I paid for the "first" membership (or whatever it's called) when I knew I'd be undergoing a job transition and might need to market myself. I have since canceled the premium membership and just have the freebie, but am still surprised at how many contacts I receive on a weekly basis. I too receive network requests from people I've never even heard of. In the past I accepted a few of these, but on occasion I was contacted by those strangers asking me to help them get a foot in the door at my corporation. Well, I do believe in helping others when appropriate, but if I don't know a person and cannot vouch for their professional abilities, I'm not going to push them on my HR Department as a potential candidate. I have deleted some from my network that I added at one time -- people I knew only as casual acquaintances, or even longtime friends with no relevance to my professional life. I could probably still weed out my network even more, but that's something I never seem to get around to.

I'm surprised at the number of people who seem to use LinkedIn as a social media platform. IMO, that's not what it's for.

I approach it in a similar way, including clients and colleagues. I do also accept recruiter invitations in case I need to make a move. I keep my profile anonymous when I look at others because I use it for research. I have blocked and reported several fake personas that viewed my profile during key times in my career. I have no idea how to keep those long lists from showing up.

Recently I found myself making a job change a little sooner than I anticipated. My industry is relatively finite, but my area of expertise is clear and transferable to a short list of organizations.

Using LinkedIn networking, job postings and company information I applied to four job postings (one was >30 days old), interviewed with three recruiters assigned to those jobs and went through multiple phone/in-person interviews with two. One was my old company, which I chose to return to.

I'm going to try and use it more for networking clients now, given my success rate.

I have no idea why I'm on LinkedIn, as I have not found it useful, except to look other people up. I don't accept invitations from people I have never met, but I do tend to accept invites from friends or casual business relations because I don't want to offend them by not accepting their invitations. And anyway, since I have never found a real use for the site, I don't care all that much.

When I was on the job market around 10 years ago, if I heard of an opportunity at a specific company I did use LinkedIn to see if I knew anyone with a connection to that company. But that's about it.

What really mystifies me about the site is all the people who "endorse" me out of the blue for various management skills. People who I haven't worked with in, like 20 years, and people who would have no clue about my skills or lack thereof. I guess they want me to endorse them back? Which I never do.

I only connect with former colleagues, vendors I used, local people in the same professional circles. In other words, only those with whom I have had a business relationship and one nosy neighbor who is impossible to ignore. I'm retired now so the only part I keep somewhat up to date is volunteer activities.

One thing I have learned is that many people see who looks at their profile. Several times I have landed on the profile of someone who has the same name as a former business colleague, and the next thing I know they are requesting to link to me. I ignore those.

but I do tend to accept invites from friends or casual business relations because I don't want to offend them by not accepting their invitations

This was the part that had me frozen, and why initially i just accepted no one, and I assumed others could see that and thus might not take offense

I get invitations for linkedin all the time and I haven't worked in 20 years. I delete them and then delete them from trash.

You guys are all smart but do be wary of scammers using linkedin

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/how-to-avoid-linkedin-scams-2062693

One thing I have learned is that many people see who looks at their profile. Several times I have landed on the profile of someone who has the same name as a former business colleague, and the next thing I know they are requesting to link to me.

You can set your account to "invisible." People won't see that you searched them, but you then can't see who searched you (if that is even important to you). I have mine on the invisible setting.

I am certain that I was the recipient of this "nice try, bucko" scheme:

LinkedIn Scam #1: Fake Member Invitation

One common email scam is a fake email inviting you to connect with another LinkedIn member. The email will look very similar to an authentic LinkedIn email, and might even contain the LinkedIn logo. It will either ask you to click on a link to "visit your inbox now," or will ask you to "accept" or "ignore" the invitation.

If you click any of these links, the link will bring you to a compromised website that will download malicious software onto your computer.

I received a very official-looking LinkedIn invitation from a senior level executive that I did know from my workplace; however, the invitation came through on my work email (not my personal email, which I solely use for LinkedIn). At first I was a bit flattered that he would choose to "connect" with me there, but I immediately started to smell something fishy. I did NOT click any link the email, but deleted it. A few days later, I received the same email again. I hate stuff like that. You really do have to be absolutely vigilant.

I only connect with professional contacts that I kowwperpsonallly and reasonably well on LinkedIn. No Perl acquaintances or friends of friends, etc. I may worry more about offending requests for such folks on FB but not LinkedIn.

Thanks, SAS. That's good to know.

I’m only connected to professional contacts I know well that I have an interest in having contact with. I ignore most requests I receive. I rarely even look at LinkedIn because it’s so much useless blather - similar to Facebook but supposedly business related. When I’m done with my current job I’m done working for good so no need to maintain a network for my next job.

I used Linkedin when I worked in higher education and was writing curriculum for a corporate employer. Since then I have updated my account when I change jobs.

When I first started I endorsed people and I received several endorsements from colleagues. As for requests, I accept them only from people I know professionally, and the same is true for invitations. It is easy to ignore the lists of suggestions, mostly because I can't figure out how to stop them!

SAS, thank you for the tip on changing the account privacy settings. I just did that.

I'm honestly stumped at times as to the utility of it. For a while I was following the conversation forums on some topics I was interested in for work reasons. I found out that there was little helpful advice posted . . . and a lot of very uncivil arguing over professional bupkes.

I don't frequent the LI convo forums, but have peeked in there from time to time. I too have noticed political posturing, and a couple of downright inappropriate comments, and just have to wonder what the heck is wrong with some folks. Presumably people use LI to enhance or further their career, and it seems to me that making yourself out to be a belligerent toad is akin to career suicide.

Google Linkedln spam and hoaxes, I left long ago.

It's one of the first places people check for information about a new potential employee and/or hire. Where have they worked and what are their capabilities? I've used it to grow my personal network; after 500, it just displays 500+. (Of course, I did hear that tip from a recruiter...).

Edited to add - I don't know how to reduce the number of suggested contacts. I'll review the list when I'm on the exercise bike so I don't feel like it's a waste of time. It's actually nice sometimes when old names pop up!

I don't use linked in to keep in touch with people -- but more to stay in touch with what's going on in the area. I believe it's wise to know who is hiring, what projects are going on where, etc. There's a lot of moving around in my field -- so it's good to see who of my connections are where and who's looking for something new. I have used that information for my own searches and also for hiring.

Now the truth is, my own profile is very out of date-- but I am not looking for work so I don't really care. I don't usually accept connections from strangers but I have broken the rule for a select few recruiters--- generally someone who is already connected with another professional I know. My area is small--- so I can make some guesses about the appropriateness of a connection based on who else they know.

A few of my friends/colleagues publish and/or share interesting articles... if I am bored, I sometimes go and see what they have to share. Most of the articles are kind of fluffy-- but some are truly interesting/valuable.

I don't really understand why someone who isn't working would need it-- and really, I don't imagine it is that useful for most industries.

ETA: I ALWAYS look at the profiles for people I am going to interview-- and when I was looking for a position, I always looked up the people I would be interviewing with. It can help to identify some common ground beyond a resume or a company profile. SOMETIMES I even look up profiles of people who work for a specific company to get a feel for the background and education of those I would work with...

We have all our students create a profile--they actually have a class called Portfolio in [our field] where they are creating a professional online presence and get their resume and mock or Skype interview with career services. I have a closed alumni group that we can contact from our major. I have a lot of connections, but I only accept from people in my field, in higher ed, or who have a lot of connections with someone I know well. I generally do not decline a student, even if from another school or field of study. We have on our assignment "connect with a professional outside of campus" so I imagine others do too.

I have used LinkedIn to advertise employment, internships, conferences, and share news. I have helped students find internships out of the region based on connections I have.

I do seem to get a lot of invites from people who want to sell financial services. That is probably because I have a lot of connections. Those I generally decline.

Thanks all, your color is helpful. I have been filling out my network by the rules I initially conceived. It is kind of fun. It is also a little bit addictive and I find myself wanting to add "just one more". Nowadays everything we do seems to put us on an electronic treadmill of some sort!