7 Things You Shouldnt Be Doing On LinkedIn - Walrath Recruiting, Inc.

7 Things You Shouldnt Be Doing On LinkedIn - Walrath Recruiting, Inc. LinkedIn is a great resource to further your career and grow your network. Weve also reached the point where not having a profile may hurt your job search. Now more than ever, its important to have a profile set up and active. However, since it is a professional social network, it behaves slightly differently from the likes of Facebook and Twitter. There is also a different set of rules. Today well explain some of those rules and why you shouldnt break them. 1. Connecting With Strangers If youre new to LinkedIn, youll notice LinkedIn sometimes you receive connection requests from people you dont know. These people typically have something to sell, or just want to aimlessly grow their network. Its easy to want to connect just to boost your network, but thats not the wise move. Unless you know them in some capacity, its not advisable to connect with a stranger. If you think they may have a good reason to connect with them, send a message asking if they know you, or why they want to connect. Otherwise they will just clog up your feed, and do you no good. The value of your network on LinkedIn lies in the quality of those connections, not the number of connections you have. 2. Using The Standard Connection Message When you do decide to connect with someone, LinkedIn will auto-fill a standard message. It may be tempting just to hit Send, but its not in your best interest. Thousands of these cookie cutter messages are sent to professionals on LinkedIn each day. What really stands out is if someone takes the time to write a personal message. It could be about how you met, or why you want to connect. Either way, you will set yourself apart, and it will greatly increase the likelihood that your connection is accepted. 3. Asking For Something Immediately After Connecting Its an exciting time when someone accepts your connection! However, if youre trying to ask for an introduction, or push a product, you should hold off. Asking a favor of someone immediately after connecting will likely push them away. People never like to feel used, and this holds true on LinkedIn as well. Although its a professional social network, its still important to be polite. If youre asking for a favor, make sure you do it appropriately, or you may lose a connection. 4. Requesting Endorsements From Your Network Endorsements are great. They allow you to recognize someone else in your network for having an outstanding skill in a certain area. However, when these endorsements are requested, it diminishes the value. Its impossible to distinguish a genuine one from a requested, but asking may turn away your connections. Its also important to remember that companies do check LinkedIn. If youre highly endorsed for a skill, they will expect you to be proficient in it. If you have to, only ask close friends and colleagues for endorsements. On a side note, endorsements changed when LinkedIn updated their UI. We wrote previously about what the changes mean for your profile, and what steps you should take. 5. Leaving Your Profile Photo Blank This is likely the most important recommendation on the list not to do. Leaving your profile photo as the default silhouette is a big mistake. Profiles without a photo get significantly less views compared to those that have them. If youre going to go through the effort of setting up a LinkedIn profile, do it right! Make sure you have a professional head-shot. If you need more advice on what type of photo to use, check out this guide from LinkedIn. 6. Removing Old Jobs and Experience Removing irrelevant work experience from a resume is the right move as time goes on. It showcases the most relevant experience and appropriate skills. However if you do this on your LinkedIn profile, people may wonder what youre trying to hide. Its typical to have all of your volunteer, professional, and educational experience present on LinkedIn. LinkedIn ultimately tells the story of your career, and itd be odd to have some pieces of  the puzzle missing. Do the best you can to keep the full narrative of your career present on LinkedIn. It will help you, and a prospective hiring manager to understand your background. 7. Waiting Until You Need a Job to Use It Finally, one of the greatest mistakes professionals make is waiting to use LinkedIn until theyre out of a job. When youre active on LinkedIn posting and interacting, your connections will recognize you and think of you. This can result in many opportunities coming your way. However, there is typically a short window with those opportunities. By only using LinkedIn when youve lost your job you not only miss out on opportunities, you also lose most of the benefits of being on LinkedIn. Dont wait until crunch time to start utilizing your profile! There are many more faux pas than weve listed here, but these are the biggest transgressions. Remember that you are on a different type of social network, and adjust your behavior accordingly. Too many users treat LinkedIn like Facebook or Twitter and it devalues their experience. Be smart on LinkedIn, and you will discover why it is the most powerful networking resource!