We are all in sales, we sell ourselves everyday…I found this article on getting the most out of your LinkedIn Profile. This article reiterates a few points I brought up in class on Tuesday ….connection value is more about quality NOT quantity. Of course one can argue against or in support of this view point, but just remember it is up to you to determine what your on-line presence will reveal to others.
I am curious what is your personal sales strategy? Do you even have one?
-Pamela Burr
Great article! I agree that you should not connect with people you don't know. In addition, I never ask someone to connect that I have not met. I like there to be a reason we are linking so that if someone looks or asks, it will (hopefully) be obvious, whether it is a former colleague or classmate.
ReplyDeleteThis was a good article to use as a Linkedin checklist! I only make a connection with people I know. I do accept invitations from recruiters in my industry whether or not I know them. Is that wrong? I must admit, after our discussion on Tuesday, I did review my connections on Linkedin and my friends on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is wrong to accept recruiters you do not know. Actually I think it is smart. What if you lose your job or need a change?? At least then you will have people you can reach out to where job placement is their career. I lost my job when my former company went bankrupt in 2010. While I utilized my contacts in LinkedIN a lot of times there wasn’t that much opportunity (though I think it was because of the downturn of the economy and all industries were freezing job reqs or going through lay offs). At this time I learned very quickly that recruiters and HR professionals were my best friends!!
DeleteWith a strong recruiter and HR network I landed interviews left and right and though it did take some time to find the right fit, I ended up in a great company with a great compensation package. That is another thing that I love about recruiters, they work off commission. They typically get anywhere from 15 to 20% (depending on company) of the base salary they negotiate for you so it is in their best interest to get you closer to the high end of your salary range. I can’t think of a better Win Win!
-Pam Burr
Great article Pamela. I would argue, however, that the suggestion is not to limit your connections, but to know how you connect to those people. The article says a majority of what I was trying to get at in class. The article suggests to have a large amount of contacts that you personally know or have met and mutually will remember each other. I would never suggest pure quantity over quality, BUT the article does suggest linking with all high level executives for their connections, that seems like a quantity of quality right there. Seems to me like it the article is suggesting link with high level executives even if you don't know them to gain second and third degree connections. That seems just as bad as befriending everyone on linkedin. But as I eluded to during class, quantity is the best thing you can have in a linked in search, but you better know how you know the people you connected to. But that doesn't mean you should not be connected to someone because of their job because you never know which person might be your connection to a great opportunity.
ReplyDeleteAs for personal sales strategy I would say that at this time I don't want one because I am not trying to sell myself for any purpose. I would say that I am trying to build my network as large as possible with connections that are mutually knowledgeable about each other.
Sorry to break it to you Aaron, but you are selling yourself whether it is intentional or not. I think it is important to think of our personal brand the same way a company would view their brand. Any activity you engage in, whether it is in the physical world or the cyber world reflects who you are and molds your brand.
Delete-Pam Burr
Pam, I agree that you are always selling you self in this high speed world we live in, but I have one advantage that most people don't, I am the only one with my name in America, maybe the world. This makes everything I put out on the web 100% more damaging or helping.
Delete@Pam: Yes, I agree with you. Like you said, whether you like it or not, you are always selling yourself. Well stated.
ReplyDeleteGreat article. When deciding about who to link to, I have a dilemma that is addressed here, as many of our vendors send me requests and I don't know them personally but have spoken to many of them on occassion. It seems to only be the presidents and vice presidents that send me requests, so I am torn on what to do. My thought is I should connect with them for possible future job openings, but I also wonder if I will ever need them. To me, LinkedIn is basically a way to use people you know or work with to get better jobs or opportunities. I don't think that is necessarily bad but I guess it could be in the right circumstance.
ReplyDelete