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Original poster

Please tell me about LinkedIn ettiquette

16 replies

AllesAusLiebe · 04/02/2021 17:03

Hi everyone - looking for some guidance here.

I'm hoping to go back to work after taking extended maternity. Whilst on maternity, I did the first two years of a degree and I'm now in my final year.

It was 2018 when I last worked and now everyone is telling me that I need to up my game on LinkedIn. I have a profile, but no idea where to start.

Is it really essential nowadays to have a 'presence' on there? Aside from putting up my CV and profile, what do I need to do?

I haven't added anyone from previous work because I left with redundancy under pretty bad circumstances and really don't want to see or hear from anyone at that place again. Does it look odd that I don't have previous work contacts? Should I add a few a few of the lesser assholes on there just to bulk it out a little?

Thanks in advance.

OP posts:

snowy0wl · 04/02/2021 17:14

Some people use LinkedIn like other social media - writing blogs, liking other people’s posts etc. I’m not very active on it. I have an up-to-date CV and only use the site to hear about job opportunities. If you want to appear in recruiter searches make sure that you include the relevant search terms in your profile.

Original poster

AllesAusLiebe · 04/02/2021 17:19

@snowyOwl thanks for your reply. I'll do a bit of work on my profile, because looking again, it doesn't really say a lot.

That was exactly what I feared! Having to use the damn thing like Facebook, which I'm not on. Sounds like I'll get away with just putting the essentials on there though which is great.

Thanks again.

OP posts:

natalienewname · 04/02/2021 17:23

I would look at:

decent summary of your main skills/focus
small about of info on previous roles if you think it relevant
decent up to date photo if yours is very dated
a few more sensible connections as it'll help people find you for roles etc

You don't need to start uploading videos of your every through like some, or writing blogs on random topics like many others.

I've found both my most recent roles through LinkedIn

user1471459476 · 04/02/2021 17:23

I'd probably put a profile with picture and then the previous job history part. Location can be useful as well and then leave it at that for now

Original poster

AllesAusLiebe · 04/02/2021 17:54

decent up to date photo if yours is very dated

Haha the picture I've got is pre-child and does look rather youthful. I'll have a look for a more representative one!

Please can I just ask about connections? Is it ok to add people with whom you've had no previous contact if they work in the sector you're interested in? I don't know if that would come across as rude or strange, that's all.

OP posts:

Cavagirl · 04/02/2021 18:01

No expert here but there's a difference between following someone and connecting with them.
If you don't know them at all but want to connect then best practice is probably to include a small message in the connection request explaining why you want to connect eg "I saw you work in xyz area, I am also working on xyz and interested in abc, I thought it might be mutually beneficial for us to be connected"
Random connection requests from people I don't actually know, with no explanation, will always get binned.

LennyLady · 04/02/2021 18:11

Use the free 1 month trial as it helps you prepare the best profile. I used this and it helped me loads when I was job searching. Some companies now only use LinkedIn to advertise vacancies

Original poster

AllesAusLiebe · 05/02/2021 16:22

Thanks @Cavagirl , that's exactly what I was worried about! That's really good advice and a really good way of phrasing a request to connect to not sound like a weirdo.

Thanks @LennyLady I'll give that a go. A few of my friends have been saying that many companies are advertising on there, so I didn't want to be left behind.

I'd still peruse the newspaper every week if it were up to me! Not down with social media at all. Haha.

OP posts:

BackforGood · 05/02/2021 16:59

I think it depends on your industry.
It also depends on what sort of role you are looking for.

I've registered on there, years ago, just to have a look around. I've never put anything on there about what I do, and I regularly still get job offers / adverts.

StressedTired · 05/02/2021 18:54

Aim for a good professional-looking photo (ie no holiday selfie), a good general description of you in a work context for your intro, a list of your previous work and and professional interests.
Don't worry about not having former colleagues as contacts, no one will see who your contacts are unless they actively look for it (and why would they?).

StressedTired · 05/02/2021 18:57

And from your update post, yes it's absolutely fine to connect with people you don't already know, but if they accept your connect request I would recommend following up with a short message to say thanks, I wanted to connect with you because... (eg, I'm interested in your project/I want to work at your company/I'm trying to get into the * industry and I see you have a lot of experience there/etc).

FusionChefGeoff · 05/02/2021 19:14

You should also look at it as an opportunity- what can you get out of it?

If you follow the right pages you can learn so much and really keep your knowledge up to date.

It's very worthwhile to spend some time on there regularly to see what's of interest / use to you and just go from there. If there's an interesting discussion, follow the people who were involved.

What's you sector / industry?

Original poster

AllesAusLiebe · 09/02/2021 09:37

Thanks again for your help and replies. I really appreciate it.

I'm hoping to build a career in IT. Either software development or front end Web. This is quite a departure from the admin roles I've held previously, so I guess it probably doesn't matter if my contacts are new.

OP posts:

jabbathebutt · 09/02/2021 11:38

Definitely treat it like your other social media but only post things relevant to your work. I have had a linkedin profile for a while and it does help to have a premium account. It costs a lot and I wondered if it was worth it but when I was job searching I found myself headhunted a lot. The most recent job I applied for also asked me to send a LinkedIn profile link for them to view. you need to post regular updates, use hashtags, follow companies that interest you and send connection invites to people in your industry.

10KaDay · 19/02/2021 02:40

I would suggest you connect with some lesser arseholes, as it looks odd to have no contacts from past jobs

WHY are you using linked in? Is it so recruiters can find you, or for other reasons? In any case, you need a profile

Re contacts : write a personal invite and don’t be offended if people don’t accept. I won’t link in unless I actually know someone (met F2F pre Covid), have worked with them in some capacity, and dint think they are a major a-hole

MrsTerryPratchett · 19/02/2021 02:45

I won’t link in unless I actually know someone (met F2F pre Covid), have worked with them in some capacity,

Me too. I've had a lot of people trying to sell things to me. Also I do get a lot of people just after I present at conferences who I tend to connect with ONLY if I know the organisation.

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