Can you be contacted by email on LinkedIn? Are you sure?
Paul Di Michiel
Career coach | Interview skills coaching | Virtual coaching | LinkedIn profiles | Engaging resumes | Facilitator | Speaker Author & writer | Job search strategies
I often remark that LinkedIn is all about 'being found and finding others'...
It is also the world's largest business/professional social media with around 610 million members. One of the major benefits of LinkedIn is that it facilitates professional networking and allows you to have visibility and access to your 'expanded network' (2nd-degree connections).
What I regularly find is that while many people have put together a profile (albeit basic), they often neglect to ensure that important contact details such as an email address are visible. This is often an oversight but is very important in order to be contacted (and to contact others).
Remember, that if you are connected to someone (a 1st-degree connection), you can message each other via LinkedIn, however, you can't do this for 2nd and 3rd-degree connections unless you take out a premium subscription (which even then has a quota of messages you can send to 'non-connections'.). The other method to message 'non-connections' is to belong to a LinkedIn group with that individual, where members can message other members even if they are 2nd and 3rd-degree connections.
Having a visible email address on your LinkedIn profile is especially important during a job-search. You don't want someone to go to your profile, to be impressed by the content enough to want to contact you and then being stymied by the lack of an email address...That's a missed opportunity of the worst kind!
If you want to be found (and contacted) by others on LinkedIn, you need to include a visible email address which would show in the 'See contact info' section of your profile. Here's how to check if your email address is showing on your profile currently.
- Go to 'Me' at the top of your profile screen, click to show the drop-down list and select 'Settings & Privacy':
2. Once in 'Settings & Privacy' select 'Who can see your email address' as indicated below:
3. Click on 'Who can see your email address' and under 'Who can see [email address] on your profile?' select 'Anyone on LinkedIn' if you have any of the other options selected.
These changes will be saved automatically which means that when 2nd and 3rd-degree connections visit your profile, they will be able to contact you via email. Similarly, I often recommend to my clients that they include their email address in their LinkedIn summary. Fundamentally, you become even easier to contact!
A few other helpful hints:
- Have a professional and contemporary email address - While [email protected] is great for friends and family, strangers may draw other inferences from it, one of which is that you are a little 'outdated'. It is better to get a more contemporary email address such as Gmail or Outlook (without the reference to your date of birth or after hours indulgences). It's more contemporary, and also ensures all your communications re job search are contained in one (more appropriate) place.
- Do I include a phone number? Use your own judgement here. I often say that it is easier to delete an inappropriate or offensive email than it is to 'un-hear' a similar phone call or voicemail.
#linkedin #jobsearch
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Paul Di Michiel is an experienced global HR executive and more recently career coach. If you would like assistance with your LinkedIn profile, either individually or for your team or organisation, don't hesitate to contact me. More information about me can be found on my LinkedIn profile, or my website.
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First impressions of the new LinkedIn layout
Worn down by a lengthy job search?
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You never get a second chance to make a first impression in job search
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Technology and the mature-age worker
Is LinkedIn a haven for closet narcissists?
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Is leadership as dead as a dodo?
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Launching a new book: 'Fired to Hired, The Guide to Effective Job Search for the Over 40s'
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I'm glad I've lost my job 3 times!
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6 tips to work effectively with recruiters
The most important question you'll answer in a job interview
A winning formula for your cover letter
How would Wally ensure he's found on LinkedIn?
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The 9 mistakes interviewers should NOT make
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12 biggest mistakes made during job search
10 things not to do before and during an interview (over 60,000 views to date!)
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