I received two LinkedIn invitations this morning from people representing Salesforce consulting companies. I accepted one request to connect and not the other.
Here's why.
Accepted
- Had a blog that interested me (which was under Websites in the LinkedIn profile).
- Had an individual twitter account.
- Mentioned in his LinkedIn profile: "...is an Open Networker and enjoys connecting people who can mutually benefit from knowing each other." For some reason, I really liked how that was phrased. It made me feel like he was less likely to spam me.
- The request came through as: "______ has indicated you are a fellow group member of Salesforce.com Administrators."
Not Accepted
- Linked only to company website, which I noticed offered the same services as a consultant we are already happy with.
- Had a corporate twitter account mentioned in LinkedIn.
- The request came through as "_____ has indicated you are a Friend." But, I didn't know this person.
I did however begin following both individuals on twitter.
My processing of these two requests happened without much thought after a brief review of their LinkedIn profiles. When I stopped for a moment to think about why I accepted one and not the other, it made me realize that I had definite criteria for connection requests that I accept vs. ignore.
- Is the person professional yet personable?
- Have they correctly established the reason they want to connect? (eg: members of the same group vs. ‘a friend’)
- Do they include a website with a way for me to easily receive updates? (I’m all about twitter or Facebook pages these days for updates. I rarely use RSS.)
- I’m sure there are more things that run through my mind, but these were the reasons I could easily pinpoint.
Food for thought for those of you who diligently manage your LinkedIn profiles, which I have been a bit remiss in doing.
You may have your own criteria to help you determine who to accept. Please share it with me by leaving a comment.
I received a Linked In request from a recruiter who was upfront that she was looking for a candidate. I accepted her request and got her in touch with a friend who was looking for a job. I was not interested in the position she was looking to fill. He's on his face-to-face interview with them today. I'd say it worked out well, but I would have never accepted her invitation to connect had she not customized the comments on her invitation. I think that goes a long way in making connections. Just a thought.
ReplyDelete@desidou Good point! I definitely support customizing the comment, especially in a case like that. I'm glad it worked out well.
ReplyDeleteNice post Jenna. I agree with your points. If someone is straight forward and genuine, I'll almost always accept.
ReplyDeleteI also have no problem un-following or disconnecting if my first impression turns out to be incorrect.