Verified? Everything You Need to Know About LinkedIn Verifications

Like other social platforms, LinkedIn has a process to let users verify their identities. It’s the LinkedIn equivalent of the blue checkmark…kind of. I’ll get into the details below. Armed with all the right info, you can make an informed decision about whether or not verification makes sense for you. And, decide what the verified badge means (if anything) when you see it on other profiles.?

What is LinkedIn Verification?

LinkedIn verifications allow users to verify certain information on their profiles. There are three different types of verifications available: 1) identity, 2) workplace, and 3) educational institution. Each is intended to verify exactly what it sounds like, either your identity, where you work, or where you received your degree or training.?

If I had to guess, I would say LinkedIn zeroed in on these three pieces of information as they’re often the basis of connection. For example, you might be more willing to connect with a stranger who’s an alum from your alma mater or works in a different team at the same company. AI has made it easier to stand up fake accounts across many social media platforms, including LinkedIn, so the need for trust and credibility is warranted.?

How to Get Verified?

As of this publication date, each type of verification has a couple of different pathways to get verified. No matter which option you choose, the verification is free of charge, making it different from some other platforms which require a fee.?

For identity verification, LinkedIn matches your government documents to your account info via a third-party service, either CLEAR (steps below) or Persona (for those with NFC-enabled passports).?

Workplace verifications are confirmed for select companies only using either a work email, Microsoft Entra Verified ID, or a company-sponsored LinkedIn Learning license. Similarly, educational verifications require an educational email or institutional LinkedIn Learning license.?

Follow the steps below to complete your identity verification on the desktop version of LinkedIn.??

1. From within your LinkedIn profile, select the More button.?

2. Click the “About this profile” button from the dropdown.?

3. Select “Get verified” to start the identity verification process.?

4. Scan the QR code to be redirected to CLEAR.?

5. After completing a series of steps, including submitting a photo of yourself and a government-issued ID, you’ll need to select “Yes, share” to allow LinkedIn to have access to your information.?

6. If the name on your LinkedIn account matches the one on your ID, you’ll receive the verification badge, which might display the name of the issuing country of your ID.?

At the time of publication, verified members are denoted with a small gray badge next to their names within their profiles. You can also click on the badge to see more information about the type and method of verification.?

My Hot Take

Can I be honest with you? This is not my favorite LinkedIn feature. I just…don’t think it means much. (There, I said it!) I personally will not be verifying my identity on LinkedIn. My thought is, why would I give CLEAR all my information if adding verification doesn’t benefit me or my network in any measurable way??

There’s a chance I would change my mind if I felt there were meaningful safety implications for the average user. LinkedIn’s goal, it seems, is to offer a way of knowing that people are who they say they are. And that’s great! (For what it’s worth though, the feature isn’t perfect. I have seen more than one “educational” verification that should have been a “workplace” verification for people who work at universities, which is confusing… but I digress.)

The bottom line is, verification is not reason enough to let someone into your network. Verified or not, my antenna is always up when I receive a connection request, InMail, or message. I coach my clients to be thoughtful about the network they build. Verification, in my opinion, doesn’t change the fact that the burden is on you to do your homework.?

If you’d like to get verified, don’t let me stop you! I don’t think you have much to lose as long as you don’t mind using a third-party service to confirm your info. And if you work or go to a school at an institution that makes it easy to verify, why not? The choice is up to you. Just remember, like anything, this isn’t a silver bullet to connection. That, my friend, takes a little more work.?

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This article was originally published on McMillion Consulting where you can access even more helpful content!