I’m just trying to understand the logic behind having random people want to link up with you?
I appreciate the reasoning behind those that are clearly recruiters but when you get other professionals wanting to link in I cannot understand their logic? Some of them don’t even appear to be of a similar background, so not sure they are trying to get help getting a job with my company, or alternatively trying to get me to join theirs.
I’m hesitant to accept anyone that I don’t know personally. It’s almost like being a referee as I see it.
I didn’t think it was like FB with people just trying to get as many friends as possible (except the recruitment types) but at times it feels like it.
Do you accept or reject in these situations? Am I missing out on possible windows by ignoring? Is there something obvious I’m missing (besides a frontal lobe)?
A lot of it is to make as many connections as possible so you can link to companies for potential job searches or business contacts. They say if you have over a 500 contacts you can reach almost anyone.
I’ve recently noticed more phish/scam emails lately that are quite well disguised as LinkedIn invites - they are pretty convincing in appearance, and are making it through the spam filters.
Before you click on any links/buttons in the email, sign in to LinkedIn and check to see if the request is real - if it’s a scam, if won’t show up within LinkedIn.
Not clicking stuff in any email is always a wise move, of course. But the scammers are doing a good job these days putting together authentic looking messages.
I get several of them every week. Mostly recent or upcoming college grads looking for internships, people in the same field who I’ve never met, or people who have graduated from the same programs I have that I never actually had a class with. If I haven’t met you in person, I’m not accepting, period.
If I haven’t done a reasonable amount of business with you (so no, you taking far too long to deliver a quote is not a reasonable amount), I’m not accepting. That includes other friends… “Oh we ride bikes together? Yeah, no… that’s what Facebook is for”.
Is LinkedIn actually useful in the real world? I’ve had a ton of invites and never thought much about it.
Depends on the industry. I work in IT/management consulting and find it extremely useful. People in my industry move around a lot so it’s handy having a way of contacting them even if they’ve moved jobs. That works both ways - means people can contact me with opportunities as well, both personal job opportunities and opportunities for my company. It’s also very handy in terms of doing a bit of background research on people you come across when bidding for or working on a project. Not in a spooky way (they can see I’ve looked at them if they bother checking) but because as often as not I find that they have previously worked with a person or company that I’ve also worked with or at least know a lot about. Knowing what those connections are helps to establish a relationship with them and understanding of where they’re coming from more quickly - that in turn helps me with winning or delivering the work they want done.
E.g. we were recently asked to do a proposal for some work at an oil company. 5 minutes on Linkedin enabled me to establish that the main stakeholder had recently moved from another oil company, where not only would he have worked with people that I knew, but would also have been using a framework/technology that I was very familiar with and knew the problems it had had there. That meant that straight away he got the comfort of knowing that I had some credibility in that area (and am sure he did his own checking up on me with our mutual acquaintances), and that I could ensure that we could apply the lessons he’d learned from his previous role. If Linkedin didn’t exist, I’m sure we could have figured out some or all of that anyway through talking or asking around, but it made it a lot quicker.
To the OP, I only accept invites from people who I know or at least know the names of and are likely to be useful to me. E.g. I get potential new clients who will ask to connect because they’ve met somebody else at a conference that we’ve done work for. Not going to turn that down. But will turn down invites from people outside my industry who have no apparent connection or use to me.
Is LinkedIn actually useful in the real world? I’ve had a ton of invites and never thought much about it.
Through LinkedIn, I’ve met people who I eventually hired. And I’ve met people who have been very helpful in my job searches. But it is more than just a list of contacts, you do have to spend time growing relationships (as you would in real life).
I found my current job through Linked In. Although I mostly use it as a means of staying connected with past/current professional relationships. I don’t accept any invites unless they are at least a second degree contact.
Is LinkedIn actually useful in the real world? I’ve had a ton of invites and never thought much about it.
Depends on the industry. I work in IT/management consulting and find it extremely useful. People in my industry move around a lot so it’s handy having a way of contacting them even if they’ve moved jobs. That works both ways - means people can contact me with opportunities as well, both personal job opportunities and opportunities for my company. It’s also very handy in terms of doing a bit of background research on people you come across when bidding for or working on a project. Not in a spooky way (they can see I’ve looked at them if they bother checking) but because as often as not I find that they have previously worked with a person or company that I’ve also worked with or at least know a lot about. Knowing what those connections are helps to establish a relationship with them and understanding of where they’re coming from more quickly - that in turn helps me with winning or delivering the work they want done.
E.g. we were recently asked to do a proposal for some work at an oil company. 5 minutes on Linkedin enabled me to establish that the main stakeholder had recently moved from another oil company, where not only would he have worked with people that I knew, but would also have been using a framework/technology that I was very familiar with and knew the problems it had had there. That meant that straight away he got the comfort of knowing that I had some credibility in that area (and am sure he did his own checking up on me with our mutual acquaintances), and that I could ensure that we could apply the lessons he’d learned from his previous role. If Linkedin didn’t exist, I’m sure we could have figured out some or all of that anyway through talking or asking around, but it made it a lot quicker.
To the OP, I only accept invites from people who I know or at least know the names of and are likely to be useful to me. E.g. I get potential new clients who will ask to connect because they’ve met somebody else at a conference that we’ve done work for. Not going to turn that down. But will turn down invites from people outside my industry who have no apparent connection or use to me.
Sounds similar to one that I’d accepted. He was a sub-consultant we were using for the tender design for a highway upgrade. I was leading the drainage design and wondered why he wanted to connect but I figured he had a relationship with my boss / company and as such it wouldn’t hurt. We ended up winning the tender. I’ve accepted a handful of recruiters who have actually contacted me and introduced themselves and offered positions. I figured “you never know” and whilst I wasn’t looking at the time there may come a time eventually and that person previously showed an interest in my skills.
I ignore the randoms and the recruiters that don’t even say hi etc.
Is LinkedIn actually useful in the real world? I’ve had a ton of invites and never thought much about it.
The real world still requires human contact. LinkedIn is a starting place. You can also bookmark profiles, without connecting, to use as a later reference.
Another IT/Software professional LinkedIn was how I found my current position. I think in many cases, these random invitations may be due to people who just joined and are following the default prompts, which if you are not paying attention, one of them will send out a generic invites to a lot of people as recommended by a complex algorithm that has to be based on some pretty interesting data mining. I nearly overlooked the feature when I joined, and had I clicked the connect button, LinkedIn would have generated some 500+ potential connection requests, with the majority of them to people I never met/did not know personally but shared similar interests and backgrounds.
Is LinkedIn actually useful in the real world? I’ve had a ton of invites and never thought much about it.
Through LinkedIn, I’ve met people who I eventually hired. And I’ve met people who have been very helpful in my job searches. But it is more than just a list of contacts, you do have to spend time growing relationships (as you would in real life).
Had two recruiters contact me through LinkedIn this year and one led to an interview. I didn’t get the job but made some very good contacts with a big name competitor.
**I hate the generic invite. Unless we’ve met in person and had a conversation about our work, plz explain to me how I know you. Drives me nuts. **
These random invites seem to be increasing for me as well.
Now, I work in sales so I’m always looking to *expand *my network. Some of these requests are from people that would appear to possibly be of some help to me, but others are really out there, and I ignore them.
A bit off topic, but what has really been a disappointment and a bit of a bust on LinkedIn have been the Groups. Some groups that were ounce good, with great dialog and discussions, and sharing of information have become spam-fests with get-rich-quick scams of How To Make $5,000/month on Facebook etc . . .