Why are recommendations important on LinkedIn?
Recommendations on LinkedIn are an invaluable way to showcase your skills, back up your listed qualifications, and build your professional brand. LinkedIn recommendations are essentially written references or endorsements from previous managers, colleagues, clients, vendors, and other professional contacts.
When you’re job searching, strong recommendations on your LinkedIn profile can give you a big advantage over other candidates. Recommendations serve as credible testimonials that speak to your capabilities, work ethic, achievements, and positive attributes. Rather than just claiming you’re a hard worker or expert in your field, recommendations provide outside proof through first-hand accounts from people who have worked with you.
In addition to supporting your job candidacy, recommendations also expand your professional network on LinkedIn. When you recommend someone, your name and profile photo appear on their profile. This gets your brand in front of a new audience – anyone who views that person’s profile. The more recommendations you give and receive, the wider your visibility and reach grows.
So in summary, LinkedIn recommendations:
– Validate your skills, experience, and work quality
– Strengthen your candidacy and personal brand
– Increase your visibility and expand your network
This makes recommendations an invaluable tool for showcasing your talents and enhancing your professional reputation.
Who should I ask for a recommendation?
When deciding who to ask for a LinkedIn recommendation, consider individuals who:
– Had oversight of your work performance and can speak directly to your strengths and accomplishments
– You had a positive working relationship with
– Hold an influential or senior-level position
– Are well-respected in their fields
More specifically, great people to ask for recommendations include:
– Former managers or direct supervisors
– Senior colleagues and coworkers
– Clients, customers, or vendors you worked closely with
– College professors if you recently graduated
– Board members or executives at companies you volunteered or interned for
Avoid asking family members, friends, or lower-level connections for recommendations, as these carry less credibility. Focus on securing recommendations from people who worked with you in a professional capacity and can objectively endorse your abilities.
How should I ask for a recommendation?
When requesting a LinkedIn recommendation, make the process as easy as possible for the person doing the favor. Follow these best practices:
– **Ask politely and formally:** Clearly state you are seeking a recommendation for your LinkedIn profile. Be gracious and appreciative that they are taking time to do this.
– **Provide specifics:** Let them know which position you worked together in and key achievements or projects from that time. This jogs their memory and gives them talking points.
– **Suggest key strengths:** Indicate 2-3 top skills or strengths you would appreciate them highlighting based on your role working together. This steers them toward relevant areas to focus on.
– **Give instructions:** Explain you can generate a recommendation request that includes questions to guide their written endorsement. Or send them instructions for the recommendation process.
– **Follow up:** Check in after sending your request to confirm they received it and answer any questions.
– **Express gratitude:** Once you receive the recommendation, thank them for taking the time and endorse them in return if appropriate.
What should I include in my recommendation request?
LinkedIn allows you to generate a customized recommendation request with details to make the process simple for the person endorsing you.
Important items to include in your recommendation request are:
– A reminder of when and how you worked together
– Key achievements, projects, or highlights from your time together
– 2-3 top strengths or skills you would like them to focus on
– Any helpful talking points or anecdotes they could include
– Detailed instructions for submitting the recommendation on LinkedIn
Providing this level of detail in your request ensures you get a strong, personalized recommendation that resonates with employers.
What information should the recommendation include?
Exceptional LinkedIn recommendations provide detailed, factual information on your skills, achievements, and attributes based on direct experience working with you.
Aim for your recommendations to include:
– How the person knows you and your background working together
– Specific skills, strengths, or aptitudes they observed
– Notable accomplishments, contributions, or performance highlights
– Examples and anecdotes illustrating your top qualities
– Their endorsement of you and assessment of your potential
Quantitative data, facts, and measurable results are also powerful in recommendations. This could include numbers related to sales closed, projects delivered, campaigns executed, costs reduced, revenue generated, client accounts acquired, etc.
Any unique value or impact you delivered in your role is great to showcase.
What should I avoid in my recommendation?
To ensure your LinkedIn recommendations are credible, there are some key things all requesters should avoid:
– Asking for recommendations from people you do not know well or have limited work experience with
– Pressuring people to provide recommendations quickly or before they are ready
– Writing the recommendation yourself or significantly dictating what it should say
– Asking for generic recommendations that could apply to anyone (i.e. “John was a great employee who did good work”)
– Recommendation requests that are impersonal, overly formal, or seem copied and pasted
– Padding recommendations with excessive flattery, exaggerations, or endorsements the person may not feel comfortable making
Keep things professional and let your recommenders speak naturally based on their real experiences working with you. The most powerful recommendations are authentic and personalized.
How many recommendations should I have?
There is no perfect number of recommendations to have on LinkedIn. Strive for a mix of quality over quantity. Here are general benchmarks to aim for:
– **Early Career:** At least 2-3 recommendations
– **Mid-Career:** 5-10 recommendations
– **Executive Level:** 10 or more recommendations
As you progress through different jobs and build your professional network over time, the number of recommendations you can obtain will steadily increase.
But even just 2-3 thoughtful recommendations from the right people can carry significant weight and validate your expertise. The key is making sure your recommendations are meaningful, not maximizing the total number.
How should I display my recommendations?
To make your LinkedIn recommendations most visible and impactful, display them prominently on your profile.
Possible ways to showcase recommendations include:
– Adding them to your summary section
– Including select excerpts in your about section
– Featuring them in your featured section area
– Embedding them throughout your work experience descriptions
You can also organize your recommendations by job title or company to tell a cohesive story.
Only displaying some of your recommendations, rather than the full list, keeps your profile focused and digestible for visitors. But you can link to your entire recommendations list to showcase its breadth.
Should I get recommendations for each job?
It’s a smart strategy to obtain recommendations from colleagues at each company or role you list on LinkedIn.
This supports your experience at every job and strengthens the impact of your full work history.
Even just 1-2 recommendations per position goes a long way. Just a handful of credible recommendations from pivotal career milestones can carry more weight than lots of random endorsements.
Prioritize getting recommendations from more senior roles, prominent companies, and positions most relevant to your current career trajectory.
How often should I ask for new recommendations?
There are no set rules on how frequently to request new LinkedIn recommendations. But here are some best practices:
– Ask upon leaving a job while relationships are still fresh
– Target 1-2 new recommendations annually as you progress in your career
– Occasionally reconnect with past colleagues to get added recommendations
– Request them upon landing a big promotion or new leadership role
– Seek them out before beginning a job search
– Ask when taking on freelance projects or public speaking engagements
New recommendations should trickle in steadily over time. Spike up requests during active career changes or when ramping up your job search activity.
Should I recommend anyone who recommends me?
While it’s courteous to return the favor when someone recommends you on LinkedIn, only do so if you feel fully comfortable endorsing that person’s skills and contribution based on real experience working together.
Avoid recommending people purely out of obligation or reciprocity, as forced or disingenuous recommendations lose credibility.
Consider if someone has been helpful to your career in a notable way before recommending them. Offer to connect them to new opportunities or recommend them for an internal job if they wrote you an exceptional recommendation.
Relationships should be mutually beneficial, but recommendations specifically should be authentic.
Can I request anonymous recommendations?
LinkedIn gives recommenders the option to provide an anonymous recommendation without attaching their name and profile.
However, most experts advise avoiding anonymous recommendations when possible. Named endorsements from real professionals carry much more credibility and weight.
Anonymous recommendations should be a last resort for when someone is willing to recommend you but unable to have the endorsement associated publicly due to company policies, sensitivities with current employers, or other special circumstances.
That said, an anonymous recommendation from an influential leader or senior executive in your industry could provide value in select cases.
What are some LinkedIn recommendation examples?
Here are two sample LinkedIn recommendations illustrating the level of detail and context that make for a compelling written endorsement:
Sample Recommendation 1
“It was my privilege to work with Susan for over 5 years in her role as Marketing Director at ABC Company. Susan is the consummate marketing professional – creative, strategic, detail-oriented, and dedicated to driving results. She spearheaded the development of our firm’s digital marketing campaigns, increasing web traffic by 35% year-over-year and boosting lead conversion rate by 15%. Susan is equally skilled at high-level strategic planning and hands-on tactical execution. She can visualize innovative big-picture concepts while also managing day-to-day projects with efficiency and urgency. Susan is a true team player who elevates everyone around her while also being capable as an independent contributor. Her communication skills and collaborative approach enable her to build relationships across the firm. I unequivocally recommend Susan and am confident she has the skills and leadership to excel in any marketing or communications role.”
Sample Recommendation 2
“In his 3 years as an Account Manager at XYZ Corp, Mike distinguished himself as an exceptionally dedicated, client-focused, and results-driven professional. He consistently received best-in-class client retention and satisfaction scores, closing deals and retaining accounts well above his targets. Mike is exceptionally skilled at building long-term relationships with his clients through trust, responsiveness, and understanding their needs in depth. He increased annual sales from his assigned book of clients by over 30% thanks to his consultative approach and commitment to value. Mike is strategic in planning his sales approach but also excels at impromptu pitches and presentations. He is a true team player, mentoring junior reps and sharing best practices openly. I fully endorse Mike for any client-facing sales or account management role and am confident he will continue to excel and surpass expectations.”
Conclusion
Recommendations provide immense value as you build your professional brand and advance your career through new jobs and promotions. Putting in the effort upfront to cultivate strong LinkedIn recommendations from managers, colleagues, clients, and other influencers can greatly improve your candidacy and opportunities over the long-term. Use these best practices to solicit and showcase recommendations effectively on your LinkedIn profile.