Asking for career advice? Here’s how to get an answer

One of the beautiful things about Linkedin is that it allows strangers to connect and share knowledge.

Whether it’s through posts, comments, likes or DM’s, there are so many ways that the experiences of someone you don’t know can be shared.

And of course, getting personalised career advice from someone who has knowledge you’d like to tap into is amazing.

So reaching out via DM has become common practice.

But what if you aren’t getting responses to your cold DMs?

If you are reaching out and not getting a response, there is a high chance you are doing this ONE thing wrong.

The ONE thing

I love people reaching out via DM. And I’m lucky enough that loads of lovely people reach out. 

But after being on the receiving end of requests for career advice, I can tell you there is ONE mistake that lots of people make, which makes it very hard to give advice.

And if I struggle with it, I guarantee all the other people you ask for advice struggle with it as well.

The thing most people do wrong is that they don’t ask specific questions.

They reach out via Linkedin DM but the questions they ask are so broad that the person on the other end has no idea how to answer them.

So they either don’t respond or they give you an answer that is not really what you were after.

Asking the right questions is a Super Power 

However, if you want a response from a stranger on Linkedin, you have to make it super simple for them to answer you.

Here’s an example

‘Please can you give me advice on how to get into the Marketing industry?’

This is a huge question. And so hard to answer on a Linkedin message.

Here’s a better way to ask it.

‘What 1 piece of advice do you wish you knew when you were getting started in Marketing?’

OR 

‘What is the most valuable piece of advice you received when you first got into the Marketing industry?’

These two questions are so much easier to answer.

And with the use of voicenote on Linkedin messages, the person you are contacting should be able to answer your questions really easily.

So, stop with the big long questions that are too big to answerl!

And get specific on the things you ask. 

Show respect for people's time

The other thing this does is show that you are respectful of the recipient's time. 

By being clear in the questions that you ask, it shows you have really been thoughtful in your approach. 

And again, as the recipient, you are more likely to want to respond when you feel someone has respected your time.

Keep asking! 

At the end of the day, most people I know love to give advice to people who need it.

So don’t be afraid to keep reaching out. It’s awesome to connect with people on Linkedin.

But by asking specific questions, you will dramatically increase the chances that someone responds.