How do I get my recommendations back on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn recommendations are a great way to showcase your skills, build your professional brand, and validate your expertise. However, sometimes recommendations can disappear from your LinkedIn profile for various reasons. The good news is that there are steps you can take to get those lost recommendations back.

Why Did My Recommendations Disappear?

There are a few common reasons why you may have lost recommendations on your LinkedIn profile:

• The person who recommended you deleted their LinkedIn account
• The recommendation expired after 365 days
• You changed your LinkedIn username and the recommendation didn’t carry over
• You removed the recommendation from your profile
• There was a glitch in the LinkedIn system

So if you notice some recommendations are suddenly missing, don’t panic. In most cases, it’s possible to get those recommendations back with a little effort.

Ask for the Recommendation Again

The easiest solution is to simply ask the person to re-recommend you on LinkedIn.

Here are some tips for asking for a renewed recommendation:

• Refresh their memory on how you worked together and your key accomplishments
• Emphasize how much you valued their previous recommendation
• Explain that you’d love their continued endorsement on your updated LinkedIn profile
• Consider asking them to revise or expand upon their original recommendation, if appropriate

Many people will be happy to recommend you again if asked. Be sure to reciprocate the favor and provide new recommendations for their profile as well.

Check if the Recommendation Expired

LinkedIn recommendations automatically expire after 365 days. This helps ensure the recommendations on your profile are recent and up-to-date.

To see if a recommendation simply expired, go to your profile and click on the “Recommendations” section. Here you can see which recommendations are now listed as “expired.”

For these, follow up with the person who provided the initial recommendation and request that they renew it. Often a quick email reminding them of the value of their recommendation is all it takes.

Reconnect After Changing Your Username

If you changed your LinkedIn username, any recommendations written for your previous username will be removed.

In this case, you need to inform your connections of your new username and ask them to write new recommendation for your updated profile.

Here are some tips for reconnecting:

• Message individual connections announcing your new username
• Post an update sharing your changed username
• Update your name on any groups you are a member of
• Revise any articles/posts to include your new byline

Once your network is aware of your new username, reach out to key connections and politely ask them to provide a new recommendation.

Use LinkedIn’s Recommendation Recovery Tool

If you’re still missing recommendations, LinkedIn offers a Recommendation Recovery tool to help get endorsements back.

Here’s how it works:

1. Go to your profile and click “See more recommendations” under the Recommendations section
2. Click the link for “Recover lost recommendations”
3. Select the checkbox for each lost recommendation you want to try and recover
4. Click “Send” to have LinkedIn reach out to the endorser and prompt them to re-recommend you

This sends an email to the person who originally recommended you with a link to easily provide the recommendation again.

The recovery tool works best for recommendations lost due to technical issues or glitches. However, it’s worth trying even if the recommendation expired or the endorser deleted their account.

Remove Then Request New Recommendations

If all else fails, you can remove any remaining recommendations on your profile. Then reach out to your connections and ask them to write new recommendations from scratch.

This essentially gives you a clean slate to rebuild your recommendations.

When asking for new recommendations, be thoughtful:

• Focus on connections who can speak to your top skills and qualifications
• Tailor your request to the specific person
• Suggest 2-3 accomplishments or qualities you’d like them to highlight
• Offer to provide a recommendation in return

With some targeted outreach, you can develop an impressive set of up-to-date recommendations.

Prevent Recommendations From Disappearing Again

Once you recover your lost LinkedIn recommendations, it’s wise to take steps to preserve them. Here are some best practices:

• Save a PDF copy – Download your profile and save a PDF record of your recommendations
• Stay connected – Continue engaging with endorsers so they remain active contacts
• Give back – Offer new recommendations to keep the favor going
• Monitor expiration dates – Check back periodically for recommendations nearing the 365 day limit
• Revise your requests – Ask endorsers to update or expand recommendations over time

Keeping your recommendations robust, fresh and up-to-date takes some maintenance. But it’s well worth the effort for the major boost recommendations can provide to your LinkedIn presence and professional reputation.

Conclusion

Losing LinkedIn recommendations can be frustrating, but in most cases it is possible to get them back. The key steps are:

• Directly ask the endorser to recommend you again
• Use LinkedIn’s recovery tool to reconnect with endorsers
• Remove old recommendations and request new ones
• Monitor your recommendations and keep them current

With some targeted outreach and relationship management, you can restore the valuable recommendations that make your LinkedIn profile stand out. Be proactive about recommendation maintenance, and they’ll keep working for you well into the future.