LINKEDIN NETIQUETTE: DON’T DO THIS!

When your parents taught you manners, they told you what to do and what not to do. Well, as you can imagine, there is a certain etiquette on social media as well. Each site has its own rules, but here are some things you should definitely not do on Linkedin:

Appear desperate. Often job seekers appear desperate by spamming other LinkedIn members that they don’t know to ask them for a job. What they should do instead is participate in groups and start to build relationships with group members. It’s best to build relationships with people before asking them for something.

Be self serving. Social networking is a two-way street, and job hunters who only want to take and not give will end up alienating other members on the site. One of the best ways that job seekers can avoid being self serving is by contributing their knowledge to the LinkedIn community. They can do this by answering questions in groups.

Have an incomplete profile. According to a LinkedIn spokesperson, users with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities than those with incomplete profiles. LinkedIn will tell you if your profile is 100% complete or not, and it will let you know what you need to add in order to make it complete (i.e., an additional work experience or photo).

Demonstrate a split focus. Job hunters who have several different areas of expertise can fall into the trap of giving mixed messages on their profiles in terms of what their job objective is. Job seekers need to determine what types of positions they are targeting, and their profiles should reflect that focus. If job seekers don’t do this before creating the profile, their profiles will not be effective in attracting employers.

Expect to find a job immediately just because you are using LinkedIn. LinkedIn is powerful, and you can land a new position more quickly if you know how to leverage it. But you have to be realistic in your expectations. If you expect to land a job through networking on the site, you have to build relationships with people, and that takes time.

Complete your profile and wait to be found by a hiring manager. There are literally millions of people using social media. In order to distinguish yourself from other job seekers you need to become involved with each site that you are a member of so that you can get the most out of it. It is useless to complete a profile if it is never seen. Give people a reason to visit your profile by contributing useful information on social media. That will not only increase your visibility, but it will also give other members a very positive first impression of you.

Expect other people to connect with you. Connect with them. Actively seek out people in your field that you can connect with. Most people will connect with you because they are on LinkedIn to network. Reach out to thought leaders in your field, former colleagues, friends, and even recruiters as well as hiring managers.

LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful tool with more functionality than most LinkedIn members realize, but if you don’t follow protocol, you can destroy your reputation on the site. For assistance with getting the most out of LinkedIn, talk to a social media expert at 877-743-9521 or send an email to admin@calltocareer.com.