I’m a big fan of LinkedIn as a professional networking tool. Since I am a fan of the site, I take its mission seriously. I don’t accept invitations to connect to me from people I don’t know, and at the same time I don’t ask others to connect to me unless I know them. (Granted, it might have been a brief encounter at a networking event…but that’s what those events are for.)
When i checked in this afternoon I saw that a group of people in my network had apparently spent the entire day writing glowing recommendations of each other on LinkedIn. Every bit of my updates were crowded with three people that, in every possible permeation, had recommended each other.
It might not have stuck out to me as unusual had I not known the people. See, none of them are ones that i would write a recommendation for…or surely not one with as much praise as the ones they each received today. I call these people “collectors” and the way they manage their online profiles are the amateurish ones that usually get a laugh from me.
Here’s a few things to keep your professional networking profile professional:
- Ditch the avatar that isn’t a professional photo. No beach photos or provocative photos.
- Update your profile with accurate information. If you’ve got numbers to back up your claims, put ‘em in there!
- Don’t write recommendations for people that don’t deserve them. It waters down your true recommendations.
- Be a resource online. Answer questions in LinkedIn and communicate with your network.
