Networking on LinkedIn for dummies
LinkedIn has been marketed as the go-to for all things career. Teachers advise making a portfolio as early as high school to begin carving out your profile for the world to see. Why? There are a few reasons why someone persuades another to start a LinkedIn account: it could be because there is opportunity, somehow always “around the corner” on LinkedIn, or that a single connection can supposedly change the course of your life. It could also be because you need a space to list out your accomplishments like a robotic piece of labor to “market yourself” as best as possible for such opportunities. The constant chase of opportunity and chance can definitely lead to burnout, which is what this blog post is dedicated for.
However, I implore you to revisit LinkedIn with a different perspective. The importance of networking and putting your best self on LinkedIn is not just to advertise, but to introduce yourself to people who may be interested in your personal interests and projects. If they are able to see your interests and find something in common with you, they will have something to talk about when they craft their LinkedIn connection message. In Network terms, your node-like picturing yourself as a bubble- that symbolizes you individually can only be crafted if you maintain and create a LinkedIn profile. Once you do, by having interests that line up as well as projects, you can form edges with people by talking to them about mutual interests, poking at theirs, and other nodes you may not know about form that edge with you. Soon enough, you will have your own network of people to celebrate your accomplishments and learn about opportunities with.
So how close should your connections on LinkedIn be? How frequently should you talk to them? What is the spectrum of professionalism and conversation that would be proper LinkedIn etiquette? Briefly, I will first explain weak and strong ties as well as structural holes to explain why you shouldn’t be afraid of keeping your connections as acquaintances on LinkedIn. In the textbook, “Networks, Crowds and Markets,” by David Easley and Jon Kleinberg, it is learned that strong ties are the relationships you share with your friends or family, while weak ties are more for people who you don’t particularly know as well. Knowing this, it is okay to have weak ties with your LinkedIn connections, because a weak tie can help focus more on career advancement and the distribution of information and knowledge. This can also tie back to the notion of structural holes, since the same information circulated among you (which is why finding jobs among a friend group doesn’t work) as opposed to weaker ties who may be exposed to different things than you. This gives you the upper hand because you have a vast array of knowledge than either person in either group because you are the combination of the two; you have inside information from both groups. Therefore, your connections on LinkedIn don’t have to be incredibly close, or worry about maintaining or checking in on them as you would a friend, because it is more profitable and efficient to discuss when necessary as weak ties instead. Baring in mind that these connections are not so strictly tied to you as a friendship can, would suggest that frequency of conversation and the conversation type can remain professional, contacting as needed. Of course, this is not a one-size-fits-all LinkedIn etiquette, but these foundations are good things to consider when employing your personal best LinkedIn conversation type.
The reason why LinkedIn works so well in job searching is because LinkedIn connections and everyone on the platform know why they are there for: to help each other find jobs, accessing the perk of having talked to a seasoned worker at your dream job, or just the notion that everyone is competing with each other for career advancement. This kind of environment fosters nothing less than a strictly professional, and therefore efficient method of job hunting. Remembering that networking is not as terrible or “fake friending” as it seems will comfort you in making these healthier decisions and initiations towards a blossoming career. Admittedly, as someone who also disliked networking, the logic behind LinkedIn and its purpose is an annoyingly excellent reason to begin your networking career, because it can only go up from here.
https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a545636/your-network-and-degrees-of-connection?lang=en