Let’s get one thing straight: LinkedIn is a professional networking site meant for workers and businesses to connect, grow, and share relevant news. LinkedIn is not, however, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram — and, for goodness’ sake, it’s definitely not Tinder. However, there are still those LinkedIn users who cross that line between being proactive and being pushy. Here’s what you can do to deal with some of the annoying things that happen on LinkedIn, so that they don’t ruin your potential career opportunities.
- Invitations from complete strangers who falsely claim to be your friend/former coworker.
To accept, or not accept that invitation from a random stranger? That is the question. If someone you don’t know wants to connect, but you have zero clue as to who they are or why they’re asking, then the simple response would be to decline the invitation. If that person doesn’t know you and is requesting to add you, the least they could do is tell you why they want to connect in the first place. I mean, how long does it take to compose a sentence or two to let the receiver know why you want to connect? If you’re not worth that much of their time, then they don’t deserve to connect with you at all.
Word to the wise: Be wary of whom you connect with on LinkedIn, because some people will mistake your acceptance as an open invitation to ask you out or hit on you. No, thank you. If you ever find yourself in this awkward situation, then feel free to block that user and use it as a lesson learned. LinkedIn is not the place for hopeless (and desperate) romantics. Know when to connect, and when not to.
- Spam!
Spam is spam is spam, no matter how you look at it — and just because it’s on LinkedIn, doesn’t mean it’s any different.
“Just because these people either asked you to be part of their LinkedIn network or accepted your request to be part of their network doesn’t mean they are open to receiving bulk, broadcast email messages from you,” says Donna Serdula of LinkedIn Makeover.
LinkedIn allows you to have multiple emails listed on your profile, but you can only have one primary email — this is the email to which correspondences are sent, and also the one your 1st degree connections can export and spam. Serdula suggests using an alternative email address for your LinkedIn profile (and possibly all of your social profiles) to avoid the headache of having spam sent to the email account you use most. If you receive SPAM from LinkedIn connections, be sure to unsubscribe from each newsletter/email and modify your communication settings in your LinkedIn dashboard.
- Requests for endorsements/recommendations from complete strangers.
Sometimes, a complete stranger will reach out to you on LinkedIn, asking for an endorsement or a recommendation. If this happens to you, do not feel obligated to comply. By giving in, you’re only encouraging the person to continue soliciting false recommendations and endorsements from LinkedIn users.
Think of it this way: If a random stranger came up to you and asked you to be a reference for a potential job offer, would you be willing to lie to the employer? My guess is no. The same concept should be applied to LinkedIn endorsements and, especially, recommendations. Believe it or not, recruiters and hiring managers actually do check candidates’ LinkedIn profiles during the hiring process.
Ultimately, LinkedIn is a place to grow your career and develop as a professional, so keep it that way. When utilized properly, LinkedIn can serve you and your career very nicely, so pick and choose your connections wisely from here on out.
Tell Us What You Think
What other things annoy the living daylights out of you on LinkedIn? Share your thoughts with our community on Twitter or comment below.
Although I agree on most points that yes Linkedin is a professional social media platform but, it is still a social media platform. One of the biggest problems facing most people in industry today is obscurity. Who is going to buy from you or listen to you if they don’t know who you are. If you hide away and keep your circle of friends small then you will never reach your full potential. If you have a story to tell… Read more »
Really, this is what passes for journalism these days? “Here’s 3 things that happen, and how you’re already dealing with them” – thank you Captain Obvious.
1. Stop sending me request for a paid LinkedIn membership. I would NEVER pay for LinkedIn.
2. Allow users to stop others from viewing their profile in anonymous mode. Give me the option to block an anonymous person viewing my profile. Show me who you are or you can’t secretly troll my page.
3. Endorsements from your connects…What’s the point? It’s LinkedIn version of a “like” button. They are a joke.
I totally agree with your point and would add that if there are different social media it precisely is to communicate on different topics (private or professional). So cats, dogs, stupid tests and personal pictures on Linkedin are a bad usage of the platfrom and it will kill it because it’s inappropriate. I’m starting to think of wiping contacts out of my list when I feel they are spamming the feed with useless posts. There should be codes of conduct… Read more »
I agree on most points. Sometimes, I get and accept invitations from persons I do not know personally, but who are 2nd or 3rd degree connections, and whose companies or industries may interest me for business or for career development. As a part-time MBA teacher, I also sometimes get requests to connect from former students who are in very different industries. Some career counsellors advised me that having connections on LinkedIn from too many industries may confuse recruiters on LinkedIn… Read more »
Okay, then, tell me HOW to give LinkedIn an “alternate” email address, please. They want to reach me, so I have to give them an email address I check often enough to be meaningful. How do I make sure an “alternate” email address is the one that will show up?
How about using LinkedIn on your mobile? The link from email is so slow and sometimes you can’t even connect (I deleted the useless app a long time ago). With all the professionals using LinkedIn, can’t the development folks gets some help? Seriously, the online experience with LinkedIn should be better than any other social platform because it has access to bazillons of professionals to build it. Oh, and stop telling me about the completion percentage of my profile. I… Read more »
Yes the constant endorsements are annoying. Also they had this article about how women shouldn’t wear their wedding or engagement rings because it’s distracting and if the rock is too big then they can seem high maintenance. Are you asking men to not wear theirs something shiny is something shiny. It’s not my fault if the interviewer is distracted like a raccoon or squirrel. And so what if the rock is big what if it’s fake? Also I haven’t gotten… Read more »