By Jeff Altman, Big Game Hunter
Jeff Altman Big Game Hunter answers the question of whether you should only connect with people you know on LinkedIn or everyone.
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So, this question is about LinkedIn, and the question can be translated as: “Should I connect with strangers or only my friends on LinkedIn?”
There are two schools of thought, one originally spread by LinkedIn which says only connect with people you know, and the other which says connect with everyone. . . They are somewhere between these two extremes. I tend to operate between two extremes. Let me give you an example of only connecting with people you know.
The original idea of LinkedIn was to create an environment for creating social proof for people in small networks. So, in this model, if a friend of yours, one of your professional colleagues, was looking for a position, you would write a recommendation to that person and then it would appear on their LinkedIn page (which, by the way, you should do, not just “They’re a really nice person” or “I really like her”), which is a very high-quality professional recommendation for someone. Again I digress.
The original model was a network of people who knew each other and could support each other in finding jobs, introducing people, etc. Now, get it, I’m member 7564, so I remember those days. In other words, I was one of the first 10,000 people to sign up for LinkedIn. I’m good at this Way a long time. Suffice it to say, the LinkedIn algorithm favors those with larger networks, and they are able to sell to people like me who want to find individuals with smaller networks. After all, at this point, I have 23,00 1Yingshi level connection. In the LinkedIn world, that’s a huge number. However, if you’re outside my network or that big number, I can’t find you.
So LinkedIn sold me products like LinkedIn Recruiter (when I was still recruiting) to be able to find people like you. As a job seeker, and as a career professional, you want to be easy to find so that opportunities present themselves to you.
You probably don’t want to be “overwhelmed.” I respect that, whether you are a large network or a small network, LinkedIn sells recruiter products to people wherever they find you. So your goal is to always make it easy for people to find you because from a professional perspective, think about it first.
The people who achieve success are not always the smartest or hardest working people. . . Although these are all great qualities to have. People achieve success by being alert to opportunities. Sometimes, these are internal to your company. Usually, they are external.
So, given that you have these opportunities (statistically we are more likely to be outside of your company), you want to be found. This doesn’t mean you have to respond to every opportunity or every offer (though it’s polite to respond with, “Thanks, but now is not the time for me to consider other opportunities. Please keep me in mind for a future event”). no problem. But, again, you want to be found, and to do that, you need to network more.
Now, let me go to the other extreme, which is called LION – LinkedIn Open Networker. I didn’t get involved and the reason is, in my previous job, I didn’t want to help someone who might be a competitor who would find a position in my client because they found someone in my network because their network cycle was small but by contacting me, if I made a mistake, I had access to my massive network cycle, I didn’t want to help someone make $20,000 or $30,000 at my client’s expense at my expense.
So, I do not accept connections with other recruiters, nor do I connect with profiles that look like spam (they have two connections. They are in Nigeria, or they are photographed with an aquamarine background behind them and you can’t quite tell if it is a real image or a painting). So, I do not accept connections with such profiles. You can choose your own criteria. You might say I want to connect with recruiters. You are. I don’t think this is wise for you, but hey, it’s your life and your choice.
At the end of the day, I think being on a large network gives you a greater advantage. So whether you are a student or an experienced person, network. Find open networker groups and connect with people. If you’re in the United States, connect with a lot of Americans. This doesn’t mean you have to contact every real estate agent, financial planner, or anyone, but looking for people in your line of work who may be part of these open networks can build your connections so that when you actively start looking for something, people will have the opportunity to find you easily.
Don’t forget to put your phone number and email address in the summary area of your LinkedIn profile, so if a recruiter wants to contact you, they can do so via direct email without having to spend money on inMails. InMail is very expensive for businesses and third-party recruiters, and LinkedIn does limit the number of inMails they can send.
So again, put your contact information in the summary area of your LinkedIn profile.
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About Big Game Hunter Jeff Altman
Jeff Altman, Big Game Hunter is a coach who has been a recruiter for a hundred years. He is hired worldwide to provide career advice without a bachelor’s degree. This may involve job search, staff recruitment, management, leadership, career transition and advice on solving workplace issues. Schedule a discovery call on my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 job search podcast on iTunes with over 2,500 episodes.
I live stream every Tuesday and Friday at 1pm EST on LinkedIn and YouTube (on my JobSearchTV.com account). You can send me questions about job hunting, better hiring, management, leadership, or get advice on workplace issues via message on LinkedIn or via chat during the approximately 30-minute show.
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