LinkedIn is a professional network where people join with a purpose. The purpose usually is to build and grow your professional network, keep connections at one place, grow businesses, find jobs, and occasionally stay up to date with the industry. If you have a different purpose than your professional growth, you should not be on LinkedIn. There are other places for posting personal photos, motivational and funny animal videos, and sharing haha moments.
I’m sure LinkedIn as a company wants you to post anything and everything and grow user engagement and make ton of money from it. LinkedIn has recently opened to more than just professional content and even start promoting anything and everything. But several experienced professionals disagree with it and have stop using it frequently.
IMHO, Facebook is new Yahoo and LinkedIn is becoming the new Facebook ๐ Seriously, joke aside, more and more professionally we use LinkedIn, more productive we can be. IMHO LinkedIn use should be all about your professional career growth as an individual.
Here is my top 10 Dos and Don’ts for LinkedIn users who are getting onto LinkedIn and posting anything and everything.
- Have a purpose
- Connect with right people. Less is more.
- Communicate with a reference and relevance.
- Be a professional. Don’t bring your personal crap.
- Be respectful of others time.
- Don’t troll.
- Ask but also give. Don’t misuse.
- Stay current and update your profile.
- Unfollow non relevant creators.
- Seasonal cleanup of your connections.
Have a Purpose
LinkedIn is a professional network. You join LinkedIn to connect with industry professionals and grow your professional network. You connect with people who may hire you in future. If you’re a business owner, or manager, you may hire people. LinkedIn is a collection of business cards and display of your resume and professional experience. It’s a place to find jobs. It is a place to hire your next employee. Use it to build and maintain relationships. IT’S NOT YOUR TIME PASS SOCIAL NETWORK.
Connect with Right People
On LinkedIn, your goal should be to connect to the right people. Unless you’re a celebrity, promoting your business, or may hire future employees, there is no reason to accept everyone’s connection request. If you don’t know someone, there is no need to accept a connection request. It will just be a distraction. Read again Point #1 and ask yourself, does this person helping me in my purpose before accepting a new connection or sending a new connection request.
Communicate with a Reference
When you send a connection request, don’t just say, “Hi”. You have to be specific why do you want to connect with the person. If you’ve met that person somewhere at an event or meetup, or wherever, make sure to have that detailed reference.
Be a Professional
LinkedIn is a professional network. But recently, it is slowly becoming a “anything and everything network”. I see people post anything on LinkedIn. I see jokes, motivation quotes, dogs, cats, and fun stuff. Nothing wrong with it but it may affect your connections. Be professional when you post, share, like anything on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is not your TIMEPASS Social media platform.
Be Respectful
One of the important thing we need to keep in mind on LinkedIn is, respect people’s time. I accept some connections just to be nice but then right away, I get this promotional link and people want me to check out something for them. Do not sell your s**t on LinkedIn. If you have something to ask or need help, first be polite, and ask if other person has time to help related to that topic. Be respectful.
Be Patient
So, I get ton of connection requests each day. I’m selective. I try to connect with people who I think can benefit from my experience, mostly related to computer science and IT field. I do not accept all requests. As a matter of fact, I do not check my LinkedIn requests every day. Sometimes, I just don’t know who the person is. If someone does not connect with you right away, or after connecting, does not reply your question right away, that person may be busy, or do not have the correct answer. Don’t complain. Be patient. If someone doesn’t reply, take the hint and move on.
Become a Contributor
Some people on LinkedIn are just for business purpose. Some people on LinkedIn are the suckers and they will keep asking you again and again if you continue to help them. There is nothing wrong with it. But imagine a world where everyone is a taker and no one is giver. The community will fail. It is our duty to give back to communities if we take from them. It helps others and that’s how communities grow, strive, and survive.
Participate in building a better world by mentoring others, guiding, and mentoring. You can also reply, comment, like, and share.
Stay Current
I’m guilty in this regard as well. I personally am not on LinkedIn to get a job. Mostly, I used LinkedIn to share my C# Corner article, connect with professional friends, and post jobs and other things I like. So, my resume does not get refresh often. If you’re trying to grow your network, get a job, or work with other professionals, try to keep your profile up to date with your current jobs and experiences.
Less is More
Having less but useful connections on LinkedIn are more. You can’t have too many useful connections. It’s just not possible in real world.
One way to find out who is useful for you, watch your feed and see what you like and what you don’t like.
Periodically Clean Up
Watch your feed and see what you don’t like. If you see someone continues to post content that you’ve no interest in, Unfollow that person. That will help you keep your feed cleaner and see the stuff that matters to you only.
Once every quarter, also review your connections and anyone is not relevant to you or too old for you, you can remove that connection.
Anything and anyone wasting your time, remove them!
Happy Productivity!