How effective is LinkenIn for networking?

[thehorseandhisboy]

Just that really. I've managed very well through word of mouth/agencies for over ten years, but am considering moving sideways.

And what's the etiquette as a freelancer? If I do some work for someone, should I 'connect' or wait for them to ask me?

How do you use it?

I tend to use LinkedIn to connect with people I already know or have worked with in RL.

There's no etiquette as far as I know, if you want someone as a connection and you enjoyed working with them on whatever basis, it's fine to send them an invite.

I don't accept invitations from agencies.

Thanks. Do people use it as a way to approach you to do work? I'm a bit unsure what 'connection' means, I think, as I'll have someone's email address if I've worked with them.

It works great, I connect with everyone in my industry

You can edit your profile to say that you are open to being approached. You can also put as much or as little as you like about your skills and experience

When my old workplace shut down with 350 redundancies over 3 years it was very helpful. As we got jobs in different companies it meant there was a flurry of activity on linked in.

If I had an interview at a company where someone I knew was working I could ask them for help with company info, once I got a new job I had others contacting me for support or to "put a word in". I've also had ex colleagues looking to recruit asking if I knew anyone who was looking for a role and had certain skill sets e.g. An experienced project manager.

Now we have settled into our new companies I don't hear much through linked in, I'm also unsure if I'd use it to connect with someone professionally I haven't spoken to personally for several years now.

That's really useful, thanks so much everyone.