Getting recommendations on LinkedIn can be very beneficial for your professional profile and career advancement. LinkedIn recommendations act as endorsements from people you’ve worked with, providing credibility and validation of your skills and work ethic. However, not all recommendations carry the same weight, so it’s important to understand the pros and cons of getting LinkedIn recommendations and how to use them most effectively.
The Pros of Getting LinkedIn Recommendations
Here are some of the main benefits of getting LinkedIn recommendations:
Boosts Your Credibility
Getting recommendations from managers, colleagues, clients or vendors you’ve worked with gives you third-party validation. Rather than just listing your own skills and accomplishments, recommendations provide outside proof that you indeed possess those skills and achievements. This social proof lends credibility to your profile.
Showcases Your Strengths
Recommendations allow you to highlight skills, accomplishments and work habits that you excel at. Managers and colleagues can call out strengths that you may have forgotten to include on your profile or may not think are as important. Their perspectives can remind you of key skills to showcase.
Provides References
LinkedIn recommendations can essentially serve as mini reference letters. They provide hiring managers and recruiters with additional perspectives on your capabilities from former supervisors and colleagues. Recommendations give useful social proof of skills and experience that a resume alone may not fully capture.
Boosts Your Visibility
The more recommendations you have, the more your LinkedIn profile stands out. When people land on your profile, several recommendations catch the eye and indicate you have a strong professional network backing up your credentials. This visibility and social proof makes your profile more impressive.
Potentially Improves SEO
Having lots of recommendations may also improve your LinkedIn SEO by associating your profile with more relevant keywords. The content in recommendations can potentially increase search visibility, as LinkedIn’s algorithm may factor recommendations into visibility and search rankings.
The Cons of Getting LinkedIn Recommendations
While LinkedIn recommendations have many upsides, there are a few potential drawbacks to consider as well:
Not All Recommendations Are Equal
The value of a recommendation depends heavily on who it comes from. A recommendation from your company’s CEO or a well-known leader in your industry is much more impressive than a generic recommendation from a low-level colleague. When seeking out recommendations, quality matters much more than sheer quantity.
Can Be Time Consuming
While some colleagues may happily provide recommendations unprompted, it often takes effort to obtain quality recommendations. You may need to reach out directly to previous managers and build a case for why they should recommend you. Giving them a template recommendation can help, but it still takes time and effort.
Risk of Negative Recommendations
If you part ways with an employer on bad terms, they may decline to give you a recommendation or could write you a negative one. This is rare, as most coworkers will simply say nothing rather than write a bad recommendation, but it is a risk if you had a toxic work relationship.
Recommendation Inflation
As more people get recommendations, they may start to mean less. If nearly everyone has multiple recommendations, yours may not stand out quite as much, so you have to focus on quality over quantity.
May Become Outdated
If you are not proactive about managing recommendations, you may end up with old ones that no longer accurately reflect your skills and experience. It’s important to occasionally refresh your recommendations over time.
Who Should Give You LinkedIn Recommendations?
To get the most value, aim to receive LinkedIn recommendations from:
– Former managers who directly supervised you for at least 6 months – They can speak in-depth about your responsibilities, work ethic, strengths and growth.
– Colleagues and coworkers you worked closely with on projects – They can endorse specific skills and contributions.
– Clients, vendors or business partners you worked extensively with – They can vouch for your customer service and collaboration skills.
– Well-respected leaders in your field – Recommendations from industry influencers carry a lot of weight.
– College professors if you recently graduated – They can recommend you for your first job out of school.
Avoid recommendations from:
– Family, friends or romantic partners – These come across as biased rather than objective.
– Colleagues you barely worked with – Their recommendations may lack depth and specific detail.
– Lower-level colleagues – While still helpful, these don’t carry as much weight as supervisors.
– Contacts from too long ago – You want recent colleagues who can vouch for your current skills.
How Many LinkedIn Recommendations Should You Have?
The ideal number of LinkedIn recommendations to have depends on the stage of your career:
Recent graduates:
3-5 recommendations – New grads won’t have extensive work histories, so 3-5 quality recommendations help provide credibility.
Early career (1-5 years experience):
5-10 recommendations – Strive for at least 5-10 recommendations from colleagues and supervisors who have recently worked with you.
Mid-career (5-15 years experience):
10-15 recommendations – By mid-career most professionals should aim for 10-15 recommendations relevant to their current industry and role.
Executives and advanced professionals (15+ years experience):
15+ recommendations – Senior professionals should display at least 15+ recommendations that reinforce their extensive experience and leadership abilities.
How to Get Great LinkedIn Recommendations
Here are some tips to obtain strong recommendations that add value to your profile:
Provide a Template
Give recommenders a template highlighting your key responsibilities and accomplishments. This jogs their memory and provides suggested content.
Make it Easy
Send the template over email with 1-click access to easily give the recommendation via LinkedIn. Follow up politely if needed.
Give Them Time
Don’t expect an instant recommendation. Give a couple weeks for colleagues to make time to thoughtfully write you a recommendation. Follow up once after 2-3 weeks if needed.
Show Gratitude
Thank recommenders publicly in the comments of the recommendation and privately over email. Share how much you appreciate their endorsement.
Keep in Touch
Continue your relationship with recommenders via occasional check-ins and networking. This maintains rapport for future mutually beneficial opportunities.
Pay it Forward
Write recommendations for your colleagues and connections. What goes around comes around, and your recommendations encourage reciprocation.
Give Recent Recommendations
Proactively reach out to new managers and colleagues you work with to get up-to-date recommendations. Refresh old ones over time.
| Career Stage | Ideal # of Recommendations |
|---|---|
| Recent Graduates | 3-5 |
| Early Career (1-5 years) | 5-10 |
| Mid-Career (5-15 years) | 10-15 |
| Executives (15+ years) | 15+ |
Conclusion
Getting quality LinkedIn recommendations can provide tremendous value in showcasing your skills, experience and credibility. Put in the effort to cultivate recommendations from people who know your work well, especially managers and prominent colleagues. Craft customized templates for recommenders while making the process quick and easy for them.
Aim for 5-15 recommendations depending on your career stage, keeping them relatively current and relevant. The most meaningful recommendations come from those who have directly supervised you or worked closely with you. Maintain relationships with recommenders, expressing gratitude and paying it forward. With a thoughtful approach, LinkedIn recommendations can significantly enhance your professional profile and career opportunities.