Four Controversial Questions About LinkedIn (and How to Resolve Them)
Of course you know what LinkedIn is—you already have an account, right? And you read "Eight Things to Do Right Now to Get More Out of LinkedIn" a few weeks ago on MarketingProfs.com, and have been working on each of those things...
Still, there are people scratching their heads saying "now what do I do," and others who are saying "something weird happened and I'm not sure how to react."
I've put together four LinkedIn-related questions that I've come across recently, along with my recommendations on how to handle certain scenarios:
Question: Who should own the account?
Quick Answer: You should!
This can be a tricky one. I strongly encourage everyone to have a personal LinkedIn account, with your personal (non-business) email as the primary account email. This means using an email address from Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, another email provider, or even your own domain (but not your company email). If you change jobs today, you don't want your ex-employer to have complete access and control of your LinkedIn network.

Note that you can have multiple email addresses on your account; just make sure that your primary email is not your employer's email address. I know of at least one situation where someone was terminated and the employer claimed that the LinkedIn network was theirs, leaving the individual empty-handed.
If your boss wants you to set up a LinkedIn account for the company, or your role in the company, make sure you have your own LinkedIn account that you manage and grow at the same time.
Question: Who should you connect with?
Quick Answer: It depends, but don't connect with everyone who invites you.
Sign up for a 2-Day Free Trial Learn more about PRO Membership

Jason Alba is the author of I'm on LinkedIn—Now What??? and is working on his second book, I'm on Facebook—Now What???. He blogs on networking, career management, personal branding, and job search topics at JibberJobber.
Rate this
Overall rating
Add a Comment