"Cluttering up" Linkedin profile?
(Monkey, 57
Points)
on 12/31/12 at 4:02am
Before I started at MBB I was a college professor, and many (upwards of a hundred) of the undergrads I taught two years ago are now wanting to add me to their LinkedIn profiles. Problem is, none of them have jobs yet.
If I accept all of them, they'll outnumber my actual connections (to people in my old field, my cohort at the firm, connections to people at clients etc). Is there any downside to "diluting" my Linkedin profile with these connections?






Not sure of any substantial
Not sure of any substantial downsides but it might end up skewing the results you get if you use the "people you may know" tool (ie. you'll see more students show up rather than professionals).
There may be a downside in
There may be a downside in that it's easier to keep things organized with linkedin without hundreds of connections. If you keep an alternative address book with close contacts then I see much less of a downside and more of an upside as your students begin to graduate, get jobs in an industry and become valuable connections in the future. Also, having more connections on linkedin in general with educated/well to do people will allow you to search for professionals at different companies, in different industries which is always nice.
Get a twitter and tell them
Get a twitter and tell them to follow you.
Add some, then delete em
Add some, then delete em after a few months ... do it all the time.
i dont think that adding them
i dont think that adding them will affect you negatively in any way
I'm talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing.
It doesn't matter, because in
It doesn't matter, because in the end LinkedIn adds no value. Has anyone actually received an opportunity they absolutely 100% would not have if they weren't on LinkedIn?
^ I 100% agree. +1
^ I 100% agree. +1
Make opportunities. Not excuses.
Add them all. I think
Add them all. I think LinkedIn is invaluable being an undergrad reaching out to alum. There has been numerous occasions where I would have not had the opportunity to speak to an important alum had I not reached out to them on LinkedIn. My school has an enormous alumni base so linkedin makes it really easy to organize who I want to connect with based on graduation year, company, position, etc.
gammaovertheta: It doesn't
It doesn't matter, because in the end LinkedIn adds no value. Has anyone actually received an opportunity they absolutely 100% would not have if they weren't on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn has been extremely helpful in making that first connection for networking. No, recruiters aren't going to be throwing offer letters at you over LinkedIn, but it's definitely useful in getting your foot in the door.
A professor I know also uses LinkedIn to set up company visits for his domestic and international study trips. It's surprisingly easy to just search for alums at specific companies, and most are more than happy to set up a visit if they are available. Without LinkedIn it would be nearly impossible to find alums at specific companies.
LinkedIn's is also good for
LinkedIn's is also good for keeping track of where people move to (careerwise) after you meet them. (Granted, not everyone keeps an up to date profile.) There have been a few times where some of my contacts with whom I fell out of touch moved to a company of interest and helped me out in the end.
Lately I've been using it to
Lately I've been using it to see if a position I'm waiting on has been filled. Doesn't seem like it yet but there's a good chance the new guy just doesn't have/update LinkedIn.
there's no problem if you add
there's no problem if you add them in your account. Or you tell them also to follow you on twitter and add friends on facebook.
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