LinkedIn is a professional networking platform used by over 700 million professionals worldwide. One of the key features of LinkedIn is the ability for members to provide endorsements for each other’s skills and expertise. Endorsements allow you to recommend your connections based on your firsthand experience working with them. They serve as a way to validate someone’s skills and give them more credibility.
If you want to endorse your connections or receive endorsements yourself, you need to know where to find the endorsement section in LinkedIn. In this article, we’ll provide a step-by-step guide on locating the endorsement section and how to use endorsements effectively.
Where to Find the Endorsement Section
The endorsement section can be found in two main places within LinkedIn:
On Your Connections’ Profiles
To endorse someone, go to their LinkedIn profile. Scroll down and look for the “Skills & Endorsements” section, usually found on the right side below their experience section. Here you will see a list of the skills that they have added to their profile.
To provide an endorsement, hover over a skill and click the “+ Endorse” button that appears. This adds your endorsement to that skill. You can remove your endorsement at any time by clicking the checkmark icon next to your name.
On Your Own Profile
To see endorsements you’ve received from others, go to your own LinkedIn profile. The “Skills & Endorsements” section will show your listed skills and the profiles of those who have endorsed you for each skill.
Clicking on a skill will show an expanded list of those who have endorsed you. You can share, comment on, or remove an endorsement using the options next to each endorser’s name.
How Endorsements Work
Now that you know where to find endorsements, let’s look at how they work and how to use them effectively:
Endorsing Skills
Endorsements validate the skills that someone has listed on their profile. You should only endorse skills that you can authentically vouch for based on working with that person.
For example, if you’ve worked closely with a graphic designer and have seen the quality of their work firsthand, you can endorse skills like Adobe Illustrator, Graphic Design, Photo Editing, etc. But don’t endorse unfamiliar skills just to be nice.
Custom Skills
In addition to endorsing predefined skills, you can type in a custom skill to endorse someone for. This allows you to endorse niche or emerging skills that the person may not have thought to add.
For example, you could type in “3D Animation” or “AR/VR Development” for skills that are too new to be official LinkedIn skills yet. The custom skill will be added to their profile once endorsed.
Receiving Endorsements
When you receive an endorsement, it notifies the skill and provides social proof of your abilities to your network. It’s a great way to showcase your expertise and have your skills validated by connections.
Don’t be afraid to ask close connections to endorse you for relevant skills, especially when you’re looking for a new job or clients. Proactively help them identify which skills to endorse based on your work together.
Skill Ranking
The more endorsements you receive for a given skill, the higher that skill will appear on your profile and in LinkedIn search results. A skill’s ranking helps demonstrate your strongest areas of expertise.
Having a diverse range of endorsed skills is better than focusing on just one or two skills. Try to collect endorsements across your entire professional skillset.
Endorsement Etiquette
There are some best practices to keep in mind when giving and receiving endorsements:
– Endorse thoughtfully – do not just endorse everyone for every skill in hopes of reciprocity. Only endorse skills you can genuinely vouch for.
– Avoid endorsing skills you don’t understand – don’t endorse technical or niche skills unrelated to the work you’ve done with someone.
– Watch for red flags – be wary of connections who endorse you for obscure or irrelevant skills they have no basis to. They may just be looking for easy reciprocity.
– Say thank you – if someone endorses your skills, take a moment to thank them and return the favor if you’re able. Building goodwill helps the value of LinkedIn.
Pros and Cons of LinkedIn Endorsements
Below are some of the key pros and cons to weigh when considering LinkedIn endorsements:
Pros
– Validates your skills and expertise from connections.
– Helps build your professional brand and credibility.
– Boosts your visibility for skills in search results.
– Easy way to support your network with a few clicks.
– Reciprocal endorsing builds relationships.
Cons
– Some endorsements may be disingenuous or based on limited interaction.
– Skills can become oversaturated with endorsements that don’t carry much meaning.
– The quality of endorsements depends heavily on your network.
– May not provide as much value as a written recommendation.
– Perceived as a popularity contest by some hiring managers.
Tips for Managing LinkedIn Endorsements
Here are some tips to get the most out of LinkedIn endorsements:
– Curate your skill list to keep it relevant to your current role and professional goals. Remove outdated skills over time.
– Take the extra effort to provide thoughtful endorsements for your close connections’ meaningful skills. Avoid blanket endorsements.
– Engage with the endorsements you receive by liking or commenting on them when appropriate. Say thanks!
– Don’t be afraid to politely decline endorsements from connections you don’t know well or that seem like hollow reciprocity. You can always remove endorsements after the fact.
– Use LinkedIn’s notification settings to control if you’re notified when endorsed, or @mentioned in endorsements.
– If you have too many low-value endorsements cluttering a skill, reset the endorsement list to clear them out.
– Periodically review your received endorsements and proactively seek endorsements from new connections for your most relevant skills.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many LinkedIn skill endorsements should I have?
There is no ideal number of endorsements to aim for. Focus on building authentic endorsements slowly over time from connections who know your work and skills well, rather than blanket endorsements. Even a handful of thoughtful endorsements are valuable.
Do LinkedIn endorsements really matter?
While endorsements alone may not determine hiring decisions, they do carry weight in validating your skills. When used genuinely, they supplement your experience and strengthen your professional brand. But overly-reciprocal endorsements lose significance. Use discretion.
Why do my LinkedIn endorsements keep going down?
Occasionally the total on your endorsement counts may decrease. This can happen when connections remove endorsements or their profiles become inactive. Don’t worry about slight drops, just keep building meaningful endorsements over time.
Should I endorse skills on LinkedIn that I’m not an expert in?
No, only endorse skills that you have directly witnessed or worked with someone on. Endorsing unfamiliar skills you have no basis for undermines the value of endorsements. Be thoughtful and selective based on firsthand experience.
How do I sort LinkedIn endorsements by date or skill?
In your Skills & Endorsements section, click “See all” next to a skill to expand the list. Here you can sort endorsements by date, relationship, experience, location and more using the dropdown menu. Toggle between different skills too.
Conclusion
LinkedIn endorsements provide a simple yet effective way to validate professional skills and expertise within your network. Locating them is easy – just look for the Skills & Endorsements section on any profile.
When used thoughtfully, endorsements can strengthen your brand, increase credibility, and highlight relevant skills to potential employers. But low-quality endorsements can also clutter your profile.
Be selective with giving and receiving endorsements. Prioritize quality over quantity by focusing on meaningful interactions that demonstrate true skill proficiency. Keep these best practices in mind to get the most out of LinkedIn endorsements.
Summary
– The endorsement section is found under “Skills & Endorsements” on any LinkedIn profile.
– Endorse skills you have directly witnessed someone demonstrate through work experience.
– Receiving endorsements validates your skills and expertise to your network.
– LinkedIn endorsements build relationships but some may lack meaning without discretion.
– Curate your skills, selectively give and remove endorsements, and say thanks.
– Regularly seek new endorsements from close connections on your top skills.
