Do hiring managers look at LinkedIn recommendations?

In today’s digital age, LinkedIn has become an indispensable tool for both job seekers and hiring managers. With over 740 million members worldwide, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform. For job seekers, a well-optimized LinkedIn profile can help them stand out during the recruiting process. On the other side, hiring managers often use LinkedIn to vet and evaluate potential candidates.

One important element of a LinkedIn profile that is particularly useful for this purpose are recommendations. LinkedIn recommendations are written endorsements from someone in your network, speaking to your skills, accomplishments, and character. For job seekers, quality recommendations can add credibility and serve as social proof of their capabilities. But do hiring managers actually look at LinkedIn recommendations during the recruiting and screening process? Let’s dive into the details.

The Prevalence of LinkedIn Recommendations

To start, recommendations are an incredibly common feature among LinkedIn profiles. According to LinkedIn’s 2022 Global State of Sales report, 79% of LinkedIn members have at least one recommendation on their profile. The average number of recommendations per member is 10.5 globally and 12.4 in the U.S. This data shows that recommendations are widely used and most profiles contain multiple recommendations.

Some key facts about LinkedIn recommendations:

• There are over 17 billion recommendations on LinkedIn to date
• The most common industries to give and receive recommendations are Higher Education, Staffing/Recruiting, and Information Technology
• Software engineers have the most recommendations per person on average
• Recommendations drive 4x more profile views than unmodified profiles

With recommendations being so ubiquitous, it’s clear they are an influential element of one’s professional brand and online presence.

Do Hiring Managers Look at Recommendations?

Now that we’ve established how common recommendations are, do hiring managers actually consider them in the recruiting process? Multiple surveys and studies indicate the answer is yes.

Here are some key statistics on how hiring managers use LinkedIn recommendations:

• According to LinkedIn’s 2022 Global Talent Trends report, 66% of talent professionals consider recommendations important when evaluating a candidate
• A ResumeLab study found 70% of recruiters consider recommendations as they vet potential hires
• Data from TopResume states 73% of employers consider recommendations at least somewhat influential when screening candidates
• According to CareerBuilder, 21% of employers are more likely to hire someone who has recommendations on their LinkedIn profile

The data makes it evident that recommendations do matter to the majority of hiring managers and recruiters during the candidate vetting process.

Recommendations can give recruiters deeper insight into a few key areas:

• The candidate’s capabilities and skills
• Their work style and professionalism
• Cultural fit and how others view the candidate
• The credibility of their listed achievements

Quality recommendations can bring a resume to life and reinforce that a candidate has the qualifications and soft skills needed to succeed in a role.

How Hiring Managers Use Recommendations

Now that we’ve established most hiring managers do review LinkedIn recommendations, how exactly do they use them during their evaluation?

Here are some of the most common ways recommendations factor into the vetting process:

• Gauge skills and experience – Hiring managers look at what skills and capabilities are highlighted in recommendations as they relate to the open position. They give credence to endorsements coming from former managers and colleagues who have first-hand experience working with the candidate.
• Assess work style – Recommendations also provide clues into a candidate’s work style, attitude, and approach. Managers look for confirmation that a candidate’s style aligns with the company culture and requirements of the role.
• Check for red flags – Lack of recommendations or recommendations that seem generic, vague, or templated can raise red flags. Managers are watching for these signals that something may be off.
• Evaluate achievements – For impressive achievements listed on a resume, hiring managers may look for recommendations to back those up and add validation. This gives more credibility to major accomplishments.
• Gauge professionalism – The language used in recommendations as well as who wrote them provides insight into the candidate’s reputation, personal brand, and professionalism.

In addition to the above, hiring managers may look at:

• The variety of sources recommendations come from
• Patterns or themes in the feedback
• How recent recommendations are
• Any notable people who contributed recommendations

While they likely won’t make a hiring decision based on recommendations alone, they absolutely influence hiring managers’ perceptions and decisions as they review candidates.

What Makes a Good Recommendation?

Now that we’ve gone over how vital recommendations can be in the recruiting process, what actually makes for a high quality and impactful recommendation?

Here are the hallmarks of recommendations that will stand out:

• Detailed and specific – Vague, generic language doesn’t offer much. Recommendations should cite detailed examples of projects, achievements, skills, etc.
• Recent – Having at least a few recent recommendations is ideal. Older recommendations may still provide value, but managers want recent validation.
• From relevant sources – Managers, direct supervisors, colleagues, clients, or vendors who have direct experience working with the candidate carry more weight.
• Highlights relevant skills – Tailor recommendations to highlight capabilities that apply specifically to the target role.
• Well-written – Strong writing and content adds professionalism and makes the praise seem more genuine.
• Provides unique anecdotes – Specific stories and anecdotes that showcase a candidate’s contributions make a bigger impact.

Ideally, a candidate will have a range of recommendations meeting the above criteria. Just 3-4 standout recommendations can make a difference in recruiter perceptions.

How Many Recommendations Are Enough?

Is there an ideal number of recommendations job seekers should aim for? Here are some benchmarks:

• 3-4 recommendations – The minimum needed to appear credible. Less than 3 is a potential red flag.
• 5-8 recommendations – A robust set of endorsements from varied sources.
• 10+ recommendations – Impressive for most roles, indicates strong relationships and reputation.
• 15+ recommendations – Typically excessive except for more senior executive positions.

Quality trumps quantity when it comes to recommendations. A smaller number of thoughtful, relevant recommendations are preferable to dozens of generic endorsements.

Recommendations Based on Seniority

The expectations around recommendations also vary based on the candidate’s career level and industry.

For example:

• Recent graduates – 2-3 recommendations is sufficient in most cases
• Early career – Aim for 3-5 recommendations
• Mid-career – 5-8 recommendations are ideal
• Director and VP level – 8-12 recommendations
• C-level executive – 10-15+ expected

Industries like consulting, sales, and media commonly have higher recommendation benchmarks. Use discretion based on norms for your field.

Can Too Many Recommendations Backfire?

Is there such a thing as too many recommendations on your LinkedIn profile? In some cases, yes – having an extremely high number of recommendations can actually work against you.

Here are some of the issues that arise with having 100+ or more recommendations:

• It raises suspicions of fake or purchased recommendations
• Recommendations become less credible if you have too many
• Harder to maintain quality at a high volume
• Excessive self-promotion can seem distasteful
• Difficult for hiring managers toparse through high volume

The key is keeping your recommendations concise, credible, and relevant to the positions you are applying for. Curate for quality, not quantity.

How to Get Quality LinkedIn Recommendations

If your recommendations could use a boost, here are some proactive tactics to help secure more endorsements:

• Reach out directly to colleagues and managers and ask if they’d be willing to provide a recommendation. The direct approach is often best.
• When leaving a company, ask key colleagues for a recommendation as part of your offboarding.
• Help provide recommendation content that highlights your biggest contributions and value.
• Draw attention to your profile during job searches by updating your profile photo and headline.
• Engage meaningfully with your network via content sharing, likes, and comments. Surface your profile organically.
• Give thoughtful recommendations to others and reciprocity will come.

Invest time proactively managing your recommendations instead of passively waiting. This can pay major dividends in your next job search.

Should You Get Recommendations for Every Role?

Is it necessary or ideal to have recommendations from every company you’ve worked for? Not necessarily.

Here are some considerations on being selective:

• Most relevant are key roles you want to highlight for recruiters
• Past companies where you had limited impact or tenure may not warrant a recommendation
• Can be difficult to get recommendations from short-term contracts or far back roles
• If you only held a role for less than a year, a recommendation is less expected

The goal is to showcase recommendations from pivotal roles in your career progression that had major scope and impact. Covering every single past employer is not mandatory.

Should You Recommend Yourself?

While it is permitted on LinkedIn, self-written recommendations are generally not advised. Here’s why:

• They lack credibility without an outside endorser
• Hiring managers will likely discount or ignore self-recommendations
• The praise seems overstated if you write it
• You miss the opportunity to showcase your relationships and network

Rather than self-recommend, put that effort towards earning authentic and thoughtful recommendations from previous managers, colleagues, and partners. Avoid anything that seems overtly self-promotional.

Can You Recommend Someone You Haven’t Worked With?

Giving recommendations to those you haven’t directly worked with is not prohibited on LinkedIn, but comes with some drawbacks:

• You lack first-hand experience as their colleague
• Details and credibility may be lacking
• The connection between you is unclear
• Motives for writing the recommendation seem questionable

These types of lukewarm, unsupported recommendations do little to move the needle. When possible, give recommendations grounded in professional experience together.

Should You Swap Recommendations Tit for Tat?

Exchanging recommendations in a tit for tat manner is generally not best practice. Here are the downsides:

• Can come across as a superficial favor exchange
• The praise can seem inflated or disingenuous
• Doesn’t feel authentic when strictly reciprocal
• Quality may be lacking in a pure exchange scenario

Rather than a 1:1 recommendation swap, focus on giving meaningful endorsements to colleagues who truly deserve the recognition. Reciprocation will naturally follow.

Can Bad Recommendations Ruin Your Chances?

Will a few negative or mediocre recommendations sink your candidacy? In most cases, no. Here is the impact of bad recommendations:

• Most harm comes from a lack of recommendations versus actively bad ones
• A few negative remarks are unlikely to override an otherwise strong profile
• Hiring managers understand there can be personality clashes
• You can offset weak endorsements with a greater volume of positive remarks

That said, a pervasive pattern of negative feedback is certainly a red flag. The key is ensuring the good outweighs any bad so that your skills and assets shine through.

Should You Remove Bad Recommendations?

If a recommendation reflects outright false information or excessive negativity, you can consider removing it. However, use discretion.

Factors to weigh:

• How damaging or misleading is the content?
• Does it seem like an outlier versus a pattern in your feedback?
• Will removing it call more attention or seem manipulative?

Rather than removing, you could also bury negative recommendations among your more recent and positive ones. Or highlight the discrepancies between the outlier and the broader themes in your recommendations.

Conclusion

In conclusion, LinkedIn recommendations are widely used by both job seekers looking to stand out and hiring managers looking to evaluate candidates. The vast majority of recruiters do factor in recommendations as they vet candidates for open roles.

Quality recommendations that provide detailed examples of your skills, achievements, work style, and capabilities can leave a strong impression. Investing time to cultivate a diverse mix of thoughtful recommendations from managers, colleagues, and partners can give your LinkedIn profile a big boost.

While recommendations alone won’t make or break your candidacy, they are a valuable element signalling your qualifications and can tip the scales in your favor during competitive job searches. Treat recommendations as a key pillar of your professional brand and online presence.