Are you looking to forge more meaningful professional relationships? LinkedIn might be a good place to start. All you need is a smart device and internet to connect to as many people as you’d like, at the comfort of your living room, or wherever else you prefer. What are some of the ways you can create these meaningful relationships you ask? Here are three tips we highlighted for you that we hope will be helpful.
1. Be specific – As recruiters, we often get a lot of messages from people who are looking for new job opportunities, mostly. Sometimes, someone gets lucky, when we happen to be hiring for an opportunity that they’re looking for. Some have even gotten hired as a result. However, a majority of these messages are usually lacking in specificity. The truth is, just sending a “hey”, “how are you?” won’t do the trick. Especially when your intention is to ask for help from the person you connected to; recruiter or otherwise. LinkedIn is a professional platform, you want to make sure that you’re communicating your need from the get-go. Here is a guiding article with 10 messaging templates you can use to connect to different people.
2. Use common connections – Sometimes, you may need additional help connecting to someone you’re really interested in talking to. A smart way of doing this is using a mutual connection, especially if you know them personally, to help you access this person, which may be more efficient, especially if it’s a pressing matter. Here’s a template you can use if you’re unsure of how to go about this.
3. Utilize LinkedIn groups – There are plenty of groups on LinkedIn that connect individuals who are in similar career paths, or in the same industries. You can use different keywords related to your industry or career path to find them and join them. Here, you can pose questions, share enlightening relevant content, interact with other people’s posts/content, and even find more people to connect with that may be of help in addressing a need you had or connecting you to more people or networks. Make sure you read the group’s rules to avoid doing something that may get you removed from the group.
If you’re specifically looking to get a job through LinkedIn, here’s an article we wrote that can help you land your next job. Have a read and find out how your dream job may just be a few clicks away.