Day 17: How to Leverage LinkedIn Recommendations and Endorsements - How to Get and Give Powerful Recommendations

LinkedIn recommendations and endorsements are social proof that validate your skills and experience. They give potential employers or clients a sense of how others view your work, making them powerful tools to enhance your profile. While endorsements are quick acknowledgments of your skills, recommendations provide more depth and specificity. Both can significantly boost your credibility.

1. The Importance of LinkedIn Recommendations

Recommendations are personalized testimonials that show the quality of your work. They carry more weight than endorsements because they involve detailed feedback from colleagues, clients, or managers. Recommendations can highlight not only your skills but also your work ethic, problem-solving ability, and how you perform in teams.

Example:

Ananya is a project manager. She asked her previous supervisor for a recommendation that highlighted how she led a successful project launch that saved the company 15% in costs. This specific recommendation helped her land several interviews because it provided concrete evidence of her leadership abilities.

Action Tip:

Identify 2-3 people (managers, colleagues, clients) who can speak to your skills and ask for a recommendation. Be specific in your request, mentioning the project or skills you’d like them to focus on.

2. How to Request Recommendations Effectively

When asking for a recommendation, make it easy for the other person. Provide a clear idea of what you’d like them to focus on, such as a particular project or a specific skill you want highlighted. Personalize your request and explain why their recommendation would mean a lot to you.

Example:

Instead of sending a generic “Can you recommend me?” message, try something like:

"Hi, Raj! I really enjoyed working with you on the marketing campaign last year. Would you be willing to write a recommendation for me focusing on how we increased brand awareness by 30%? It would really help as I’m exploring new marketing roles."

Action Tip:

Send personalized requests for recommendations and offer to provide context or even draft a few key points to make it easier for the other person.

3. The Power of Giving Recommendations

Giving recommendations is just as valuable as receiving them. When you give a thoughtful recommendation, you strengthen your professional relationships. Plus, it often encourages the recipient to return the favor and provide you with one in return.

Example:

Suppose you worked with a colleague named Arjun on a successful project. You could write him a recommendation that praises his problem-solving skills and attention to detail. Not only will this strengthen your connection, but it may prompt Arjun to write one for you as well.

Action Tip:

Think of 2-3 colleagues or clients you’ve worked with recently and offer to write them a recommendation. This will not only help them but also improve your LinkedIn presence.

4. The Role of Endorsements

Endorsements are quick and easy ways for your network to acknowledge your skills. While they don’t carry as much weight as recommendations, having a high number of endorsements for certain skills can enhance your credibility in specific areas.

Example:

Aditi, a software developer, has 50+ endorsements for Python programming. While it doesn’t replace a recommendation, these endorsements give a quick glance at her key strengths, making her more attractive to potential employers.

Action Tip:

Endorse the skills of colleagues and connections you admire. Most people will reciprocate, which increases your own endorsements in key areas.

Action Summary

• The Importance of LinkedIn Recommendations: Personalized testimonials from colleagues or clients that highlight your skills and work ethic, providing concrete evidence of your abilities.
• How to Request Recommendations Effectively: Personalize your requests by being specific about what you want them to focus on and explain why their recommendation is valuable to you.
• The Power of Giving Recommendations: Offering thoughtful recommendations strengthens professional relationships and often encourages reciprocation.
• The Role of Endorsements: Quick acknowledgments of your skills that enhance your credibility, especially when you have a high number for specific areas.
• Action Tip: Proactively seek recommendations and endorsements while also giving them to others in your network to foster strong connections.

If you are more of a audio - visual person and would rather like to see / listen to this, check out my video on youtube : (it is a 15 minute video)

If you want to learn a little more about how you can create this magic, please feel free to get in touch with me. You may want to check out my course: "Unlocking the Secrets to Getting that Dream Job"??

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About the Author: Visvanathan Sambasivam

I am a corporate professional, having worked as a Marketing / Consumer Insights professional in various Indian and Global MNCs for the last 30 years, with a passion for mentoring, teaching, and coaching; with a vision of helping 1 million people in their personal and professional growth.

I write regularly on LinkedIn & Facebook and have mentored many people in their professional journey.