Talk About An Unprofessional LinkedIn Response

Much ado about nothing. The individual who was on the receiving end of the LinkedIn request is right, even if her response to the 20-something went overboard.

If she had stopped at "Your invite to connect is inappropriate, beneficial only to you, and tacky" we wouldn't have even known about it. While that would have been a brusque response, it was still correct.

I hate cold calls, because every single one (for me) involves somebody trying to get something out of me without anything substantive in return. My experience may be atypical, and I acknowledge that not every cold call is like that.

But this one reeks of "let me try to leech onto your network". The 20-something got backhanded, and has run crying to the social mob so that that mean, mean lady will get punished.

Both parties could have handled this better. Unfortunately, the instigator of this whole affair has simply been rewarded for her clumsy and clueless actions by a) getting attention and b) ensuring that the person who hurt her feelings has been tarred and feathered.

Re: Talk About An Unprofessional LinkedIn Response

#7

Post by johnjay » Thu, Feb 27, 2014, 9:44 PM UTC

I actually feel like the response was not without merit. Why do I feel like this? Well too many people in the past have asked me for favors before and after I've done them I barely get a thanks. I end up feeling used. After too many times of this happening to me you actually start to resent people and I have a feeling that that is what happened here. This 20 something's request was probably the straw that broke the camel's back.

Re: Talk About An Unprofessional LinkedIn Response

#8

Post by comrh » Thu, Feb 27, 2014, 9:45 PM UTC

MrZongle2 wrote: post #6

Much ado about nothing. The individual who was on the receiving end of the LinkedIn request is right , even if her response to the 20-something went overboard. If she had stopped at "Your invite to connect is inappropriate, beneficial only to you, and tacky" we wouldn't have even known about it. While that would have been a brusque response, it was still correct. I hate cold calls, because every single one (for me) i…

Just ignore the request and move on though. Certainly less energy than spewing an angry message.

Re: Talk About An Unprofessional LinkedIn Response

#9

Post by loteck » Thu, Feb 27, 2014, 9:47 PM UTC

Summary of this tempest:

Girl applies to join a "job bank" email group in Cleveland, in order to find a job. Girl feels like it's also a smart idea to connect with the operator of the email group on LinkedIn.

Operator absolutely eviscerates girl for requesting the LinkedIn connection. Girl spreads operator's rude response around the internet. Operator is now sad, and has apologized.

Re: Talk About An Unprofessional LinkedIn Response

#10

Post by shadesandcolour » Thu, Feb 27, 2014, 9:47 PM UTC

MrZongle2 wrote: post #6

Much ado about nothing. The individual who was on the receiving end of the LinkedIn request is right , even if her response to the 20-something went overboard. If she had stopped at "Your invite to connect is inappropriate, beneficial only to you, and tacky" we wouldn't have even known about it. While that would have been a brusque response, it was still correct. I hate cold calls, because every single one (for me) i…

The recipient of this email responded in the comments of the post, and she sounds pretty genuine. People have preached LinkedIn to us 20-somethings since we started the job hunt junior year of university. This woman literally offers her network as a service to people, is it really that out of hand to assume that asking her to connect on LinkedIn would be a big deal. After all, she had just applied to be a part of this job board.

Now, I think that the actual message of the response is fine. If you don't connect with people you don't know, that's fine. You can say as much, but going off a rant is just a waste of bits.