LinkedIn Endorsements vs. Recommendations–Understanding why you should go the extra mile…

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I wrote a blog post about the virtues of having a professional photo.  It was a rant really but I got some fabulous feedback and a whole lot of questions.

One question in particular really stood out from the others. “I am really confused about the difference between LinkedIn endorsements and recommendation. Could you please explain which one I should be using or asking for?” 

I know many people are wondering the same thing so I thought I would explain my take these two important but distinctly different public display of support. 

Recommendation

A LinkedIn recommendation is a written affirmation of a job well done or a confirmation that you have worked with someone in a particular ‘job’ (company, event, project, service)  at a given time.  They are given by first degree connections.

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A recommendation can be requested or can be given without a request (the nicer of the two since the latter comes as a surprise when you receive one).  When LinkedIn was launched it was a requirement to get at least one recommendation to have a 100% completion of your profile.  So it was imperative that you get a recommendation

When I first started on LinkedIn I sent out six requests for a recommendation thinking that maybe three or four people would respond.  I chose people from different areas of my life: personal, work, professional associations and volunteer organizations.  People that I had worked with locally and nationally.  [To request a formal recommendation: Go to Profile—> Recommendations—>Ask for Recommendations]

Since I was an independent contractor, I needed recommendations from clients also.  I was taken aback but happy to receive a recommendation from every connection that I solicited.  I was humbled by what they thought of me personally and professionally. 

Four years later, I have received many more and varied  recommendations for presentations that I have done, jobs I have completed and workshops that I have given.  They have been for both my professional organizing business and my social media training and speaking business.

It is important to note here that you can give anyone a recommendation whether they are a connection or not.

A recommendation is a verifiable sourced commendation of a specific task, job or project associated with  a particular organization given by a specific individual that you worked with.

It is verifiable because that recommendation is directly connected to another LinkedIn member

~ Margarita Ibbott

Endorsements

One cannot argue with the popularity and easy of giving an  endorsement. With over 58 million professionals who have been recognized for their skills and expertise on LinkedIn and one billion LinkedIn endorsements  given in 2014, this is one feature that cannot be ignored. 

An endorsement, is a one-click acknowledgement of a skill and is given by a 1st Degree connection.  As a LinkedIn member, you have the capacity to list different skills sets.  You can use already defined skills or you can create your own unique skills. My skills, for example, vary but include: organizing, consulting, speaking, social media training, Twitter training, LinkedIn training etc.  These are skills that are associated with the jobs that I have done and continue to do.

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(Source – LinkedIn.com)

An endorsement (unlike a recommendation) are not formally solicited (see above)  but can be given for a known or perceived skill.  This is a key to understanding the difference.

A person can give me an endorsement for social media training without having taken one-on-one training with me but they may have attended one of my presentations or conference workshops.  They may also have read one of my blog posts on social media or gone to my website to confirm that one of my services is social media  training.  They don’t, however, have to give a specific session, workshop or conference reference.

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(Source – LinkedIn.com)

Endorsements seem to be flying willy-nilly all over the place for real or perceived accomplishments. LinkedIn pop-ups actively asks members to endorse another member if you so much as view the other person’s profile.  It also asks you, almost every time, you log onto LinkedIn to endorse one of your connections. Hence the randomness (and in my opinion – weakness) of an endorsement.

I appreciate every single one of the endorsements that I receive. I   REALLY do.  It reinforces that people are paying attention to what I do, what I write, what I say… or do they?

For the sake of argument, I often wonder if people just give endorsements so the requests stop popping up when they log into LinkedIn.  Or do they hope for an endorsement themselves? A tit-for-tat if you will.  When suggesting an endorsement, LinkedIn pop-ups almost exclusively suggest people that have already endorsed me. 

Don’t get me wrong, I do give endorsing love… when I think  my connection merits it or I have witnessed or I know they possess those particular skills. Endorsing someone is quick & easy – I get it. People glance at this feature (maybe even keep count of how many other people have given an endorsement of that same skill) so it does count for something.

You have the option of opting-out of endorsements but that may not be something you want to do because LinkedIn is all about SEO and they place a lot of emphasis on how a person’s profile is filled out.  The more key words associated with your talents, the easier it will be to find you.

But to me, a recommendation is the gold standard for someone’s TRUE accomplishments.

I know I take the time to read the  recommendations people write when I am surveying a person’s profile.  Even though I may glance at the endorsement they receive, it is clear to me that a recommendation hold more weight because it was written specifically for someone by someone. 

They took the time to think of the wording, acknowledged the time they worked with that person and then they went through the process of submitting it to the recipient.  The recipient then has to choose to accept or revise the recommendation and finally chose to hide or proudly display those commendations.  A lot of work goes into that particular feature of LinkedIn so that is why I value it so much.  You have to really ‘work’ for a good recommendation!

How do you use LinkedIn recommendations  or endorsements?


 

 

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Margarita Ibbott is a travel and lifestyle blogger. She blogs about travel in Canada, the United States and Europe giving practical advice through restaurant, hotel and attraction reviews. She writes for DownshiftingPRO.com and other online media outlets.

2 thoughts on “LinkedIn Endorsements vs. Recommendations–Understanding why you should go the extra mile…”

  1. Really great article – I really had no idea. The idea of a recommendation is so important and valuable. I will absolutely take the time to make recommendations for those I know deserve it. Sharing your article too!

  2. I agree that some people will give an endorsement just because it’s easy to click. For example, I’ve been endorsed for public speaking from people who have never heard me speak. I’ve also been endorsed for things I’ve rarely or never done. However, I have over 100 endorsements for blogging, so someone seeing that can be fairly certain that I do in fact have that skill, as compared to 1 endorsement for copywriting. In other words, I think there’s some value in endorsements, but you have to look at them closely. One well-written recommendation is worth a whole bunch of endorsements!

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