As with so many things in life, quality was found to be more important than quantity. Having lots of weak connections on LinkedIn – i.e. those people who you’ve never met and never spoken to, in real life or online – actually had a detrimental effect on users’ chances of being offered a job. A 10% rise in weaker connections was found to cause a 1.3% decrease in the number of job offers.

But if you’re yet to forge any strong connections on LinkedIn, don’t despair – and don’t delete your account. The researchers found that although weaker ties were unlikely to lead to job offers, they were actually more helpful in providing users with job leads.

In other words, more casual LinkedIn use can still throw up some great opportunities. You just may have to pursue them vigorously yourself.

Want more LinkedIn tips? For six ways to upcycle your profile, click here.

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These are the relationships to prioritise on LinkedIn if you want a job offer