The Dos and Don’ts of Asking Someone to Help You Get a Job

Over the past year, I have tried to get a job in one industry, switched industries, and gotten a job in this new industry. Since landing this new job I have had a few people reach out to me with the hopes that I could help them land a job in my industry. These are some of the things I have learned from being on both sides of this conversation.

Don’t simply add someone on LinkedIn without sending a message

I’m sure you have found a ton of people on LinkedIn who are working in jobs you want and who could potentially help you get a job like theirs. What now? Do not simply send them a generic LinkedIn request. This tells them nothing about who you are and why you are reaching out to them. By doing this, you are depriving yourself of opportunities to grab someone’s attention and make a connection with them.

Every week I get multiple generic LinkedIn requests. I ignore them all. Usually I find out about these requests by getting a generic email that looks exactly like all of the other ones I have received this week and last week and the week before. To the people sending these requests, it may feel like trying to forge a new connection. To me, it is spam. Spam is not something I engage with; it is something I ignore until I delete.