Have you ever received an invitation request from someone through any platform that looks super sketchy? Something like “Hey Jack, great news! I am so glad aI found you, your long lost uncle passed away and left you a bazzillion dollars! Just send me $50,000 and I will send you the inheritance right away”. Yep, that’s pretty suspect. But on LinkedIn, it can be a bit trickier. There are quite a lot of recruiters out there trying to make their mark by growing their network. Unfortunately recruitment as an industry has quite low barriers to entry, unless they work for a big, highly professional Company. So how do you assess whether the person that is contacting you through LinkedIn is legitimate and worth connecting with?
- What is that person’s background? How detailed is the information on their profile? How many years have they spent at the same company? Be careful, minimal details mean it could be a fake account!
- If a recruiter, which company does that person work at? If you haven’t heard of them before, check out their website, check out the company’s financial situation on google finance, are they a stock exchange listed company with strict personal information protection policies?
- See if you have any connections in common, this is easy to find on the connecting person’s profile when you view it
- View how many connections they have, do they have over 500?
- Is this person a specialist in your field and therefore an expert able to offer you tailored market updates, jobs and support specific to your needs
- If it is a hiring manager or in-house recruiter (HR or talent acquisition professional), is this the type of company you may have an interest in finding out more about?
- If they are a hiring manager or talent acquisition, how senior is this person? Double check they have a job opportunity or whether this are just networking
- Is the person contacting you in the country you are based in? It’s very difficult, likely impossible, to be a specialist if they are not based in the country you wish to work.
- Has this person explained the job opportunity in the message sent to you? One of the biggest complaints I hear is from executives who are frustrated with recruiters “hiding the ball” and not telling them the company name until they have given their CV and had an hour long conversation, only to discover there are no suitable openings currently. The exception to this is if you are contacted by a big company, they will need your CV right away because they have a huge team and will need to figure out internally who you should be your account manager
LinkedIn is a great tool for everyone. Taking a few small steps can ensure your account is used in the best possible way!
For any questions on safety and security on LinkedIn, feel free to reach out through the “contact us” tab at the top of the page. Hope to hear from you!
