mama dread the investment queen. It hurt me to admit it was possible, but there was evidence, she had managed to go out in half an hour or so take care of her duties elsewhere and still made it back on time to catch me brooding without filling a simple form correctly.
Realising that my information was incomplete and refilled the form careful not to re-copy the error as it had been my previous experience.
When I went back, an entirely strange man was leaning close to the counter, I assumed he had been following someone following me, either way I was already being attended to, so I raised my arm above his shoulder and whispered,
“I’m already here, already being attended”
He growled “wait” as he shoved a steel hard shoulder, this was a late forties father, I stood there not taking my eyes from the teller as she taking care of other docs, luckily, she beckoned “Sir?” and shoulder man though she meant him, but nope, she meant me! Almost celebrating I squeezed my papers past his steel shoulders, then the meek teller barks,
“Sir this other form too…which bank number is this? Is this this the competitors bank number?” she was almost smiling, now I was embarrassed, for real! No camouflage!
More correction, but as I searched my device, the downside of not memorizing my nine-digit number was that I couldn’t locate it anywhere especially since due to Gmail’s recent alerts I had erased all emails from my inbox and outbox, virtually destroying more than a decade worth of information. From the corner of my eye I saw Steel Shoulders successfully finish his business and saying what amounted to a victory cry, as he walked away, I thought I heard him say “We’ve been doing this for ages” but then again I know my brain gets easily carried away by imagination. At this moment I no longer cared what everyone else thought not Mama Dread, not Steel Shoulder no one! Further humbled, I composed myself and went back to the meek one, and said, “Please bear with me, I have not recollection of my account except that it starts with two hundred and twenty-three, at that she nodded, I guess she saw the misery in my face.
Now I wondered how she would react when she found out that mine was an empty account, since I barely used it, however this seemed to help me because she quickly updated my information without further questions. So quick the process was that I felt closure was too simple, so I inquired, “Do I still have access to Internet Banking?”
“Was it activated before?”
“Well, it was last time I checked”
“Well, in that case just go back to doing what you were doing it should work just fine”
It didn’t so I have to back there as soon as I can get the 4 morning hours for that purpose, I might want to be optimistic in thinking that perhaps there will be more to writer about after that upcoming encounter. I leave it to the local reader to identify the bank.
Explosion Survivor
A few minutes of the correct response can be the difference between life and death, some companies are designing encapsulated gas canisters which visibly will reduce spark generation due to friction, the same reason flammable material carrying trucks have charge conducting chains to avoid explosions.
The return from a Sabbatical leave of sorts
© 2019 copyright Bruno Chirrime
After having spent less than two years in a volunteer program related to my beliefs, I started engaging myself in the job search market, eventually I got an interview. At first, I was sceptical because there was no diversity in the team, they were all a bunch of father figures, but I decided I would answer their questions and prove to them that I could use my experience to add value to their team, and really that is what I sought to do.
The questions went well and I did not get one that left me feeling dissatisfied nor did I discern dissatisfaction on the part of my hosts.
But then the oldest member of the team said “you took a sabbatical leave of sorts, what guarantee do you give us that it won’t happen again?”
Of course, I tried my best to reassure them that, I had deemed necessary to leave my earlier job, yet that did not adversely alter my aspirations. In fact, having taken time off albeit a relatively short time had helped me broaden my perspective. Had I told them about Apple’s Steve Jobs detour to India, perhaps that could have enlightened the further. It could also have led them to think I was arrogant or overly aspiring, or perhaps they would have got the point, it is useless now.
Some call it soul-searching, others are just getting away from it all, yet others like archaeologists are just leaving campus to go for a fresh dig, all of which have the potentiality of revamping and boosting worker performance, but it seems, to say the least that all this was beyond these gentlemen, and many people in the industry. I did something that should not be viewed differently. Especially when many people leave jobs for questionable conduct and yet face no negative impact on their future career prospects.
Interview, I later weathered the anxiety and moved on. Apparently.
I eventually landed a job when a friend saw my profile on LinkedIn and simply sent a message. A few months later I visited them as a Sales rep. I knew their potential and although I had had that experience with them I had by no means turned a blind eye to their usefulness. They were the second name in their field of work, they were still serving in part one of our established clients and as my tradition (or rather the tradition I adopted from the company I was doing sales for) they had to get supplies from us as well.
So I drove there on my same old car, same style of apparel but somewhat more confident than before for obvious reasons, namely I was not unemployed, and I was barely interested in career opportunities. Being human of course there was a demeaning aura and I had to restrain myself from not grimacing, by smiling casually. Bygones were bygones. My eye was trained to be attentive to certain sales-oriented details but I could not help notice they had virtually done no revamp, refurbishing work to their modular installations, there were vestiges of decadence.
The nice voice I had spoken to on the phone came and took me to the very same room I had been interviewed in, and we both popped out our notepads and discussed possibilities. I sought to know why they were only buying stuff they used on our shared client who also happened to be one of our major businesses. She gave the expected answers that are the daily bread of procurement personnel about prices. We kept it professional and I promised to dig a little deeper and would let her know how we could help her out.
After a few weeks of going back and forth on phone calls and emails I realized that they were another of our big customers but this time a couple of thousand kilometres away, but when I got back to y contact she had been moved from Procurement to accounting. She kindly passed me her successor’s contacts, and he gave me the HSE person’s contacts. You think this made me more comfortable? Having more leverage? Well the opposite happened, when I met the HSE head, another father figure, he surprised me because he clearly promised I would get sales provided he got “his cut”. I was not totally shocked, being a sales person I was ready to deal with these issues, however I felt that my response was a bit lame. I told him that was a no-no, for one, because of our client base especially significant clients we were committed to uphold high standards of integrity. I wish I could have told him to refrain and how it did not suit him to be practising corruption and care for the well-being of the workers but I decided to keep it simple and leave.
So they had shuffled their teams, I started suspecting they were buying cheap PPE as well, since it takes serious and objective decision-making to budget and follow through on good consumables. 2 years later they are struggling, a competitor is out-performing them. I cannot help feeling vindicated, after all that showed that the previous experience I had gone through was due to the fact that they were not operating as they should be, they were not your dream-company as they might have appeared on the company’s webpage, which by the way is run by the parent company and not in the local language.
I feel sure that being like a living organism a company that is sick in a few aspects will eventually be sick in all of them. They really did not have a solid identifiable, reliable HR team nor did they consider outsourcing that bit. What do we find out later? They have a problem in Procurement, HSE (not mention other departments) and clearly they are suffering staggering losses in their sale-equivalent.
At other times I think that what harmed me in that incident was the colourful nature of my CV. To any recruiter I share the following piece of thought, not advice, I do not deem myself qualified to advise headhunters in their profession. But HR, the fact that your candidate has a portfolio of an engineer, an artist and a linguist should not in itself scare you, you just tag him the Da Vinci specimen, I do not know the stats, but they happen every seventh sample. As my late Heat Transfer lecturer Juán Landa García used to say to us: “…as engineers you ought to be able to learn any other discipline you want, you can learn management, or become accountants and paralegals”. We can engineer, create, translate and innovate. Finding engineering jobs is still a challenge in Maputo to be precise, but we cannot wait till then, some of will be teaching, translating, sewing, illustrating, DIY carpentry, blogging, interpreting, guiding tours, serving tables, animating (I have done all of these) in the meantime I will continue learning. So we are out there, although not currently doing what our varsity certificates say we ought to be accomplishing. Till we meet in the interview.
Make Money Submitting ISPC tax for small businesses
It just occurred to me that in Mozambique, You can make money processing ISPC for small companies for a fee-basically. It takes close to 3 hours to do it when the task in question is carried out on the deadline season. Less time is necessary if it is carried out timely. Small businesses have the habit of leaving these apparently nonessential tasks for last. This generates long and complex queues at the AT centres which in turn creates opportunities.
First things first, what is ISPC (initials in Portuguese), well it basically translates to Simplified Tax for Smal Taxpayers according to National Bulletin’s a Lei n.º 5/2009, de 12 de Janeiro (find it here)
If you are not acquainted with the Mozambican fiscal environment especially in Maputo, the capital, from a small business standpoint, paying your taxes can be a mammoth endeavor. Here we look at how we can do that.
Requirements
You basically don’t need special skills to carry out this task, except for good ears, strong legs and a good knack of quickly identifying any available free seat. You can, of course, carry out basic arithmetic you will gain the upper hand, as this will allow you to start by assisisting your client to determine the 3% tax he should pay for the period in question.
Otherwise you can simply inform your clients that after their accountant has determined their trimonthly earnings and figured out the amount to be paid to revenue authority, you are willing to do the tough work. From my personal experience customers who pay the ISPC rarely hire an accountant since they can do the simply math themselves, the issue though materializes when faced with the decision of whether to spend a full working day filing at the long queues.
So if you are asked to help the steps are:
- Get the M30 form called the “Modelo 30” and fill it in
- Then comes the wait for the officer to process your papers after which you will hear your name called and at that moment to are told to go to the cashier “caixa”
Paying attention is key - The cashier may not be very distant from the officer who receives the filled forms, you do not have the forms on you at this time
The secret is you have to pay attention lest your name is called At the cashier the names are called twice first to confirm your presence and position on the queue then you are called to make the actual payment.
Patience and calm is key I suggest you come early on the day or hire someone to carry this task out
Challenges are freelancers who do this for various companies they will do this for dozens of companies and thus the queue will be slow. - But after a while they call out your name and you are good to go, the payment in itself i very simple, and one thing I like about it is that they usually don’t ask for your invoice but, perhaps unless your math doesn’t add up.
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D?deka Puzzle N. 7
Solve it and Earn a Mention On my LinkedIn post
Across
5a Company
8a Camouflage.
1b Distinctive Political ideology
3c From the US
1d A unit of work or energy
10d European Union
5e Of men, male.
10f Make something happen
1g Shiny metal
10h Not off
3i Charged atom or molecule
2j Therefore
9j Creative activity
1k In Greek mythology, son of Poseidon
5k Team game played with oval ball
Down
1a Large juicy tropical fruit
3a Forming of ideas not present
5a Alternative burial
10a Lion’s hair
7b Greek letter
8c Motor vehicle
7e A percussion instrument
11f elaborately or highly decorated
9i Sea water almost surrouded by land
2j And for this reason
7j Parental Guidance
Number 6 answers:
Answers
Across
2a Damon
8a Ming
6c earl
1d tray
10d mg
3f Gal
10g IV
1h Jonathan
9i one
1j Dante
5k reveal
Down
4a Moby
6a needy
9a ill
11a gong
1b POTUS
8c Reagan
3f gin
5f litter
10f Lionel
1h Jedi
7h Aviv
GIF Animation, a myth or fact?
The idea taking GIF animation crossed my mind. When that happens I tend to desperately trap that thought process, reign it in, in an effort to retain whatever I can. As I sketched away, I realized I had a challenge, sound. It seems most GIF software or apps do not include a sound layer, not the ones I’ve used at least. this means that sadly I have to go back to the traditional animation software.
I did had to use a two software tactic, one is FireAlpaca (which is free by the way, and very easy to use) the other is Photoscape (for those of you who have been in this business for long, it will be easy to recognize) a brilliant tool also. The work started with Fire Alpaca then the rendered PNGs where imported into Photoscape, a pretty easy process as the latter accepts dragging unto and collates the slides in the same order in which they are presented in the source folder. The following step was to assign time frame to each slide, by default Photoscape assigns what appears to be 60 fractions of a second to each image which can be changed by double-clicking the slide or using the time tab.
I do not intend to delve much into FireAlpaca as there loads of tutorials on Youtube already. But I am interested in finding out about software that can also embed sound into GIF images, please drop a comment if you know any.
by Bruno Chirrime
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D?DEKA PUZZLES
Be among the first 5 first to solve and earn a place in my LinkedIn profile!
Across
2a Actor Matt____________.
8a Chinese ________dynasting.
6c British nobleman
1d Flat shallow container
10d Measurement of mass
3f Israeli actress _______Gadot.
10g Another way saying Electrical power
1h Male name
9i Unit
1j Famous poet
5k Disclose
Down
4a Herman Melville’s novel “_____Dick,”
6a One with necessities
9a Very sick
11a Loud clanging disc
1b Abbreviation for US presidents
8c US president Ronald___________.
3f Distilled beverage
5f Rubbish
10f Singer ________Richie.
1h From Star Wars
7h Modern times Jewish City
Smart Café in Tete- Good Eats, Good Vibes
I have been on a business trip in Tete for the past 2 weeks, and the forces that be organized for me to be catered for by Smart Café a restaurant and cool place to recover ones breath and talk business, located respectively 5 km from Tete and 13 km from Moatize, fully equipped with at least 3 indoor TV screens showing news, sports and a French music station that plays international music, I was kept well informed and up-to-date by these amenities.
I found the slick modern decoration quite pleasant, and the management was smart in another sense, they catered for all the 12 indoor tables to each have access to a 2-pin plug which came in handy for recharging my phones, a Wi-Fi modem and a work laptop. Furthermore I was informed about the existence of a Wi-Fi network but the need for such has become virtual as we are more and more mobile in our own right.
The food was great I had the opportunity to eat the Pende twice, first as it was served as the Prato do Dia and subsequently as a special order I made. The steak was ok and at times desserts were part of the feature, although most of the time only yogurt and chocolate bars were the only thing available, the pastry section was also ok, except for the bolos de nata which rarely disappoint, they have an Expresso machine, the Galão is great. Being a halal restaurant does not prove to be an Achilles heel for Smart Café especially because I sensed a degree of flexibility from the management, one fellow customer whom I assumed to be Portuguese took courage and sipped a glass of red wine which was not on the shelves I had been able to visualize, I assume he brought with, while awaiting his Bitoque, I think this is a typical example of the metamorphosis that society is going through. The soups are very well prepared, especially the potato the mashed potato one I had the other day.
The parking space is bountiful and I noticed work taking place on the eastern side by the similarity of the pavement finish it seems Smart Café is expanding as well as its parking lot, commendation is in order for the toilets also, they appeal to any person of any background and are pristine clean, well concealed at the far end of the premises, and I found the mirror glass on the men’s toilet intriguing I had to verify it was opaque both ways which I found to be so. There is acceptable visibility to the kitchen, and the kitchen team dresses professionally enough to impress me, although I am an amateur in the evaluation of restaurants.
It is a vibrant little place also made so by its multicultural guest-list, as practically all the workers from the surrounding industry seem to seek this strategic point as a rendezvous, and a melting point of business talk as well as a place for a decent meal. At least one of the waiters speaks English, but I supposed others do have a reasonable degree of understanding, and they are professional even though they might not have been exposed to other cultures, that’s what makes them adorable, especially young Arlindo with his french butler pose as he hands the bill, he makes you think of Alfred Pennyworth or Geoffrey Butler! it all adds to the Smart Café experience.
There are probably many good things I forgot to say about Smart Café, well that’s another good reason for you to visit and enrich this review!
Also, you can check out arrangements for lodgings managed by the same group in the Bairro Azul area, a place called Smart Naira.
Glossary
Prato do dia: dish of the day, main dish.
Bitoque: Beef Steak.
Galão: A Galão is a hot drink of portuguese origin in which coffee is added to a Long Glass of Hot Milk, it is a Glass of Coffee with milk.
Bairro Azul: Matema suburb named after the blue UN-donated tents during a drought season that called for humanitarian aid.
For reservation and bookings: +258 846496119 +258 824146340
Are you LinkedIn or you are just on LinkedIn?
The difference between the two states is obvious and it really makes a difference when one is able to tell them apart.
Some call LinkedIn a special kind of Social Network, yet I consider that to be a misnomer, LinkedIn is not Social just as Pizza is not candy, it’s nice and fun to eat pizza and candy but they just don’t fall under the same category, and the analogy goes further, if you think about it, pizza can really go a long way in nourishing you in special ways especially if you find one with mushrooms on it! Yet unless you are a 7 year old running around in the schoolyard or at home there is hardly any other use for good old sweets. It is similar when in comes to networking platforms you have to know what you are looking for or as is the case of many what you are getting into, that being said, let’s call LinkedIn a -Professional Network, that is how I define it to my acquaintances at least in Portuguese I often find myself saying “o LinkedIn é uma rede profissional que ajuda muito”
I might be repeating this definition but I don’t remember hearing it from anywhere else I just grew into realization of this, and I wouldn’t care to patent or copyright this either, it doesn’t matter.
Why is it important to be LinkedIn instead of being on LinkedIn? Well if you look at other networking platforms you notice especially amongst the younger age groups that there is a lot of adherence due to peer influence or peer pressure, it may not be the primary cause, but then again most people do most things due to external influence in one way or another so the point is, peoples joining social networks may do so subjectively yet when one obtains a LinkedIn account it’s highly advantageous if there is an objective or goal and there usually is, one such goal is obtaining a job. True others are on LinkedIn to increase their connections especially for business interests, there are a lot of educational opportunities on LinkedIn, I personally get confused how some monetize their courses or get the classes done in the first place but that is a discussion for another time.
Do not just be on LinkedIn use it professionally, creatively but ethically, I try to apply the basic principles about respect for opinion and privacy and ideas of others to my LinkedIn dealings, when I see something I like or identify with I can like, comment or even share, usually it’s a combination of the first two, I prefer to ignore anything not fitting into this category. It becomes easier if you link people with common goals in a non-conflicting way, for example if your are selling beverages you might find it useful to link to restaurant owners, managers or those responsible for obtaining supplies.
Know what LinkedIn is about, use it effectively oriented on profession and career, have goals and plans, respect other users, link with relevant people and your being LinkedIn with worthwhile.
brunochirrime 