As your network grows on social networking sites, you will no doubt find that your time online will increase if for no other reason than responding to the requests to connect and answering questions from people in your network.
Within LinkedIn one of the requests you may find is that people ask you to connect them to people in your network or even people one or two degrees of separation away from you.
In my LinkedIn for Business workshops we discuss case studies of what makes for an effective connection and referral request.
I am noticing however that I have had an increase in the number of situations where I have declined the request to refer someone to another person in my network.
Here are three situations where I have declined to connect someone - each time I have sent the person a note to explain why I have declined:
1. There is a lack of information explaining why the person wants to connect and what the benefit will be to the person they want to connect to
2. The person connecting (who was two degrees of separation from me) was a recruiter and wanted to connect to someone in my network - as a matter of principle I won't connect someone to a recruiter unless their profile said they were open to such connections or I know they are looking for a new role
3. The request to connect did not look relevant to the person I was being asked to connect someone to.
This got me thinking about my connection policy for referrals on LinkedIn - it's not something I have documented but it is something I do consider each time i am asked to connect to someone in my network.
Do you have a 'connection policy' for referrals in LinkedIn?
What guidance formal or informal do you follow?
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