How many connections on LinkedIn is too many?

When I first had a thought to write something about LinkedIn, I had nearly 4,952 connections and was getting all excited about hitting the 5,000 mark. Then I wrote a comment on LinkedIn on Monday 15th May 2017 at 6.50pm just before I left the office, about a candidate of mine getting her dream job and who’d have known what would follow……

“Today a candidate of mine got offered her dream job. When I first looked at her CV I very nearly didn't call her as her background didn't match what my client wanted. Within 30 seconds of talking to her, I knew her personality, drive & ambition were an exact match for my client. This is why I love my job. NEVER judge a person on paper, they are so much more than a CV.”

I joined LinkedIn in February 2010 when I started working for Bakkavor. Why? Because a few people in the office were talking about it and it gave me 5 minutes away from reading a 30 page handover document from my predecessor. And I did very little with it until 15 months later, I went to work in recruitment. Working for the global company that is Michael Page, I didn’t really use LinkedIn, the connections were all on a database and the support network from my colleagues across the UK was great. But just over 3 years ago I found myself sat in my home office, with no support network around me as I set out on the adventure that is working for myself as Winhurst Recruitment was born. Jobs boards and LinkedIn were my network so I had to make use of them the best I could. And I’ve not looked back.

And my standard practice from the word go has been simple. It’s all about people, not just profiles. I’ve joined Groups, I’ve written all of 2 blogs (this taking me to the dizzy heights of 3!) and for every person I speak to on the phone, I request to Link in with them. I send InMails when I’m recruiting for a specific job, looking at everybody’s’ profile before I contact them as there’s nothing worse than getting an InMail from someone who hasn’t even made the 10 second effort to look at who you are and what you actually do. I’ve financially invested in LinkedIn when the industry advice had been not to and I’ve watched people slate LinkedIn, on LinkedIn. But I make it work for my business and hopefully for the many candidates out there who were and still are, looking for their dream job.

So what happened with the comment about a candidate I hear you ask? By 3pm the next day my LinkedIn Account Manager sent me an email congratulating me on being a viral hit with 818 likes and 58 comments. It was then that I realised the interest in it. But it didn’t stop there. I watched the numbers increase and 3 days later, at 9.42pm on May 18th I hit 500,000 views. Nearly 6 weeks later LinkedIn no longer shows the exact number of views but I do know at 23.51 on 30th May I hit 1,000,000 views, 14,572 likes and 625 comments. But more importantly, the candidate at the centre of this is loving her new job.

Needless to say my LinkedIn connections have gone up considerably but I went through every single profile of who wanted to connect with me and only connected with people who I believe I can help in some way. There were hundreds of people that I didn’t connect with as I specialise in FMCG recruitment in the UK. Java Development is something I’ve heard of but have to confess, I know nothing about. And it wouldn’t be fair to waste candidates’ time as finding a job is hard work and I don’t want to give candidates false hope.

I owe a huge amount of gratitude to my connections and to what I think is a great networking platform. My business continues to grow, as do my connections by following the simple rule…..treat people on LinkedIn how you’d like to be treated.

So thank you LinkedIn for what has been a crazy few weeks on here but more importantly, thank you to everybody who interacts on LinkedIn, you make my day and my job even more enjoyable.