Do you think you are getting too many LinkedIn requests? I had a sneaky suspicion that I was getting a bunch of requests, but I wanted to empirically check how many I was receiving.
So I tracked every request I got for a month.
In the last month I received 25 requests – which is almost once per day (and more than once every business day). A summary of all the requests I received are below.
Some highlights:
# Requests: 25
Number where I was the intended target: 2
Number that I initiated: 0
Number that I was just a link of the chain: 23
Of the 23 …
Number that I forwarded: 9
Number that I declined (thought they were inappropriate): 14
Of the 25 … number of hops:
Two: 2
Three: 2
Four: 6
Five: 15
(commentary: because I was hop #3 in a 5 hop chain of most requests, I was less likely to forward the request because I have no relationship either to the person initiating the request or to the intended target)
The data:
2/15/05 — 5 hops. i was hop #3. someone wanted to recruit a former CEO for a manager position in Teaneck NJ. i declined.
2/13/04 — 3 hops. i was hop #2. one VC wants to meet another VC. i forwarded.
2/10/04 — 4 hops. i was hop #2. good recruiter looking for a candidate. i forwarded.
2/9/04 — 5 hops. i was hop #4. someone wanted to pitch work to someone across the country. i declined.
2/9/04 — 4 hops. i was hop #3. someone wanted a job. i declined.
2/8/04 — 5 hops. i was hop #3. someone trying to pitch Microsoft. i declined.
2/6/04 — 4 hops. i was hop #3. some guy wants to connect to a former coworker. i forwarded the request.
2/6/04 — 4 hops. i was hop #2. friend wants to sell something to Washington Mutual. i forwarded the request.
2/6/04 — 5 hops. i was hop #3. someone trying to reach the asst to the CEO of Starwood to sell them something. i declined.
2/5/04 — 5 hops. i was hop #3. someone trying to reach the CEO of Princeton Review to pitch them something. i forwarded the request.
2/4/04 — 3 hops. i was hop #2. person trying to connect with an old business colleague. i forwarded the request.
2/4/04 — 5 hops. i was hop #3. someone i do not know wants a job from someone i do not know. i declined.
2/4/04 — 5 hops. i was hop #3. someone wants to learn about a company five hops down the chain. i declined.
2/3/04 — 5 hops. i was hop #3. Some guy wants to sell camera phones into starbucks. i declined.
2/2/04 — 5 hops — i was hop #3. some guy wants to introduce a new piece of software to another guy. i declined.
1/29/04 — 2 hops — i was hop #2. someone i never heard of is moving to SF and wants to connect. i declined.
1/26/04 — 5 total hops. i was hop #3. guy looking for a job. i declined.
1/26/04 — 5 total hops. i was hop #4. someone looking to get into the wine and food industry. i forwarded the request.
1/23/04 — 5 total hops. i was hop #4. someone looking for consulting work. i declined.
1/22/04 — 4 total hops. I was hop #3. looking for a candidate to hire. i forwarded the request to a friend who is the potential candidate.
1/21/04 — 5 total hops. I was hop #5. Guy wanted to reach me. wanted to get involved in Lead21. i accepted him. he immediately became a Lead21 member
1/19/04 — 2 hops (guy requested me directly). wanted to sell me something. i declined.
1/19/04 — 4 total hops. I was hop#3. some random guy wants to meet michael yang. i declined.
1/17/04 — 5 total hops. i was hop #3. someone looking for a job. looked unqualified. i declined.
1/14/04 — 5 total hops. i was hop #4. job seeker wanting to get in touch with a recruiter friend of mine. looked legit so i forwarded it on.