The new user interface does not allow you to connect with all 3rd-degree connections as simple as clicking the blue ‘Connect’ button. So you might think you have to upgrade to Premium to be able to do that, but even then that may not work.
Here are 5 quick workarounds;
- Join a group they are in and then send an invitation to connect. You can do this up to 15 times a month.
- If you share the same schools you can connect through the schools LinkedIn page.
- Check the persons skills endorsers and see if you share any connections in common and ask for an introduction through your connection. This feature has come back to mobile and should be coming to desktop soon.
- Look at their recent activity or posts and get engaged with their content.
- Read their profile fully and see if their contact details are shared anywhere else, e.g the Summary.
All of these suggestions can work for you, however, it should be remembered that the key is having a good reason to want to be doing it in the first place. What is in it for them? What value can you bring to them first?