I was fortunate to “meet” Sadya Siddiqui on Brazen Careerist the first time I used the site. She’s all the way over in Pakistan! She’s written a short article that I’m featuring below.
10 Mistakes You’re Making on LinkedIn
If you are one of the 49 million members from USA* on LinkedIn, a social network for professionals, here are some mistakes you may be making:
1) Like every update:Recently a person shared the news of his job being downsized; 18 people ‘liked’ his update. Next time you want to convey your sympathy, please type it out instead of clicking the ‘like’ button. You might be offending someone with your “likes.”
2) Adding random connections: Just because you have randomly added a high-profile executive to your connections it does not mean that the newly connected person is now your real life acquaintance. There are people who actually believe that adding a senior executive would lead to possible job offers.
3) Asking for favors: Each time someone adds me to their LI network, I get a message from them asking me to help them find a job. Unless the person you’ve added is a recruiter, asking someone you’ve never met for a job makes you look needy and pesky.
4) Asking for a recommendation: Recommendations should be requested from people who can vouch for your abilities. Furthermore, poorly written ones do not do much for your career advancement.
5) Joining too many groups: What is the point of joining 50 groups when you do not contribute to any of them. Participate in at least 1-2 groups actively, that will make you look like an expert. Do not join groups to simply add more random connections.
6) Please see my profile: When someone shares a job opening through their LI update, send them a private message or simply apply to the given address. Leaving a comment saying “please see my profile” shows sheer indolence.
7) Inappropriate updates: “My cat died today,” or, “I love the Lakers.” Updates like these show that you don’t know how to keep the personal separate from the professional. If you’ve connected your Twitter account to your LI account then you need to keep an eye on what you tweet.
8) Unprofessional display picture: The picture that you’ve taken of yourself wearing a cowboy hat, doesn’t really add credibility to your profile. Repeat after me, “LinkedIn is not Facebook.”
9) Post a job without details: So for a change you are the one who shares information about a job opening. You mention pay package and annual leaves, but you don’t give an email address. People leave queries but you never check or reply. This makes you look indifferent.
10) Announcing your job hunt: Unless your employer knows that you are looking for another job, publicly sharing that you’re bored of your work, hate your boss or that you are looking for a better opportunity might just jeopardize your current job.
Sadya Siddiqui is a personal branding consultant in Pakistan and can be contacted via LinkedIn and BrazenCareerist. Follow her on Twitter@maverika.
*source: http://www.quantcast.com/linkedin.com
P.S: There are 700,000 members on LinkedIn from Pakistan.