Building deeper connections on LinkedIn
At Talentree, we constantly try to help our talents as much as possible in their job search. One of the ways in which we do so is by giving you the chance of emailing us with all your questions about the Belgian job jungle.
Our email address for your questions is ask@talentree.be, and we are looking forward to shedding a light on your doubts and hopefully turn them into confidence.
One of our latest talents asked us a very relevant question regarding the role of LinkedIn in your job search. More specifically, the question sounded as follows:
Hi Talentree,
I am on the lookout for a job here in Belgium. I have a question in that connection. I have a LinkedIn profile, and not that long ago I connected with a professional who is working for a company I really like. I am curious to know more about the company and her position and get in touch with someone working there.
My question is: Is it normal/a good practice in Belgium to write to people on LinkedIn? And if so, how should I go about it?
I look forward to your reply.
Kind regards,
A motivated job seeker
We thought that this question most likely will be relevant to many of you, so here you all have our answer:
Hi motivated job seeker,
Thank you for reaching out to us. First of all, it is very positive that you have chosen to be an active part of the biggest professional network in the world. By all means, continue checking your profile regularly and search for interesting companies, professionals and positions that fit your profile. If you want to make sure that your profile shines before reaching out to someone, take a look at our blog post on 10 easy steps to improve your LinkedIn profile.
For your question, we strongly believe that while a quick connection can be good, it is even better if you start interacting with people and develop a more personal connection. In other words, YES, it is good practice to write to people on LinkedIn. However, make sure to thoroughly check out the person’s profile to know if she prefers to be contacted through email, a phone call or does not have any preferences at all. In case nothing is stated, or she clearly states that you are welcome to contact her via LinkedIn, go ahead!
For the second question, how should I go about it? Well, there are some things that you definitely want to avoid. For instance, you do not want to come off as too desperate and ask the “do you have a job for me?”-questions. It is very unlikely that people will say “Oh yes, nice you asked – we have an opening and you, a complete stranger to me, seem like the right candidate!” Instead, it is a good idea to focus on something you have in common – your field being the most important. Try to see it more as a jumping off point than the perfect way to land your dream job. Could be that you want her to explain some field-specific information to you or meet you for a cup of coffee in the future.
Basically, you want to include some information about yourself, your reason for reaching out and what you hope to get out of the correspondence.
Before sending it, you should also make sure that the message is clear, well-formulated and contains no typos or grammatical errors.
Good luck with connecting! Let us know if this was helpful to you in any way.
All the best,
The Talentree Team
We hope that you all wish to take up our advice and start building those deeper connections via your LinkedIn profile.
By all means, reach out to us with your career related questions on ask@talentree.be. In case it can help other talents, we might include your question in future blog posts – completely anonymously of course.
All the best,
The Talentree Team
P.s.
Are you wondering how you can pitch yourself in the best possible way when doing professional networking? Take a look at our blog post on the matter.