LinkedIn Connections To Avoid

Networking is the best way to expand your career, and LinkedIn is one of the best tools at your disposal. But there’s more to successful networking than a huge number of connections. In fact, there are many types of unfamiliar connections you should avoid on the platform.

Remember, quality is more important than quantity in your networking efforts. Make sure you’re cultivating a meaningful community by avoiding these types of questionable connections.

The mysterious user

A mysterious unfamiliar character walking boldly into your life might be cool in a Western film, but on LinkedIn, it’s far less appealing. If you receive a connection request with no headshot, it’s a huge red flag.

“It begs the questions: Is this a real person? Is this some kind of scam or phishing expedition? Are they hiding something? In terms of perception, putting your pic on your profile is similar to signing your name to a legal document.” –William Arruda, Forbes

LinkedIn is a social media platform, and it isn’t uncommon for other platforms to be filled with anonymous or parody accounts. But LinkedIn is for making professional connections, and if someone can’t put their face on their profile, it just looks shady. Make sure your own profile has a clear, professional headshot!

The minimalist

Similarly, a LinkedIn profile stingy with personal information isn’t someone I want to connect with. LinkedIn has numerous features that can help you stand out from the crowd, and even simply having a well-developed “About Me” section can put you streets ahead of others on the platform.

While Forbes’ William Arruda says that while being able to use as few words as possible to explain your accomplishments is impressive, you need to make some sort of effort filling each section out. A person with minimal information sending requests your way can’t be counted on to offer anything of value if they couldn’t even be bothered to make a complete profile. In addition, a profile littered with typos and bad grammar is worth avoiding for the same reasons.

The company roleplayer

Roleplaying can be great in the right context. Dungeons and Dragons is one of the world’s most popular activities after all! But roleplaying on LinkedIn is a common and unfortunate red flag.

LinkedIn’s Rafael Magaña says that often salespeople will create profiles simply to push their company’s services—not foster a human connection. These profiles will often use the company’s logo as their photo and have overly “salesy” taglines. Unless you’re looking to be sold to, stay away from these profiles!

Overly aggressive sellers

Some LinkedIn sales merchants can be a little more subtle than the company roleplayers, but that facade won’t last long.

Inc’s Chris Ronzio says that some will be blatantly obvious. They’ll send a copy-and-pasted bio or selling attempt in their connection message. Others will wait for you to accept their connection before spamming their selling point.

“It is the digital equivalent of the flyers I find on my car’s windshield or the supermarket coupons that I can’t seem to rid from my mailbox. I didn’t ask for this. Mark as spam.” – Chris Ronzio

If you see generic, sleazy texts like “Make money while you sleep” or “Double your revenue,” quickly ignore, block, or report these accounts, says Rafael Magaña.

Thirsty connections

Some connections will appear “thirsty” in less obvious ways. They clearly want something from you and aren’t afraid to be aggressive, but it isn’t always clear what exactly they want.

Chris Ronzio uses people desperate to get you on the phone as a good example. They’ll want to schedule a quick call to get to know you but won’t offer much more than that. Most people aren’t willing to take phone calls from strangers, let alone shady anonymous connections from the internet.

William Arruda points to people pretending to make a personal connection as another example. These scammers will often use bots to gather information from your profile to make it seem like they care about your work before dropping their hard sell.

Finally, watch out for more literal thirsty connections—bozos who try to use LinkedIn as a dating site.

Scammers

Some of these connections are simply misguided about how LinkedIn connections and good networking etiquette work, but many are actively trying to scam or harm you in some way. The internet is a beautiful and powerful tool, but as long as it has existed, ne’er-do-wells have always found ways to use technology to scam the uninformed.

Aura’s Alina Benny points to phishing scams, catfishing scams, crypto and investment scams, employment scams, and tech support scams as just a few of the common ways scammers will try to get your information. Each one has its own nuance, and it takes practice to identify a scam. Generally, if something sounds too good to be too, it usually is. Read Alina’s piece for more detailed information on each type of scam and how to avoid it.

Wrap up

Networking should be a mutually beneficial arrangement. We’ve discussed in various articles how to sell yourself as having value to offer potential partners. But a connection should bring value to you as well, and the above connections rarely do. Whether it’s someone trying to increase their own clout, attempting spray-and-pray techniques, trying hard to push an agenda, or straight up stealing something from you, these types of connections are best left on read.

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How To Update Your LinkedIn Page For 2023

With many companies ramping up hiring in January, the beginning of the year is a great time to start or resume a career change. That means it’s an ideal time to update your resume and tweak your documents. But don’t stop there! A well-maintained LinkedIn profile is essential in the modern landscape, so the new year represents a chance to make sure your profile is up-to-date and easy on the eyes.

“When people want to research you in a professional capacity— even people who work down the hall from you—they’ll typically go directly to LinkedIn and type your name in the search box at the top of the screen.” –William Arruda, Forbes

Even if you aren’t looking for a job right now, it’s a good idea to keep your LinkedIn updated. You never know when a new opportunity may come your way, and many believe the country is heading toward a recession. Be prepared for anything the new year may throw your way by taking these steps toward a revamped LinkedIn profile!

Update your headshot

The first thing a recruiter or hiring manager will see on your profile will be your photo. Just like with dating apps, you always want that photo to actually look like you! While you likely aren’t trying to catfish an employer with your looks, it’s still best to have a current professional photo.

If you don’t have a professional photo, now is the time to take one! And even if you have one, it’s never a bad idea to update it with a more current one. Make sure you’re in proper attire for your field and that the photo clearly shows your face.

Aspiration Marketing says to not neglect your background or banner picture, either. This often underutilized spot can highlight you in different ways. Whether it’s a shot of you in action, highlights something you’ve accomplished in your field, or sets the tone you’re trying to portray, you can make this real estate spot work for you and stand out.

Find the right headline

Your photo will be the first thing visitors notice, but your summary section is a close second. Your headline, in particular, will drive your traffic. The correct headline sells exactly who you are, what your skills are, and what you bring to the table. The wrong headline can be vague, meandering, or boring.

Work It Daily’s Jenna Arcand writes that it’s a mistake to only list your name and current job title. You want to optimize your limited space by utilizing the right keywords and highlighting your four or five most valuable skills. This requires some research and a good base of knowledge of the most desirable skills in your field. This will make sure you appear in searches and that recruiters can find you.

“Write for your target audience. For example:

Advertising Sales Rep helping clients create winning branding strategies. Over 300 successful clients.

Just like that you’ve told them your job, what you bring to the table, and provided a little credibility easily and effectively.” –Ken Chase, TopResume

Spruce up the language

While your headline is going to bring in your audience, you want to keep them engaged throughout. That means you should utilize keywords, trim up the word choices on past positions, and highlight the correct accomplishments.

We’ve discussed the importance of tailoring your resume toward the position you seek with keywords, and that advice holds true on LinkedIn as well. If you want to show up in searches, you need the right keywords. And the right keywords will show that you’re clearly capable of doing the job you seek. Make sure to use action verbs and add the accomplishments you’re proud of.

TopResume’s Ken Chase says not to neglect your skills either. Again, look at the most desirable skills for your industry and make sure those skills are visible on your profile, especially in your actual skills section. By tidying up the language of your profile, you’ll appear like a new, even better candidate.

Use engaging media

But text alone won’t get you everywhere. Hiring managers only have so much time to read each profile, and looking at so much text can make the eyes glaze over. Attract their interest and stand out from the crowd by including relevant media!

LinkedIn’s Tequia Burt stresses the importance of finding the right images and videos to stand out from the crowd. Whether you’re a job seeker or a company looking to expand your brand, you can upload native videos directly to your profile as well as your own images. This can be a way to highlight big projects you’ve done or show off some of your creative portfolio.

If you’ve written anything off-site or had your accomplishments highlighted elsewhere, you can directly link the relevant material to your profile to save hiring managers an extra step.

Add some personality

While taking these steps, don’t be afraid to make your profile feel like your profile. That is, make sure to show off your personality.

Resume Worded reminds us that a resume and a LinkedIn profile are different tools. While you still want to be professional, you can afford to take more creative liberties with your LinkedIn profile. Don’t forget, it IS a social media platform. You can feel free to add personal details beyond work, directly tell potential employers what you’re looking for, and give them direct ways to contact you.

Wrap up

Having an online presence is essential for the modern job search. Even if you’re a savvy LinkedIn user, chances are, you can make some needed updates to your profile to bring in the new year. Taking these steps now will make job searching and networking easier throughout the rest of the year and set you ahead of the competition!

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How To Not Be Annoying On LinkedIn

No matter what industry you’re in, networking is the supreme principle in advancing your career. In most cases, modern networking means a strong LinkedIn presence. LinkedIn has cornered the market as the prime social media option for the professional world, and proper LinkedIn etiquette is a skill every professional needs to learn.

Part of that etiquette is knowing what NOT to do on the platform. LinkedIn isn’t the same as other social media platforms, and if you annoy your network, you’ll find yourself alienating your potential allies.

Your personal brand is important, and you don’t want that brand to be “an annoyance.” Unless you’re looking to be a nuisance, avoid these annoying LinkedIn behaviors.

Don’t spam

LinkedIn is a fantastic tool for getting in touch with people you otherwise may never speak to. You can research prospective employers, find informational interviews, reach out to those in new industries, or look into those previously employed at companies you’re interested in.

But you can’t simply fire connection requests and cold messages to every person on the website. You should take time to carefully craft any requests and take time to explain who you are and why you’d like to connect. Quality leads are better than quantity.

Josh Steimle uses mass tagging connections in posts as another type of spam to avoid. If you’re constantly looking for attention by overly tagging people, you’ll soon find yourself blocked.

LinkedIn itself, a pretty credible source on this particular topic, says to avoid coming across as “salesy.”The platform may be designed for professional development, but no one wants your service shoved in their face immediately. Treat your potential connections as actual people rather than pure customers.

Don’t be generic

Hand-in-hand with the above point, the more generic you are in your efforts, the less interested people will be in interacting with you. As Forbes’ William Arruda reminds us, spammers and bots are a plague on LinkedIn, and it can be detrimental to your efforts if you sound like one.

On paper, a high volume of messages sounds like a good way to get at least some positive responses. But like with applying for jobs, spray-and-pray techniques rarely work. Any pitch you’re planning on sending should be carefully thought out and provide value to your target. Make an effort to reference something they’ve done or how their experience inspired you. A generic pitch is wasting their time and yours.

“For some reason, people think it is effective to cold pitch people without any preparation or research. The funniest is when someone sends me a message on LinkedIn offering their totally irrelevant service and says something along the lines of “We see that at your company you do XYZ and thought you could use my product.”” -Hillel Fuld

Be honest

It should go without saying, but don’t lie to your potential connections about what you can do for them. While your pitch should have value to the connection, it needs to actually be something you can deliver.

Trickery on LinkedIn isn’t just lying about your skills, experience, or connections. William Arruda uses the example of deceiving your new connection by asking for time to get to know them or claiming you’re doing research for a project when in actuality you’re trying to make a sale or ask for a job opportunity. Once it gets out that you’re taking advantage of the generosity of others, you’ll find it harder to make connections.

“If your true intention is to make a sale, don’t imply it’s about the joy of just getting to know and learn about people. This subterfuge is beyond annoying.” –William Arruda

Don’t overshare

“Weird Al” Yankovic once wrote a song called “Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me” regarding chain emails and overshared images that plagued the early internet days. Unfortunately, the song is relevant once again as LinkedIn spammers fill your feed with unwanted content.

Alexander Krastev notes useless polls, irrelevant tear-jerking or viral videos, cringey memes, and overly shared stories as the types of eye-rolling content plaguing the platform. While it can seem cruel to vilify this type of content, a good deal of it is fake and overshared simply to generate clicks and engagement.

LinkedIn is supposed to be a place for professionals to connect and share relevant content. While it doesn’t hurt to have some fun, save the off-topic content for Twitter and Instagram.

Don’t use it as a dating site

Speaking of keeping it professional, while LinkedIn is a social media platform, it isn’t meant to be a dating pool. Save the cracking on for Tinder or Bumble, and let LinkedIn remain a safe place to grow professionally.

Wrap up

Good LinkedIn etiquette shares much in common with good social media etiquette, or just good manners in general. Treating your future connections like actual human beings and not just avenues for gain goes a long way. Be authentic and offer value to others, don’t bombard the platform with irrelevant content to get attention, and keep things professional and you’ll be viewed as someone people wish to connect with. Happy connecting!

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The Pros And Cons Of One-Click Apply

For job seekers, technology can be a wonderful thing. You can apply to jobs almost anywhere from the comfort of your home, you can stay in touch with your network easily through social media, and, thanks to the rise in remote work, you can even do a job from home.

But because of the ease of access, it can be much harder to stand out thanks to the high levels of competition. Experts say it can take 100-200 applications to get just one job offer, and your average job search could take up to nine weeks. To get a job in the traditional way, you’ll need to send a high volume of resumes.

That’s why job search websites like LinkedIn, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter offer “easy” or “one-click” apply options. For someone looking to get as many resumes out as possible, these features are a massive boon!

Or are they? Despite the convenience, using these features may not make you stand out from the crowd. We’ll cover what easy apply systems actually do, their faults, and when they can help your search.

What do they do?

The name sells the basic function well enough—an easy or one-click apply skips through much of the traditional application process to quickly get your documents into the hands of recruiters. They may or may not offer the chance to attach relevant documents like a copy of your resume or cover letter.

In most cases, this allows you to quickly submit a generic, multi-use resume. In LinkedIn’s case, you’ll instead be submitting your LinkedIn profile. This allows you to quickly scroll through online job boards and apply to anything that strikes your fancy.

The problem

Bypassing the conventional application process, which is often time-consuming and tedious, is an amazing idea, but it has its drawbacks.

“As with all quick fixes, the easier option has its drawbacks. Primarily, you’re trading customization for simplicity.” – Jaclyn Westlake, The Muse

This convenience leads to a lot of applications being submitted. In spite of this volume, you may think having the right keywords will get your generic resume picked by the applicant tracking system, but Mac’s List says that may not be the case. Around 40% of companies don’t use ATS, and if your resume isn’t tailored it will struggle to get noticed by the person reading it.

Data shows using one-click apply methods doesn’t have an impact on whether or not you’ll hear back from the employer, according to SmartRecruiters. Your resume will be added to a large pile of applicants regardless, and your content will have to speak for itself.

In LinkedIn’s case, the Easy Apply puts a lot of pressure on your profile. Regardless of whether you attached a resume and cover letter, your profile is the first thing the hiring manager will see. If you’ve been neglecting your profile or hoping your resume will carry you, you may be disappointed when your application is quickly discarded.

You can help alleviate this by having a well-developed LinkedIn profile, which is good to have regardless. Lewis Parrott says having a professional photo, strong headline, relevant details in your job history, and interesting personal details can help alleviate some of the issues with using Easy Apply.

When can it help?

While network connections and carefully customized resumes are a superior job search strategy, one-click applying does have its place and can help lead to a well-rounded search.

Volume does matter in your job search, especially for entry-level roles. The application process is often tedious, and constant rejection after spending significant time applying is discouraging. Quick applies can help you cast a wide net. You may not always bring in the best jobs this way, but it can help build momentum. Career Sidekick does recommend at least tailoring your resume for a specific industry if you choose this route.

If you’ve already tapped your network and carefully applied to your dream companies, then using easy apply functions can be a way to supplement that search. Use them to compliment your job search, not to be the heart of it.

Relying on one-click apply is NOT recommended if you’re looking for your dream job, but sometimes you just need a job. Whether you need a source of income, you need to learn a skill, or you’re just looking to get your foot in the door, these functions are a great tool to find a low-stakes job.

Kindra Cooper believes if you have a top-notch LinkedIn profile already their method can work. In fact, if you’ve spent time adding URLs, displaying endorsements, highlighting your skills, and you have a strong summary, your profile may be even better than your resume. But this requires you to have done all the work beforehand, and it’s best not to put all your eggs in one basket.

Wrap up

Job searching can be a long and arduous process, and any tool that can make the journey easier is appealing. But while they offer additional assistance, it’s imperative to understand the pros and cons of using one-click apply methods. There are times to use these features, and they can complement a thorough job search, but they shouldn’t be relied upon as your only job-searching strategy. For more in-depth job search strategies, check out our other great articles!

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Stand Out Digitally With These LinkedIn Summary Tips

In any sort of persuasive speech, your attention-getter sets the tone of the entire performance. An engaging introduction reels your audience in, while a boring one sends them looking elsewhere. Imagine walking into a hotel lobby and finding it unpleasant. No matter how good your room may be, that initial entrance soured the experience.

Your LinkedIn profile is the same way. Using LinkedIn is vital for the modern job search, and your summary is your introduction to recruiters. The website itself declares the summary as one of the most important pieces of information you can describe.

“Your summary or About section is the one place you define yourself in your own words, free of start dates and titles. Whether you use it to put career choices in context, highlight your biggest achievements, or show off your personality, the summary is your chance to put your best self out there. It strengthens your first impression in a way no other Profile section can.” –LinkedIn

If you’re doing some spring cleaning with your profile, we’ll go teach you how to craft an exceptional summary that shows the real you.

Prioritize the first few sentences

If your summary is the introduction to your profile, the first few words are the introduction to your introduction. Laura Smith-Proulx reveals that your full summary isn’t immediately displayed until someone clicks on “see more” (on both mobile and desktop versions).

That means your summary needs to “pop” immediately to catch the eyes of the looker. You want to hook your audience immediately by getting directly into your brand and making your objective clear right away.

Use keywords

The modern job search is all about appeasing the search engine. Realizing this is the key to making sure you’ll show up in a recruiter’s search at all. To do that, LinkedIn experts recommend using keywords throughout your profile.

Executive resume writer Jessica Hernandez simply defines these keywords as “Keywords are a list of words and phrases that are related to your work—they are the words that a prospective employer would search for when trying to find someone like you.”

Find words relevant to your industry and use them often. This will make sure you show up in searches AND make it easier for a prospective employer to get an idea of what you’re all about. While you should use keywords, make sure to avoid making your profile a jumbled mess of jargon.

Showcase your personality

A recruiter isn’t just getting an automaton worker when they look at your profile; they are looking at a complex human being. At the end of the day, not only does a recruiter want a qualified worker, but they want someone that is a good cultural fit for the organization.

Because of the nature of LinkedIn, you still want to be professional, but don’t be afraid to let a little flair or humor out. If you followed the above advice, your audience will get a view of you as a worker and you as a person. Having this insight allows the reader to have a more detailed picture of how you will fit in with the company.

Find a format that works for you

In keeping with the above advice, you can craft the style of your summary in a manner that best describes you. There isn’t a single cookie-cutter approach to take. SocialTalent reminds us that the summary is your chance to tell your story as you see it. Just like in an elevator pitch, you’re using that short space to say who you are and what you bring to the table.

The Muse’s Aja Frost analyzes different strategies for telling that story, including the mission-based strategy, the personal strategy, the short-and-sweet summary, the blended summary, and the accomplishment summary. These five example methods allow you to decide what’s important for you and the best way to summarize yourself. All five are great starting points, and you can click the above link for more details.

Meanwhile, LinkedIn itself goes over 14 well-designed and radically different summary styles and provides reasons why they work. All 14 off an excellent place to start and can serve as a template for your own story. It’s all about finding the best way to represent you!

Avoid third-person

Your LinkedIn summary is a summary of you as a worker, told by you. This is a chance for you to be yourself, and ideally, you don’t talk in third person in real life. Avoid this common pitfall!

Example

Aja Frost provides us with a great example of a short, detailed summary that follows all of the above advice.

“I’m a sales rep dedicated to helping local Oklahoma City services businesses grow their customer base and decrease customer churn. I have 6 years of experience in local sales and I’ve consistently met and exceeded my quota throughout my career. Within the last year, I’ve topped our leaderboard six out of 10 months. On average, I close business 10% faster than my peers.”

Wrap up

If you aren’t using LinkedIn as part of your job search strategy, you need to do so immediately! And a successful LinkedIn summary is the welcome mat to the rest of your profile. Make sure it’s clear, direct, and a good summary of you, the writer. There isn’t one successful must-use template, so do some research and some tweaking and find what works for you!

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