How to get help on LinkedIn (or any online community like Slack, Discord, etc)?

Disclaimer: This article was written few years ago and may no longer be relevant as software engineering has changed a lot in the last few years. This is what may be more relevant now: Future of Software Engineering - Gaurav Chandak

I reach out to people for help/mentorship on LinkedIn but don't even get a reply!
What am I doing wrong?

"I don't get a reply" demystified

Find the right kind of people.

Let's say, you are a student and you are looking for help in basic Linux terminal commands.

It would be more logical to contact people 1-2 year senior to you who are experienced in this domain rather than contacting Linus Torvalds (the creator himself). He has more things to look into.

That was a dramatic example but I guess you got my point. For general help/mentorship, reach out to more reachable people first.

Let's dig deeper into this.

Not getting a reply is very common because, for most people, LinkedIn inbox generally remains flooded.

Here are some tips which I recommend:

Reach out only when necessary.
Assume that the other person only has 30 seconds free.
Come to the point directly, remove the small talk.
If you are looking for an answer, follow up.

It's highly likely that you won't get back any reply in the first message as:

They might be busy.
They don't know you.
You might not have reached out professionally (I've mentioned more about this, keep reading).

Most people might not even look at the text.

Do the first follow up after 48 hours.
Second, after 3 days from first follow up.
Third, after a week from the second follow up.

If you still don't get a reply, there are two possibilities:

Your doubt was too basic and easily googleable (Google Is Your Friend).
The person you are reaching out to might have a flooded inbox.

So yes, it's essential to understand that no one ignores on purpose.

If you don't get a reply even after following up, either your doubt was too basic, or the person hasn't seen the message. Try reaching out to another person for help in the latter case.

When to reach out to people?

The first and most important thing to keep in mind is:
"Can you solve it yourself with the help of Google or Stack Overflow?"

For example, if you want a roadmap for web development, you can easily search it on google, read a few blogs, and then send the link to the person whom you want to be your mentor asking them if "it is the right blog to follow?"

Sending a blog and asking is much better than asking the whole roadmap itself.

It would be difficult and unpractical for the other person to type the whole roadmap on DM just for you. There are many blogs for that. Homework is essential.

Remember, mentorship doesn't mean that you will need a person for everything. It means that you will do the research and get feedback from them. No one will refuse the feedback (unless the reasons I mentioned above).

Now that you have decided to reach out to a particular person, it's essential to know how to reach out.

How to reach out to people?

Most people just say hi and wait for a reply. It's a misconception that coming straight to the point is being rude.

In reality, coming straight to the point is extremely professional.

Avoid small talk like - "hi", "how are you", "can you help me".

The best tip while reaching out is to write a message and ask yourself:
"Would I reply to this message if I was having 1000 unread messages?"

This question enough can help you frame a question in a manner that it doesn't consume too much time of the recipient and they can help you out.

How to write a good message:

Start by introducing yourself.
Tell the summary of what you do.
Mention your purpose.
End with gratitude.

Always remember, things aren't as difficult as they seem to be. All we need to do is to keep ourselves in the other person's place and then imagine from their perspective.

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How to get help on LinkedIn (or any online community like Slack, Discord, etc)?

"I don't get a reply" demystified

When to reach out to people?

How to reach out to people?

Further reading