Growing Your Professional Network: Adding LinkedIn Connections

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

Your Professional Network

When I think about building my professional network, adding new LinkedIn connections is one of my markers of success. I use LinkedIn as a tool to create, build, and maintain my professional relationships. 

Turning People You've Met Into LinkedIn Connections

When I first started using LinkedIn, I connected with people I had met in person. At that time, my network mainly included the following people: 
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• Family and friends
• Current and former coworkers
• Current and former business associates (vendor contacts, customers, contractors)
• Colleagues from professional development groups
• People I met in person or via phone/webinar in a business setting
• People I met through introductions from my current professional connections

Creating New Professional Connections

When the pandemic hit, I realized I needed to shift my approach, or I would not meet anyone new. I also realized that since more companies were open to hiring remote people, I needed to broaden my network beyond the people I would encounter in person. In addition to the people I used to connect with, I now also started proactively sending connection requests to the following types of people:
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• Other members of my LinkedIn groups
• People in my geographical area
• People in the field of learning and development
• People who work for companies that interest me
• Recruiters
• People with common interests or experiences
• People with mutual connections
• People who presented at sessions I attended
• People who attended online sessions that I also attended

Again, the more people I meet, and the more people I connect with who know about my professional value, the better I will be able to find a new role that meets my requirements more quickly.

Opportune Times To Connect

I often connect with people when there are specific reasons to connect that are noteworthy, including the following:
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• People recently laid off:  I empathize with their job loss, mention job search-related resources, and invite them to connect.
• People recently hired: I congratulate them on their new role, mention our commonality, and invite them to connect.
• People who just completed a degree, certification, or other educational program: I congratulate them on their accomplishments, mention any commonality we have, and invite them to connect. 

Personalizing Connection Requests

In the vast majority of cases, I personalize a connection request when I send it. When connecting with people I’ve met in person, I always remind them of where we met, include details about our meeting, share helpful information, and invite them to connect.

Personalizing the request becomes even more critical if I send a connection request to someone I have not met before. I want to promote the possible value of that relationship.

I include the following components when personalizing a connection request:
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• Greeting: Hi, [person’s first name spelled correctly].
• Personal Note: Include details on how you met, compliment them on a previous post, share a helpful tip, comment on their situation, or point out something we have in common.
• Invitation to Connect: I’d like to add you to my professional network. and/or Let’s connect!
• Signature: [Your Name] 

Here are a few examples of what I might include as a personal note in my personalized connection requests.

• I see that we both attended this morning’s ATD-Nebraska webinar. I’m new to Omaha, and I’m excited to connect with L&D professionals in the area.
• Thanks for your recent post on tips for engagement in webinars. Personally, I get a lot of value from having people share answers to informal questions in the chat. Now, I have a few new techniques to try!
• Sorry to hear about your recent layoff. I also have a background working in SaaS startups in the software space. Let me know if I can help you make connections during your job search. 
• I’m also in the field of L&D focusing on technical training. Hearing how your team uses short-form videos to engage new employees was great.
• I see you’re currently in Madison. I lived there for about ten years before I moved to Minneapolis. I have fond memories of biking around Lake Monona and Lake Mendota.

Learn More

• The Layoff Lady: Using 1:1 Networking Meetings for Job Searching
• The Layoff Lady: Growing Your Professional Network: Attending Webinars
• The Layoff Lady: I Just Got Laid Off--Now What? ​