Linkedin Etiquette

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aahmed03

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Quick question--- what do you all think about adding the assistant dean of admissions for a particular medical school on linkedin? Is that considered too "pushy."? I have met him twice and he does know me.
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That's fine. Since you've met him and spoke to him it's completely acceptable. When you add him, put a message like "enjoyed the conversation with you on [date here]" or something like that.

However, adding an ADCOM member randomly who one has never spoken to before would be pretty creepy.

You're good tho, go nuts.
 
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Hmmm... meeting him twice? Usually linkedin explicitly asks how you know this person. I'm not sure how you would respond, having met him twice? There is no reason to add him now, anyways. At best it will be perceived as benign. If you are a student there I would think it would be ok. However, I don't think that's the case

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aahmed03 said:
Quick question--- what do you all think about adding the assistant dean of admissions for a particular medical school on linkedin? Is that considered too "pushy."? I have met him twice and he does know me.
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I would shy away from doing so until after the cycle is over.
 
I don't think any of you have used LinkedIn before. Literally, unless you're actively looking to get into business with somebody, adding somebody as a connection is not a big deal at all.
 
I've never used Linked In, but considering how much trouble some applicants get into with their Facebook accounts, I'd suggest getting rid of your Linked In account entirely. The fewer places your name pops up on the internet, the better. If you want to communicate with the Admissions Dean, use his email address.
 
edgerock24 said:
I don't think any of you have used LinkedIn before. Literally, unless you're actively looking to get into business with somebody, adding somebody as a connection is not a big deal at all.
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I totally disagree. I'm extremely well versed in the website - I daresay I'm a techie and I've maintained an "all-star" profile for a very long time, in fact.

It is supposed to be for business only, and if you "curate" your network religiously, and not let everyone and their cousin in, it becomes very valuable.

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QofQuimica said:
I've never used Linked In, but considering how much trouble some applicants get into with their Facebook accounts, I'd suggest getting rid of your Linked In account entirely. The fewer places your name pops up on the internet, the better. If you want to communicate with the Admissions Dean, use his email address.
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More or less. If you don't need your previous network, I'd say go ahead and retire it.

Also, I should point out that even though many of my faculty and support staff have accounts, I have added less than a dozen to my networks during my 4 years here. The ones I have added are people I've worked closely with on committees, projects, or research.

So, IMHO even if you were a student, I don't feel that alone is sufficient reason/excuse/justification for adding a faculty member
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I wouldn't. That's a boundary line that shouldn't be crossed, even if it's a professional web site. Perhaps after you graduate med school and residency and work as a physician, then yes. Before that, no.
 
I would be pretty freaked out if I were said assistant dean. LinkedIn is supposed to be a networking site for core and peripheral members of your professional network. A good question to ask yourself is this: "If I needed help with a professional problem in a month, could I both comfortably message this person and expect a response?" If the answer is no, don't add them.

LinkedIn is not Facebook. It isn't about having the most connections, it's about having high quality connections.
 
Mad Jack said:
I would be pretty freaked out if I were said assistant dean. LinkedIn is supposed to be a networking site for core and peripheral members of your professional network. A good question to ask yourself is this: "If I needed help with a professional problem in a month, could I both comfortably message this person and expect a response?" If the answer is no, don't add them.

LinkedIn is not Facebook. It isn't about having the most connections, it's about having high quality connections.
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100% this
 
QofQuimica said:
I've never used Linked In, but considering how much trouble some applicants get into with their Facebook accounts, I'd suggest getting rid of your Linked In account entirely. The fewer places your name pops up on the internet, the better. If you want to communicate with the Admissions Dean, use his email address.
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I like having a linked in profile. I couldn't say if it has truly helped me professionally though. I've tried to use it for job connections without much success. But my main hope/purpose for the linked in profile is so that someone trying to google me (potential employer or adcom) would be able to read a little more in depth about my volunteer activities, work descriptions, college baseball career and other credentials, certs, etc that might not fit on my resume but give you a better idea of the skills I've developed and experiences I've had.

Facebook on the other hand should definitely be deactivated or made as private as possible. It's amazing to me how many people I know on Facebook who work in hospitals post things that could easily get them in trouble. It's like their filter goes out the door once they are on a social network. One person said they saw a rat in the hallway after transporting their patient, another talks about how crazy awful their day was and how difficult it is to provide proper patient care with the workload, how slammed the ED always is or how poorly run it is... and the kicker is that right below their name is a big fat title and name of the place they work at (all very nice big name hospitals too). I've heard of employees losing their jobs for less so I think these are pretty easy offenses to punish for if their employer saw them. I do have a Facebook but I keep it as private as possible, don't list my job, and never post anything anyways.
 
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I work in an industry that is very linkedin friendly, but I think the replies above give you a picture of how diverse people's thoughts are about this topic. It's possible that this assc dean will be as open as people in big business (i.e. add whomever), or they could be as conservative as some of the other posters. It's probably better to err on the side of caution.

And seriously, I didn't even realize people took it so seriously. I think in startups/consulting/finance it's pretty common practice to add someone on linkedin after you've met them once or twice at a networking event or conference. It's like giving out a business card. But I guess everybody has a different privacy gauge.
 
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