Getting an endorsement on LinkedIn can be a great way to build your professional brand and credibility. When someone endorses you on LinkedIn, they are validating your skills and expertise within your industry. Endorsements act as social proof that you have the abilities and knowledge that you say you do. In this article, we’ll explore what LinkedIn endorsements are, who can endorse you, how endorsements work, how to get more endorsements, and how to give endorsements to others.
What is a LinkedIn Endorsement?
A LinkedIn endorsement is when a connection on LinkedIn proactively validates your skills by clicking the “Endorse” button on your profile. This adds that skill to the endorser’s profile and displays that they have endorsed you for that particular skill. endorsements display on your profile underneath your skills and the written recommendations you have. They serve as social validation from your network about your abilities.
Endorsements vs Recommendations
Endorsements are different from recommendations. A recommendation is written praise and validation for your work, abilities, and character. Recommendations are more detailed than endorsements. An endorsement is simply clicking a button to verify a skill – no written review is required. Both serve to build your professional credibility but in different ways.
Who Can Endorse You on LinkedIn?
Only 1st-degree connections on LinkedIn can endorse you. This means you must be directly connected to someone for them to endorse your skills and expertise. 2nd and 3rd-degree connections, as well as people you’re not connected to at all, cannot endorse you.
You must also have a public profile for endorsements to display. If your profile is private, endorsements you receive will not show up. You can change your profile to public in your account settings.
How Do LinkedIn Endorsements Work?
Endorsing Skills
To endorse someone, you go to their LinkedIn profile and click the grey “more” button next to the “Skills & Endorsements” section. This will bring up a list of skills that person has added to their profile. You can then click the blue “Endorse” button next to the skills you want to validate for that person.
You can endorse multiple skills at once or come back later to endorse additional skills. The person will get a notification that you have endorsed them. The endorsement then shows up on both your profile and theirs.
Endorsing New Skills
You can also endorse someone for a new skill they haven’t listed on their profile. To do this, start typing the new skill into the “Endorse for” search bar. If it doesn’t auto-populate, you can manually type in the skill you want to endorse.
Customizing Endorsed Skills
You can rearrange the order your endorsed skills display in and choose to hide skills you don’t want showcased. Click “Show More” and then the “Manage” button to customize.
The number of endorsements displays next to each skill. You can choose to show only your top skills and hide skills that have fewer endorsements.
How to Get More Endorsements on LinkedIn
Here are some tips for getting more endorsements:
- Make your profile public so endorsements are visible.
- Add all relevant skills to your profile – don’t be shy about listing them all out.
- Connect with more people in your industry, especially those you have worked with who can validate your skills.
- Engage regularly by commenting on posts, joining discussions, and sharing content.
- Endorse connections for their skills first – this prompts them to return the favor.
- Share profile updates highlighting your accomplishments and new skills gained.
- Ask your network directly but politely to endorse your skills if they feel comfortable.
- Offer to endorse connections in your network in exchange.
- Follow up with connections after working together on a project or presentation.
The more active you are within your LinkedIn network, the more likely you are to rack up endorsements for your profile. Focus on building genuine connections with others and adding value, and the endorsements will organically follow.
How to Appropriately Endorse Others
Here are some best practices to follow when endorsing others:
- Only endorse people you know and have experience working with.
- Take time to review their full profile before endorsing.
- Match endorsements to the skills you have directly seen or worked with them on.
- Be thoughtful – endorse accurately and don’t exaggerate abilities.
- Offer to write recommendations for connections you want to validate in more detail.
- Follow up after endorsing by sharing positive feedback directly with them.
- Focus on endorsing rising leaders and those earlier in their careers.
- Endorse with integrity – don’t falsely endorse skills just to build allies.
Avoid random skill endorsements for connections you don’t know well. Stick to skills you can authentically vouch for based on experience. Thoughtful, personalized endorsements hold the most weight in building someone’s professional brand and expertise.
The Benefits of LinkedIn Endorsements
There are many potential benefits to receiving endorsements on LinkedIn:
Enhanced Professional Reputation
Each endorsement serves as a vote of confidence in your abilities from your network. This strengthens your professional reputation and validates the skills or job titles on your profile. Endorsements act as social proof of your qualifications.
Increased Visibility & Discovery
Many endorsements can increase your visibility and chance of being discovered by potential clients, partners, or recruiters. The more endorsements you have, the more it signals you are influential and distinguished in your field.
Career Advancement
Endorsements can help advance your career by showcasing a breadth of skills to hiring managers and demonstrating your professional relationships. They provide credibility for promotions and new job opportunities.
Confidence Boost
Gaining endorsements from colleagues, classmates, or respected professionals can boost your confidence and serve as external validation for your expertise. It shows peers recognize your hard work and abilities.
Skills Reinforcement
Repeated endorsements reinforce skills you want to be known for and continue building expertise around. They affirm specialty areas to focus your personal brand around on LinkedIn.
Tips for Getting Value from LinkedIn Endorsements
Here are some tips for getting the most value from LinkedIn endorsements:
- Showcase only your most relevant and recent skills. Hide outdated ones.
- Prioritize skills that align with your personal brand and professional goals.
- Give endorsements thoughtfully if you want to receive quality endorsements in return.
- Use endorsements as reminders of what skills to continue developing and strengthening.
- Say thank you! Message connections who endorse you to show appreciation.
- Endorse other emerging professionals to pay it forward and build your network.
- Pair endorsements with recommendations for maximum impact.
- Highlight your top skills reinforced by endorsements in resumes and interviews.
Focus on quality over quantity – a handful of thoughtful endorsements from respected connections goes much further than generic endorsements from strangers. Curate which skills you showcase to optimize your professional brand.
Trustworthiness of LinkedIn Endorsements
Some argue LinkedIn endorsements lack much meaning since they are one-click validations often done randomly between connections. However, when used appropriately, endorsements do carry significant credibility and trustworthiness:
- Endorsers put their own professional brand at stake. Invalid endorsements could damage their credibility.
- Endorsements between colleagues who have worked together directly are very credible.
- Multiple endorsements for a skill validate mastery through social proof.
- Customized, well-written recommendations still carry more weight.
- Endorsements must come from 1st-degree connections, establishing familiarity.
- Inflated, excessive endorsements are easy to detect and reflect poorly.
- Custom sorting and hiding lesser-endorsed skills adds curation and prioritization.
While endorsements alone don’t carry the depth of written recommendations, they do offer legitimate credibility in many cases. Bogus endorsements generally are rare because they can hurt endorsers’ reputations if abused.
Pros and Cons of LinkedIn Endorsements
Pros:
- Easy, one-click way to validate connections’ skills.
- Quick to give and receive endorsements.
- Visually stand out and take up prime real estate on profiles.
- Offers social proof of expertise and professional relationships.
- Foster positive interactions and reciprocity within network.
- Can accumulate into large numbers that impress viewers.
Cons:
- Often done randomly without much thought by connections.
- Don’t carry as much weight as written recommendations.
- Can clutter profiles if not curated well.
- Private profiles prevent endorsements from being visible.
- Cannot endorse skills not listed on someone’s profile.
- Meaning can become diluted if given out excessively.
Key Takeaways
Here are the key takeaways about endorsements on LinkedIn:
- Endorsements publicly validate someone’s skills and expertise.
- They display under the Skills & Endorsements section of profiles.
- 1st-degree connections can endorse top skills you add to your profile.
- Endorsing selectively for credible connections boosts professional brands.
- Endorsements increase visibility and showcase qualifications.
- They serve as social proof and reinforcement of abilities.
- Customization and curation keep endorsements relevant.
- Giving and getting thoughtful endorsements builds networks.
Endorse with integrity, not randomly or excessively.
Used strategically, LinkedIn endorsements can positively showcase your skills, experience, and relationships with colleagues in your industry. They offer quick validation that complements in-depth written recommendations. Focus on quality over quantity with your endorsements and they will hold credibility in advancing your professional brand and opportunities.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LinkedIn endorsements should you have?
There is no magic number of endorsements to reach. Focus more on receiving meaningful endorsements from respected connections versus chasing high quantities. Even just a few credible endorsements are valuable. Quality over quantity is key.
Do LinkedIn endorsements really matter?
Yes, credible endorsements do matter and carry weight, especially from colleagues and professionals you have worked with directly. They serve as social validation signals. However, excessively high numbers can lose meaning. Curate which skills you showcase endorsements for.
What’s the difference between an endorsement and a recommendation on LinkedIn?
Endorsements involve simply clicking a button to verify someone’s skill. Recommendations are written paragraphs providing detailed praise and feedback about working with someone. Recommendations take more time but carry more weight.
Is it bad to have few endorsements on LinkedIn?
Not at all. Don’t worry about having low numbers of endorsements as a new LinkedIn user. Focus on building out your profile, connecting with colleagues, and engaging on the platform. Thoughtful endorsements will accumulate over time. Quality matters far more than chasing quantity.
Should you endorse people you don’t know on LinkedIn?
No, only endorse people you have directly worked with or have first-hand knowledge of their skills. Randomly endorsing strangers loses credibility. Reserve endorsements only for authentic validation of people and skills you can genuinely vouch for.
Conclusion
LinkedIn endorsements offer a simple but effective way to showcase your skills, build your professional brand, and get recognized by your network. By endorsing thoughtfully and actively engaging on the platform, you can organically accumulate endorsements that reinforce your qualifications and relationships. Make sure to curate your profile to highlight endorsements that carry the most meaning and credibility. Used strategically, endorsements are a valuable component of your LinkedIn presence.
