For those of you who don’t know what LinkedIn is, it’s a professional social network. Think of it as a place to put your online resume and connecting with others. Use it for business opportunities, like getting a job, creating partnerships, things like that.
From an offline perspective, let’s say you’re looking for a job and you really want to work for “XYZ Corporation”. You ask a buddy of yours if he knows of someone who works there. He says, “Sure, let me hook you up,” and does so. Your chances of getting a job there have just doubled.
I’m speaking from experience because that’s exactly how I got in the door to the place I work now. I like LinkedIn. 
Two reasons why I choose to delete your invitation:
- If your profile is nothing more than a list of company names, job titles, and the times you worked there, then I’m rejecting you. Why are you wasting my time with information I can’t use? Tell me what you did. What makes you special? What can you offer me? How do we complement one another?
- If you’re too lazy to write a genuine and personalized invitation to connect with me, then I’m too lazy to accept. I get so many of these, and to tell the truth, I’m probably a little more lenient on these then I should be because they work for a company that has a high profile or something along those lines.
As with any social network, there’s a certain amount of respect you must give to its members if you are to make this thing really work for you. For example, when I receive invitations to connect with other members, LinkedIn does make it rather easy for them by providing templates explaining why that person would like to connect with me. Trouble is, these invitations are a bit demeaning to experienced users because they explain the benefits of connecting.
Excuse me, but I have over 2,000 connections in my network. I think I know the benefits, thank you very much. So when I receive such invitations, you better have a darn good profile for me to consider that’ll keep me from flushing your invitation down the cyberdrain.
[tags]linkedin,connections,social network[/tags]
{ 5 comments }
Hi…
Sir, you hit the nail on the head when you say
If you’re too lazy to write a genuine and personalized invitation to connect with me, then I’m too lazy to accept. ,
and Sir, you do not need to “justify” with sth like
I get so many of these
Regards,
Gopal,
India
Hehe…hi Gopal. Good to know there are a few others out there that agree with me on this one. I rarely invite anyone anymore only because I get a steady flow of invitations sent to me. But when I do, I always use a personalized message explaining more about me and why I think it would be a good idea to connect on LinkedIn.
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Mark,
You make some good points there, but I have to admit to being some way behind you. I hadn’t even heard of LinkedIn until I read this.
I’ve now signed up and found several old friends on there. I’m living in China at the moment, but will be moving back to Australia sometime next year and LinkedIn looks like it could be very useful in getting a job. So Thanks!
Hi Stephen, that’s so cool that you just signed up on LinkedIn and have already gotten some use out of it! It’s definitely a great tool to reconnect with people you used to know, be they friends or co-workers.
Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you return.
Btw, you have a great blog there.
LinkedIn is a great resource for many different reasons. It is like an online resume for potential employers (so be careful who you connect with and what you say) as well as a way to make connections with old friends and colleagues, potential partners, and industry Pundits.
Another thing that I have found this useful for is a resource to outsource projects.
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