LinkedIn – Blank Invites to Connect …………why?
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I must get between 10 and 20 invitations to connect with people I don’t know each week on LinkedIn. Many of them come from recruitment agencies. I am okay with this; after all it is what LinkedIn is for.
What I don’t understand however is why nearly all of them have no message in them. They offer no reason or qualification why the connection is relevant to me or to them for that matter. I can make assumptions but………………..
It doesn’t take more than a few seconds to write a quick note. LinkedIn even makes it straight forward by limiting the number of words for those literarily challenged.
Is there a logical reason for this? Am I missing something? Lazy, rude and spam?
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Lazy! It has to be. I’ve got a note on my ‘how to contact me’ section specifically for agencies. Something like ‘I’m not anti-agency but tell me why I should connect with you – there is a spam button and I’m not afraid to use it’!
So one vote for “lazy” – I tend to agree.
What about what Mitch has said it could be ignorance too – rudeness even.
I do like the idea of the infothreat!
I don’t think it’s laziness, I think it’s ignorance. A lot simply don’t know what it is they are selling.
Their managers ought to be ashamed of themselves.
Thanks Mitch
is that ignorance of the ways of LinkedIn, ignorance in the ways to communicate effectively or ignorance as in stupid and rude?
Could it be that these invites include the detailed reasons for why you should accept the invitation?
There’s a tumble-weed moment if ever there was one…..the invites are blank therefore they don’t have any reasons.
I personally believe alot of people using linkedin today, dont know exactly how to use it.
They see it as not to different to facebook. They dont realise its a professional network and is not about the amount of connections you make. (or pumping for cold call leads)
In my previous role I was advised to get a profile set up and start adding people as a way to find leads.
Since setting my account up and having some training on linkedin I now use it as an educative tool, I have learnt alot from it by joing groups and asking people questions (when its suitable). I always introduce myself and dont go in blind, I am always also honest about my intentions.
People may like this or may not. It appears to have worked so far.
So theres my 3 pence worth 🙂
Lazy Recruiters – surely not! Seems for many recruiters growing their network is more important than doing Recruitment!
Having lots of ‘friends/followers’ makes you feel important?
If a Recruiter has no contacts, what do they have?
Linkedin have made a change recently, where the default is to send the generic message, without a personalised note.
When I accept someone’s invitation, Linkedin displays a page of suggested new people to connect to. Beside each is a “Click to connect” button, which instantly sends the default message. It’s quick and easy, and most people won’t consider the generic message being sent (or seen the little tick box to allow for a personal comment).
I’ve been guilty of this in the past, but make a point of adding a message and phone number. My rule is that I will always take a call from someone I’m connected to on Linkeding, and I won’t connect if you’re someone I wouldn’t want a call from.
Stephen O’Donnell is absolutely spot on with his observation. I regularly receive blank requests to connect from the most obscure people as a direct result of this feature (lack of a more appropriate term).
Another interesting and often infuriating thing to do on Linkedin is that whenever you get an invitation to connect, check to see if they have viewed your profile. You will be surprised how often you get an invitation with an relatively long message along the lines of “I love your profile and think we could make some exceptionally great mutual connections…”
In most cases they haven’t even checked your profile. So why if they don’t know who you are, what you do, or how the mutual advantage could be effective do they want to connect?
This may also have a lot to do with false profiles which I am sure are being automated in some way to collate connections?
what do you do with the list that comes up about people you might like to connect to? i have a long list and am not game to tick the boxes or leave them blank. the instructs are ambiguous. if you tick does that mean you want to connect to the person? which makes sense.. but have a look at the top which has “deselect” beside the tick.