What do many LinkedIn contacts bring?

Of course, it depends on what you want to achieve. If you are wondering what many LinkedIn contacts bring to the job search, then it must be said that a large network can be helpful. Basically, it is not exclusively the quantity of contacts that matters, but their quality. However, there are exceptions to this rule as well.

You should specifically influence the quality by, on the one hand, regularly searching for your new personal contacts – business as well as private – on LinkedIn and, if promising, networking with them. If you haven’t already done so, also look for older contacts from your previous professional or academic life. Asking “what actually happened to that guy from the parallel class in elementary school?” can also lead to surprising results. Use them if it seems to make sense. Quantity deserves your attention, because LinkedIn defines your network not only through your direct contacts, but also down to several levels of your direct contacts. This in turn means that your “visibility” multiplies with each of your contacts. But: don’t be afraid to not accept invitations if they don’t seem to make sense to them. Ultimately, of course, a larger number of contacts increases the likelihood of being found. Nevertheless, you should avoid indiscriminately contacting every LinkedIn member.