LinkedIn endorsements allow you to recognize the skills and expertise of your connections. When you endorse someone, it appears on their profile and helps showcase their abilities to others in their network. Endorsements can be a great way to strengthen connections and validate people’s capabilities. However, some people have questioned how meaningful LinkedIn endorsements really are. Here is an in-depth look at what happens when you endorse someone on LinkedIn.
How Endorsements Work
On LinkedIn, you can endorse your 1st-degree connections for their skills and expertise. When viewing someone’s profile, you will see a list of their top skills. Next to each skill is an “Endorse” button. Clicking this sends that person an endorsement notification and adds your name to the list of endorsers below that skill.
You can remove an endorsement at any time by clicking the “Undo Endorsement” button. The person you endorsed will get a notification that you withdrew your endorsement. Their endorsement count will decrease, and your name will be removed from their endorsers list.
There is no limit to the number of endorsements you can give or receive on LinkedIn. You can endorse connections for multiple skills if you feel they are truly capable in those areas.
Benefits of Giving Endorsements
Here are some potential benefits of endorsing your LinkedIn connections:
- Strengthens relationships – Endorsing someone shows you value their abilities and appreciate their work.
- Supports career growth – Endorsements help build someone’s professional brand and subject matter credibility.
- Quick and easy – Endorsing only takes a few clicks, so it’s easy to recognize connections.
- Builds goodwill – People appreciate being endorsed, so it promotes goodwill between connections.
- Validates expertise – Endorsements confirm that someone actually has the skills listed on their profile.
When weighing whether to endorse someone, think about if you genuinely want to recognize their skills and if they would appreciate the validation. Don’t just endorse everyone in your network in hopes of reciprocity.
Getting Endorsed by Others
Here are some key things that happen when you get endorsed on LinkedIn:
- Notification – You get an email and LinkedIn notification when someone endorses you.
- Profile update – The endorsement appears under that skill on your profile.
- Endorser list – The name of the person endorsing you is added below your skill.
- Endorsement count – Your endorsement number for that skill increases.
- Newsfeed post – The endorsement may show up in your connections’ newsfeeds.
So each endorsement directly promotes a specific skill of yours and lets your network know your connections value those abilities.
Do Endorsements Increase LinkedIn Connections?
Endorsements don’t directly lead to more LinkedIn connections. However, they can indirectly help you expand your network in a few ways:
- Increased visibility – Active profiles with many endorsements stand out more.
- Reinforced expertise – Skills validation piques people’s interest in connecting.
- Reciprocity – People often endorse back those who endorse them first.
So while endorsements alone won’t grow your network, they can boost your profile’s visibility and credibility. This can then result in more connection requests over time.
Downsides of LinkedIn Endorsements
WhileLinkedIn endorsements aim to be a positive professional validation, some drawbacks have emerged over time:
Endorsement Clicking
Some people try to boost their endorsement numbers by endorsing those who endorse them or even paying for endorsement services. This can diminish the meaning and lead to skill misrepresentation.
Endorsing Without Knowledge
It’s possible to endorse people for skills you don’t actually know they have. This questionable validation reduces the credibility of endorsements.
Excessive Endorsements
When people endorse excessively, it becomes difficult to determine which skills someone is actually an expert in.
Enforcement Inflation
The more people in a network that liberally endorse each other, the less meaningful large endorsement counts become.
Reduced Job Aid
Due to endorsement clicking and inflation, skills with many endorsements aren’t necessarily an accurate judge of candidates’ abilities.
So endorsements should ideally reflect genuine recognition of expertise from those who’ve directly experienced someone’s skills.
Best Practices for LinkedIn Endorsements
To get the most out of LinkedIn endorsements, keep these tips in mind:
- Endorse thoughtfully – Only endorse skills you can authentically validate.
- Endorse sporadically – Endorse when deserved, not by default or reciprocity.
- Thank endorsers – Show gratitude to reinforce the value of their recognition.
- Focus on your top skills – Keep the skills list on your profile concise.
- Add context – Supplement endorsements with recommendations when possible.
Following these best practices helps ensure endorsements carry meaningful professional weight.
Who Can Endorse You on LinkedIn?
Here is a quick rundown of who can endorse your skills on LinkedIn:
- 1st-degree connections – People directly connected to you can endorse you.
- 2nd & 3rd-degree connections – You can be endorsed by connections of your connections.
- Group members – Fellow members of shared LinkedIn groups can endorse you.
- Coworkers – Current or former colleagues at your company can endorse you.
Essentially, anyone you are connected to either directly or through shared groups/companies on LinkedIn can endorse you.
Can Strangers Endorse You?
No, people who are not connected to you in some way cannot endorse you on LinkedIn. This policy aims to increase the credibility of endorsements.
Can You Endorse Yourself?
LinkedIn does not allow self-endorsements. All endorsements must come from others in your network. This prevents self-promotion and skill misrepresentation.
Do All Endorsements Appear Publicly?
Endorsements only appear publicly on your profile if you add that skill to your profile’s skills list. If someone endorses you for an unlisted skill:
- You still get a notification of the endorsement.
- It tracks privately in your profile’s “Unlisted Skills” section.
- The endorsement does not appear publicly on your profile.
So you control which endorsements are publicly visible by keeping your listed skills concise.
Can You Remove Endorsements?
If you no longer want an endorsement to appear on your profile, you have a few options:
- Remove the skill – Taking the skill off your profile also removes endorsements.
- Ask endorser to remove – Request the person who endorsed you withdraw their endorsement.
- Block the endorser – This prevents their endorsement from displaying.
So while you can’t directly delete endorsements, you can use these workarounds to remove unwanted endorsements.
Do Endorsements Impact LinkedIn Search Rankings?
Endorsements don’t directly influence LinkedIn’s search algorithm. But they can indirectly improve your discoverability in a few ways:
- Keyword targeting – Endorsed skills contain relevant keywords.
- Profile engagement – Endorsements increase profile view count.
- Content sharing – Endorsements show up in your network’s feeds.
- Credibility signals – Endorsements help validate your expertise.
So while endorsements don’t formally factor into search, they can boost your profile’s visibility and authority.
Should You Include Endorsements on Your Resume?
Here are some pros and cons of including LinkedIn endorsements on your resume:
Potential Pros
- Third-party validation – Shows others recognize your skills.
- Concise – Endorsement counts quickly communicate expertise.
- Keyword targeting – Endorsed skills contain relevant keywords.
Potential Cons
- Questionable validity – Endorsements may be inflated or inaccurate.
- Lack context – Count alone doesn’t convey nuance of abilities.
- Appear braggadocious – Highlighting your own endorsements seems self-promotional.
Given the cons, it is usually not recommended to list endorsement counts on a resume. Providing the detail and context of your skills in the resume itself is best.
Can You Sort LinkedIn Endorsements?
LinkedIn does not allow sorting your endorsements in different ways. Your endorsements for each skill appear in the following default order:
- 1st-degree connections
- 2nd-degree connections
- 3rd-degree connections
- Group members
This ordering aims to prioritize endorsements from those closest in your network. There is no option to customize the sort order.
Do LinkedIn Endorsements Expire?
No, LinkedIn endorsements do not have an expiration date. Once endorsed, it remains tied to your profile unless:
- You remove the skill from your profile
- The endorser withdraws their endorsement
- You block the endorser
So endorsements act as an ongoing record of recognition that remains part of your profile over time.
Conclusion
While not without some drawbacks, LinkedIn endorsements can positively showcase abilities and strengthen professional connections when used genuinely. Take care to endorse thoughtfully, keep your featured skills concise, and supplement with detailed recommendations where appropriate. This helps ensure endorsements meaningfully convey your expertise.
