How to network on LinkedIn

In this talk, we explore the ‘hows’ and ‘whos’ of networking on LinkedIn, but we couldn’t start this talk without talking about networking itself as a general idea. Networking is for everyone, not just people in the hunt for a new job opportunity, and certainly not only for the natural extroverts, it just comes down to how you are going to do it, which tool you can use to overcome your limitations and make meaningful interactions with other people.

I like to think about networking in three simple steps:

Reach out to the people you are close to As a first, non-threatening step towards making contact with people you are interested in, starting with the people you already know is very important as you will be able to measure their reactions and what you can take out of that interaction, and if you are an introvert, it is a very friendly environment to start with before putting yourself out there to talk to strangers.

Reach out to the contacts you’ve got from your first step By doing this you associate your own request of contact with the relationship this person has with the one that sent you their contact. This is a great way to hold someone accountable for answering you or not, as they feel compelled to do so to not damage the link they have with the person that gave you their information.

Reach out to people in companies you are interested in This last step will require great resilience from you since most people don’t reply to these types of requests. To increase your chances of an answer and to move the conversation forward, show interest in what they do and how they perceive their own company and/or department before asking for anything. At the end of the day, all of us like to talk about ourselves and what we do.

To do those steps well, it is important to note some good practices in networking, such as asking questions about the person’s interests and professional life, it makes people more interested in the conversations and you look curious and interested instead of needy or desperate. By asking questions you will get to know more about the company and can make an informed decision if it is a good fit for you to work there or not, and if the answer is positive, you can proceed the conversation with what kind of value you can generate for the company. You will know if the networking was successful if you get invitations to a second conversation face-to-face.

So, how to apply this on LinkedIn? The answer is not too far from what we saw in the 3 steps of networking offered at the beginning of this article.

Reach out to your connections The key here is to have some small wins, meaning you will get more replies then trying it with people you don’t know yet, and this will give you the energy necessary to move forward to the next 2 steps. All the rest is the same as reaching out to the people you are close to we discussed already.

Reach out to your secondary network The exact same aspects apply here from our second step above, except that the quantity of people you can reach is potentially enormous and, because of that, your primary contact might not know that person that well, so asking your connection about them before sending a message and if you can mention them as a common contact would be in place here.

Reach out to top managers Select a few companies you want to work for, filter them on LinkedIn and send them a message applying the tips contained in this article. This is something not a lot of people do, so it does make a big difference in your search for a good opportunity.

Lastly, it is paramount to notice that companies want someone that will get the job done, which will generate value for them and not people bragging about their achievements on their CVs. Being positive and using simple language in your messages will certainly get more answers than criticizing or trying to sound smarter by using long words.

Now all you have to do is start networking!

Vinicius Andriolo Operations Excellence Manager | Career Coach