I've been using LinkedIn for more than seven years, and every now and then I receive private messages from people from India asking for referrals, career guidance, or technical help.
I know this may sound like a generalization, and I’m not saying all Indians are like this. But based on my own experience, many of these messages feel unusually pushy, almost as if helping them is my moral obligation.
For example, someone once simply sent me his CV and asked me to let him know if there were any related job opportunities. But why should I be responsible for keeping an eye out for jobs for someone I don’t even know?
Another time, after I helped someone with a referral, he sent me his sister’s CV in a very matter-of-fact way and asked me to refer her as well. I was honestly shocked. I don’t know his sister at all, so why would he assume I should help her too? And more importantly, why should he assume I’m automatically supposed to help him in the first place?
I’ve also had someone send me a long message explaining a software issue he was having and basically asking me to fix it for him. After I didn’t reply for two or three days, he followed up with: “Hi there, I am still waiting for your reply.”
That really bothered me. I used to work for the company that made that software, but I left years ago. I’m not their customer support, and I don’t offer free technical support on LinkedIn. At the very least, I feel he should have first asked whether I had time or whether I was even willing to help, instead of just throwing the problem at me and expecting a solution.
So I’m genuinely trying to understand this: why do some people approach strangers on LinkedIn in such a direct and demanding way? Is this a cultural difference, a job-market pressure thing, or just bad LinkedIn etiquette?
To me, common sense says that if you need help from a stranger, you should first ask politely whether they are comfortable helping. You shouldn’t just assume they owe you their time. Am I being too sensitive here, or is this actually rude?