from AskMyDaddy

I Will Never Understand

You asked

I have been a LinkedIn user for about a year now. I find it a very useful tool in my day-to-day work as a management consultant, leadership coach, editor of an e-zine, writer and entrepeneur.

The one thing that I will never understand are:

- Head hunters who use LinkedIn mercilessly as a source for employees using your contacts.

- People who ask you to forward requests and invitations and then ignore or refuse to reciprocate.

MyLinkDaddy writes

There are 10+ million people on LinkedIn. There literally are millions of reasons and ways to use the service. You can't possibly expect everyone to use it like you do and pass judgment on them. Read more in it's a WildWildLinkedInWorld.

Since the primary use of LinkedIn by Introductions sent is for recruiting and job searches, you may be using the wrong network in LinkedIn if you object to such behavior.

As far people who ignore or don't reciprocate, we're all human. People change email addresses, go on vacation, have work crises, etc. It's happened to me and I'm sure it will happen to you where you're not available for a week or two. I bet that in 95% of cases it is a case of bad timing and 5% is lack of knowledge about how to use LinkedIn or normative community behavior. I've only found a few people among tens of thousands who intentionally don't reciprocate and deserve one's scorn.

Don't be upset. Instead expect that s*it happens. For example, regularly review your Introductions. If they haven't been acted on in an appropriate time (I give 5 days to a week), then withdraw and route it through someone else (if you can) who hopefully is more available at that time.