LinkedIn Talks!

I am a ball of curiosity. In fact, my mother claims I have “keeras” or ants in my pants. Since childhood I’ve always been one to find out. When I don’t know the answer to a question, I quickly Google it to satisfy my thirst for the knowing. So when I was confused with a number of issues regarding LinkedIn, I quickly put it to the experts. And what I received in return was immense clarification and specialist advice.

Question Number One: “I have people who are not on LinkedIn but would like to recommend me. How can I do that?”

What I learned very quickly from the answers I received was that it would be ideal to receive recommendations from LinkedIn users but there are alternatives. One piece of advice I received to do the following, “Your alternative is to add the Box.Net application and request that these individuals submit letters you can then upload.” Immediately, a problem of mine was solved. I looked up the Box.Net application, and was surprised by the amount of applications available to LinkedIn users besides that one. I also realized that I was not alone in my situation. One expert let me know that they had the same problem and didn’t feel that the Box.Net was a good solution. “I have also considered Box.Net, but I doubt that people will be very likely to open the files to see the recommendations. At least not at the first glance,” he claimed. Instead, he went on to create a presentation. Using this method, he added comments and statements to the presentation from employers and people who would have recommended him. He did this in addition to the Box.Net application and thus, referred people to look up complete recommendations after the presentation.

Basically, I learned that LinkedIn has a number of ways to work around situations that may be more applicable to its user depending on the situation and problem they have.

 

Question Number Two: “Why does the connection with people you know make a difference – i.e. first degree, second degree, etc? “

This was a concept I never really understood. Put it to the experts and they quickly informed me that this is important in making future connections. “A first degree connection is someone you have chosen to connect to.” Basically, with a first degree contact, one can message and interact more freely. In addition, you can view your first degree contacts and regular updates. These features are only available with first degree contacts. “Second degree and third connections are connections of your first degree contacts.” Besides you can interact with them with limitations but cannot send them messages or see their updates. The only way you can interact with a second or third degree contact is in the following way, “You may obtain an "introduction" through LinkedIn to second and third degree connections.”

The information I learned was definitely informative and interesting. I was intrigued when I learned about applications that can be used by LinkedIn. Questions asked, answers received and curiosity, pacified.