When using LinkedIn to network and connect with other professionals, it’s important to follow proper etiquette. How you interact with your connections can impact your reputation and success on the platform. Here are some best practices for LinkedIn etiquette when managing your connections.
Sending Connection Requests
When sending someone a connection request, only reach out to people you know and trust or have interacted with professionally. Avoid connecting with strangers just to grow your network. Also personalize the request with a note reminding them where you met or worked together.
Be selective about who you connect with. Quality connections who know, like and trust you are more valuable than having a lot of connections from people you barely know.
Don’t take it personally if someone ignores or rejects your request. They may want to limit connections to people they know well. Just move on and continue networking with others.
Accepting Connection Requests
It’s fine to ignore or reject connection requests from people you don’t know or didn’t interact with. But take a moment to politely message them and explain why you are not connecting.
Before accepting a request, review the person’s profile to ensure they are who they say they are. This protects you from connecting with fake profiles or scammers.
Accept requests from colleagues and professional contacts to help build your network. Expanding your connections can lead to more opportunities.
Engaging With Your Network
Don’t let connections sit idle. Regularly engage with your network by liking and commenting on their posts, sending messages, and sharing valuable content.
Stay on top of notifications and respond or follow up with connections in a timely manner. Leaving messages unanswered for weeks reflects poorly on you.
Before reaching out to a connection, review their profile to personalize the conversation and show you did your research on them.
Follow up after meeting connections in person. Send a note to keep the relationship going and engage in ongoing communication.
Communication Etiquette
When messaging connections, be professional and respectful. Proofread for typos and grammar errors which make a bad impression.
Avoid using all CAPITAL LETTERS in messages or posts as this can seem angry or aggressive.
Don’t overuse emojis and Internet acronyms like LOL or TTYL in formal business communication.
Reply promptly to messages and avoid leaving people hanging for over a week. Let them know if you need more time to follow up.
Be careful about humor, sarcasm or slang which can be misinterpreted online. Err on the professional side when communicating.
Endorsing Skills
Don’t randomly endorse connections for skills they don’t actually have just to be nice. Only endorse real skills that you have witnessed them demonstrate.
When asking someone to endorse you, choose relevant skills tied to your experience. Avoid inflating skills just to boost your profile.
Personalize endorsement requests with a message explaining why you value their opinion on your skills.
Use endorsements sparingly and for truly meaningful skills. Endorsing basic skills like “Communication” dilutes the value for serious skills.
Reciprocate endorsements when connections endorse you. This maintains goodwill in the relationship.
Recommendations
Before requesting a recommendation, take time to write one for connections first. This builds goodwill for them to return the favor.
Only ask people who know you well professionally and can speak in depth about your work. Avoid asking strangers for recommendations.
It’s fine to politely decline providing recommendations if you cannot accurately speak to someone’s skills and contributions.
When asking for recommendations, provide context on position specifics, projects worked on, and skills demonstrated to make it easier for them to write meaningful praise.
Promptly accept or deny recommendations received. Leaving people hanging sends the wrong message.
Share and thank connections for writing recommendations. This spreads positive recognition of their professional brand.
Groups
Thoughtfully select a few niche professional groups aligned to your industry and interests instead of joining everything.
Engage regularly with group members by commenting, liking posts, and answering questions. Avoid joining just for the numbers.
Post meaningful content and avoid spamming groups with irrelevant or overly promotional content.
Participate in discussions and offer insights and advice when you can give guidance to other members.
Follow group rules and avoid controversial topics. You don’t want to be banned from valuable niche communities.
InMail
Use InMail selectively for messaging high value connections only. Don’t waste connects on irrelevant messages.
Customize each InMail with specifics about why you want to connect with this particular person and how they can help you.
Respect people’s time and avoid overt sales pitches. Focus on mutual benefit in the outreach.
Follow up tactfully if you get no response after about two weeks. But don’t harass people who never respond.
Answer InMails promptly even if the answer is “no thanks”. Leaving people hanging is bad manners.
Job Seeking
When applying for jobs through LinkedIn, customize your application and avoid spamming generic applications.
Only apply for jobs that are a strong match for your skills, experience and interests. Avoid applying for everything.
Use a customized cover letter for each application rather than a generic one-size-fits all letter.
Follow up with the hiring manager or recruiter if you get no response after about two weeks.
Promptly respond if a recruiter contacts you about a position. Lack of response could cost you an opportunity.
Business Opportunities
Thoughtfully consider business proposals from connections but avoid saying yes to everything just to be nice.
Conduct due diligence on any company you may partner or consult with to ensure they are legitimate.
Meet first to explore partnership fit before agreeing to anything. Jumping in too quick leads to regret.
Manage expectations upfront. Be clear on availability, time commitment, compensation, responsibilities, etc.
Fulfill your commitments once an agreement is made. Failure to deliver looks bad on you.
Privacy
Be cautious about sharing personal contact info like phone, email or address. Consider talking first over LinkedIn messaging.
Decline invitations to connect from secondary profiles not matching someone’s primary profile name.
Report fake profiles impersonating you or other people to LinkedIn as needed.
Block users who are harassing you or sending inappropriate messages and content.
Restrict sensitive information visible to your entire network if needed. Some details are best kept private.
General Etiquette
Treat your LinkedIn connections like real-world professional contacts, not just anonymous online profiles.
Express gratitude by thanking connections for endorsements, recommendations, and other support.
Congratulate connections on new jobs, promotions, and major accomplishments.
Follow the “Golden Rule” and interact with others as you would like to be treated.
Don’t post controversial opinions on heated topics like politics or religion which can offend.