Tip: Use LinkedIn Like a Normal Person

My only tip to using LinkedIn: Don’t think you’re going to succeed in any professional environment by following a system that simply addresses outward appearance and interaction. Use LinkedIn like a normal person and you'll be fine.

Every once in a while, when the mood strikes, I’ll go through LinkedIn’s recommended profiles. If I find someone with interesting experience, I’ll ask to connect. Sometimes, I’ll develop a real professional relationship with that person; other times, not so much. What I want to stress here is the extreme mediocrity of the whole thing.

Which is why I was so surprised when the other day one of these recommended profiles from whom I requested a connection stressed to me a “system” of reaching out to folks on LinkedIn—and that I should follow this system as well (as part of LinkedIn etiquette). Indeed, he even provided some “useful” links on how I might follow this system.

I should be clear his system was nothing more than advice from click-bait, fluff articles. Most of these tips were geared toward “job seekers,” concerned with leaving good impressions on prospective employers and professionals.

One piece of advice (that he stressed) bothered me more so than anything else: One shouldn't attempt to strike a connection using the default connection text. No, instead one should mention something they've seen in the profile of the prospective connection. As if this were a dating website.

What egos people must have! I don’t need people to connect with me by reciting information from my own career! (I know this information already.)

In fact, most folks who connect with me have overlapping interests readily apparent in their profiles. It’s true I also receive requests from folks who believe they have something to offer me I’m not terribly interested in (i.e. recruiters, B2B leads). But, at least in one case, I developed a personal relationship outside of these primary reasons for which a connection was originally requested. So I’m not upset about the request nor do I regret my acceptance of it.

If you feel you need to use a system to interact with people, ask yourself why that is. If everyone were to follow the advice of citing some information in profiles of their would-be connections, the practice would become as seemingly hollow as sending a request without any information. I'd much rather you not put on a show if you want to interact with me. If I find something interesting in your profile, I might strike up a conversation based on my own experience (and you're free to do the same for me). But following a routine simply because some system says you should do it adds an additional layer of complexity to the underlying problem of too many LinkedIn connections. It certainly doesn't address it.

And, in any event, I believe I have the ability to discern which connections don't have my best interests in mind. And I believe you do too.

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Jordan is an internationally recognized analytics professional and data visualization expert, author, producer, and Excel MVP. He is the owner of Cambia Factor, a data consulting agency and the author of Advanced Excel Essentials (Apress 2014). Jordan challenges companies to rethink how they use their data by focusing on returning value rather than on acquiring and implementing new technology. He has consulted with and provided training for the North American Treaty Alliance, the United States Air Force and Navy, the Pentagon, the University of Cincinnati Business Analytics Center, Financial Times, and others.