Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Connecting on Linkedin

Though I’m usually sympathetic to students wanting to build their Linkedin connections, what commonly shuts down that open-heartedness is a generic invitation from someone I either don’t know or can’t remember meeting. The totally bland “I’d like to add you to my professional network” from Tom C. Now maybe I’ve met with Tom C in the past. Or then again, maybe I haven’t. Not to be rude but I’m not going to connect with someone whose face I can’t at least vaguely envision.
Instead, as a courtesy to your potential contact, refresh their memory as to the date or setting in which you last met. Or perhaps a shared conversational tidbit. Or mutual connection. Something to build a bridge for the reader in answer to their vague suspicion that they might be giving a virtual stranger access to their own connections. 

Posted by Bonnie Speyers on 06/06 at 02:16 PM
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