Hi there! Are you looking to spruce up your LinkedIn presence and establish credibility within your industry? Recommendations can majorly boost your personal brand and job prospects.
As a professional with over a decade of experience leveraging digital platforms for career growth, I‘ve seen firsthand the immense power of LinkedIn recommendations.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll be sharing everything you need to know about optimizing recommendations to showcase your awesomeness to the world!
Here‘s what we‘ll cover:
Table of Contents
- Why Recommendations Matter
- The Anatomy of a Great Recommendation
- Getting Recommendations – Who and How to Ask
- Writing Standout Recommendations for Others
- Managing Recommendations You Receive
- Showcasing Recommendations for Maximum Impact
- How Recommendations Build Your Personal Brand
- Freelancer Personal Branding With Recommendations
- Comparing Recommendations, Endorsements and References
- Recommendation Strategies For Career Advancement
- FAQs around LinkedIn Recommendations
Why LinkedIn Recommendations Matter
LinkedIn recommendations are essentially written endorsements of your capabilities and work ethic by connections who‘ve worked with you. They highlight your biggest accomplishments and impact created.
But why exactly are they so crucial for your LinkedIn presence?
The Cold Hard Facts
Let‘s look at some stats around recommendations:
- Profiles with recommendations are 5 times more likely to be discovered and 31 times more likely to be viewed.
- 80% of talent acquisition teams believe recommendation give unique insights compared to rest of profile.
- Nearly 66% of hiring managers admitted being more likely to hire someone endorsed by a mutual connection.
- 92% of job applicants believe positive recommendations make their application more favourable.
Clearly, recommendations significantly amplify chances of your profile being discovered and winning over recruiters.
The Social Proof Factor
But what makes recommendations so special?
They work phenomenally as social proof and third party validation about your awesomeness. Prospective opportunities trust a credible voice from your network vouching for your skills much more than self authored content.
Each recommendation adds a layer of trust and relatability that‘s near impossible to replicate solely through self branding.
The Personal Element
Unlike skills, certifications or credentials which are impersonal, recommendations add a human touch.
Viewers get to know the real you through the eyes of professionals who have seen your work up close. This affinity makes their endorsement resonate far more.
So in many ways, recommendations bring out your personal awesomeness strongly backed by social validation – kind of like professional character witnesses!
Convinced about why they should be an integral part of your LinkedIn presence? Let‘s get into the tactical nitty gritties.
The Anatomy of a Great Recommendation
Let‘s break down what goes into writing an outstanding recommendation:
1. Impactful Opening
Hook: Lee has been the most dedicated and creative product designer I‘ve worked with in over 15 years.
Set the stage with an impressive opening line about the person‘s stellar qualities or achievements. Makes the reader curious to learn more.
2. In-Depth Skill Endorsement
Lee has this amazing ability to deeply empathize with user needs. Combined with strong technical skills, he comes up with solutions that perfectly blend utility and convenience. For our last project, he proposed an approach that increased retention over 35% through better onboarding.
Expand on the opening line by highlighting other noteworthy skills and proven results. Share specific accomplishments rather than generic praise.
3. Insider Perspective
As lead designer in my team over the past 3 years, Lee has been my go-to person for innovating solutions.
Provide context about your relationship, project(s) worked on together etc. Reinforces your credibility to endorse their abilities.
4. Summarize Key Themes
Consistent high quality deliverables under tight deadlines, staying updated with latest trends, collaborating smoothly across disciplines – Lee excels on all fronts.
Identify connective threads across traits you highlighted. Summarize frequently occurring themes into a conclusion.
5. Power Closing
Lee will be an asset to any product team. Highly recommend him for opportunities matching his skills.
Seal your recommendation strongly. Share that you‘d gladly hire them again given the chance or welcome working with them in future.
So in short, a stellar recommendation blends an impressive opening, skill specifics, insider view and strong recommendation into a seamless narrative.
Now that you know the anatomy of an awesome recommendation, let‘s get some written for you!
Getting Recommendations – Who and How to Ask
Wondering who to approach and how? Follow this game plan:
Step 1: Make a List
Scroll through your connections and make a list. Here are some options:
- Current colleagues
- Ex-managers and senior leadership
- Team members you mentored
- Long term clients
- Collaborators from past companies
- Vendors/business partners
- College professors/internship guides
Aim for atleast 8-10 recommendations from diverse sources.
Step 2: Informal Ask
Personally ping them first outside the automated recommendation request feature. A customized nudge improves response rate tremendously.
Sample Ask
Hi [name]! I wanted to reach out since I deeply valued working with you on [project]. Your guidance was invaluable in sharpening my [skills]. Would you be open to endorsing those capabilities in a recommendation for my LinkedIn profile? Please let me know!
Short, simple and personal.
Step 3: Formal Request
Now use the official recommendation feature to send formal requests.
Go to profile → Recommendations → Ask for recommendation
Fill up details → Send request!
[Insert visual guide]Don‘t shy away from requesting revisions if you feel recommendations undersell your awesomeness. Politely guide recommenders on specific achievements you‘d like highlighted.
Writing Standout Recommendations
Paying forward meaningful recommendations is professional etiquette.
Follow these tips when endorsing your teammates:
1. Customize For Each Person
No batch recommends with identical content! Treat each one specially.
2. Align With Their Goals
Understand what opportunities they want recommended for and emphasize relevant skills.
3. Use Statistical Proof
Quantify accomplishments with numbers wherever possible – conversion lift generated, sales increased by X times etc.
4. Get Creative With Adjectives
Go beyond cliches – replace hardworking with indefatigable, good communicator with virtuoso conversationalist. Sprinkle some spice!
5. Balance Qualities
Blend technical prowess with soft skills and intangibles like learnability, integrity, team spirit etc.
Now that you know how to make recommendations meaningful for others, let‘s talk about managing those you receive.
Managing Recommendations You Receive
Recommendations you receive include:
-
Pending – Yet to be published
-
Archived – Previously published but removed
Manage both types by:
Accept Great Ones
Accept glowing recommendations that summarize your awesomeness. Converts pending ones into published on profile.
Dismiss Irrelevant / Outdated Ones
Dismiss irrelevant recommendations from random connections or those too old to align with your current brand.
Request Updates
Ask senders to revise recommendations that undersell you, have typos or don‘t reflect major new skills.
So be choosey about what recommendations you publish. Accept those aligning with current skills and future ambitions. Actively manage others with dismissals and revision requests.
Showcase Recommendations for Maximum Impact
With limited profile space, optimize visibility of your best recommendations:
Refresh Before Role Change
Solicit new recommendations just prior to switching roles or industries. They validate capabilities relevant for the career shift.
Rotate Recommendations
If you have lots, publish a subset aligned to audience viewing your profile – leadership skills for management roles, technical for engineering jobs etc.
Feature Recommenders‘ Titles
Display current titles of recommenders even if from past association. Helps establish authority.
Group By Theme
Categorize by skills and accomplishments – Technical Prowess, Leadership and Strategy, Client Relations etc.
Be mindful that recommendations visible on your profile influence how recruiters and industry peers perceive you. Tailor their mix strategically.
How Recommendations Build Your Personal Brand
Beyond creating a presence, LinkedIn helps build authority as an industry thought leader contributing original perspectives and solutions.
Recommendations play a powerful role in amplifying your personal brand by showcasing:
Subject Matter Expertise
Technical recommendations from colleagues validate your hands-on practitioner skills in specific domains. This tangibly demonstrates advanced expertise.
Thought Leadership
Strategic recommendations highlight visionary qualities that influenced critical decisions for the business. Boosts leadership equity.
Network Reach
Getting recognized by veterans and CXOs indicates access to insider circles. Helps establish that you know the movers and shakers.
So be very selective about which recommendations you showcase to reinforce the authority image you want associated with your personal brand.
Freelancer Personal Branding With Recommendations
For solopreneurs and freelancers struggling with lack of name recognition, recommendations plug that gap beautifully by endorsing capabilities.
They tangibly demonstrate expertise that generates results for clients ahead of sales conversations. This social proof built on recognizable client names removes barriers to initial conversations.
Recommendations also help freelancers specializing in newer spaces like social media marketing establish legitimacy in the eyes of skeptics.
Beyond endorsements, recommendations also open doors to referral projects from existing clients and within their networks. This enables tapping into new opportunities without cold outreach.
They also serve as free and authentic testimonials for inclusion on freelancing profile pages and websites – much more relatable than self-written ones!
Comparing Recommendations With Endorsements and References
Beyond endorsements and traditional references, LinkedIn recommendations offer unique advantages:
Vs Endorsements
While endorsements validate skills just like recommendations, they lack the contextual depth. Endorsers merely click an auto-generated skill without any customization.
Recommendations however require effort in drafting customized content highlighting specific accomplishments. This personalized element adds huge credibility.
Vs References
Most employers don‘t bother contacting references or recommendations beyond cursory checks. Written LinkedIn recommendations on the other hand are visible front and centre on profiles.
They thus play a pivotal role in shaping very first impressions even before reference checks. This makes their visibility and content critical.
Recommendations also feel more authentic as they predate recruitment conversations and aren‘t influenced by the prospect of employment.
Clearly, LinkedIn recommendations straddle the convenience of single click endorsements with the depth of references beautifully while offering unique visibility advantages.
Convinced about their potential? Let‘s wrap up with some tactical recommendation strategies to accelerate your career.
Recommendation Strategies For Career Advancement
Here are some proven ways professionals leverage recommendations:
Industry Transitioning
Getting recommendations from veterans and leaders in your target functions helps establish relevance while changing industries.
Early Leadership Validation
High potential managers secure recommendations from CXOs preemptively. Accelerates their talent brand.
New Country Establishment
Recommendations from industry bigwigs in target countries enables tapping into otherwise inaccessible opportunities abroad.
Accelerating Promotions
Aligning recommendations to coveted competencies for next level roles tangibly demonstrates readiness early on.
So there you have it – everything you need to know about recommendations to boost your personal brand and job prospects on LinkedIn!
I hope this guide helps you showcase your inner awesomeness to the world. Feel free to ping me anytime for any other tips on standing out professionally online!
