Gathering Recommendations and Getting Endorsed

First and foremost, we need to understand these terms like endorsements and recommendations in the wide world of LinkedIn. To know the difference between the two, it is essential to know them first.

Endorsement

While creating or updating your profile on LinkedIn, you have the option of listing out your skills which talks about your areas of expertise. In a way, these skills are also defined as key words of your profile. This list of skills leads recruiters and helps them to reach you for your skills enlisted. Endorsements are just one click act of validation for some skills. This is a kind of proof that you own those skills and are expert at it.

You can also endorse others for skills similarly. You just need to go to that person’s profile; there will be a pop up on LinkedIn asking you whether you would like to endorse the person for so and so skills? Just one click and you will be able to endorse the person.

Though it is easy but do not carry heavy weightage as anyone can do it even if they are not aware of whether you have these skills or not. In my profile, there are many endorsements came through people whom I personally don’t know. So, sometimes the credibility is not very valid.

Recommendations

A recommendation is written testimonial from a LinkedIn connection. One can ask for recommendations from his/her connections. LinkedIn gives you that freedom. In turn, you can also recommend your connections with whom you have worked and knew their style of work. You can ask for recommendations from your managers, colleagues, co-workers, customers, and clients who understand and value your work/services or may be some products. But there is a unique feature of this recommendation which is quite useful.

After someone recommends you, you will get a notification, and it is your choice whether you want that statement to be published on your LinkedIn Profile or not. If you want the person to edit the comment, you can do the same. So, there is a filter which helps you gather the accurate and valid recommendations for yourself.

How to Gather Recommendations

Now that we are aware of what is Endorsement and what is a recommendation, the question comes to whom can you ask for recommendations? Let’s see how and to whom can we ask for recommendations?

Co-workers: It is always preferable to get LinkedIn recommendations from your Senior/Boss/Managers, asking for recommendation from your colleagues would also not go in vain. Rather they might provide you the most accurate and relevant recommendation. While requesting a recommendation from someone, do not forget to write a personalized note rather than using the automatic template. Usually, you are close enough with your colleague more than your boss or manager. So, you can remind of a project that you both executed together. The efforts that you put in can be recalled to gather perfect recommendations from your co-worker.

Managers: This will not be as easy as with your colleagues. You can still sometimes be informal with your colleagues, but with Managers or Boss, you have to be careful enough. You can share your great experience of working with your boss and with carefully chosen words you can ask your Manager to recommend you on LinkedIn.

Customers/Clients: It is not necessary to gather recommendations just from your Manager, Boss or Coworker, if your client appreciates your work that will also leave a good impression. If you have executed a client’s project on time and within budget, the client might appreciate you for your on time delivery. This is the time when you can encash this opportunity to get a LinkedIn recommendation.

It is right while doing professional networking that you need to give to get. So, the best way is that you should endorse or recommend someone from your connection list and in turn, LinkedIn also will ask them to return the favour as LinkedIn prompts to every user from time to time. LinkedIn recommendations act as a reference letter which validates that you have worked with that person and have been appreciated for your work.

Ideally, you should try to collect both of them. Endorsements are easy to give, but recommendations are more powerful and expressive. Preferably, you should ask recommendations from people who can fairly and genuinely write some great and authentic words to support you. Whereas you can ask for endorsements from people, who does not necessarily have worked with you but can endorse you for the skills that you have demonstrated through your overall LinkedIn content.

Ultimately the purpose of gathering endorsements or recommendations is to build your credibility in a social networking platform. Because talking about your self and someone else is talking about your expertise makes a difference. This adds a touch of belief and generates trust. This also gives a lasting impression on recruiters or whoever is reading your profile.

Take it as an Opportunity to build a strong base: When someone endorses you, you should surely say “Thank you” to make it to the least. And through this, you can start a fruitful conversation with your connection. As we all know and have noticed as well that we do not get much time to talk to our connection and even cannot converse on a regular interval except for very few of them. These endorsements/Recommendations give us an opportunity to break the ice and start a conversation which is, actually, the essence of all about networking. This chance will strengthen your connection. You may also return the favour by endorsing or recommending someone else too. It is not always about getting. You surely need to give to get.

Be Generous: While endorsing someone or most particularly while recommending someone, be little careful with your words and stick to the truth only. The same rule applies when you ask someone else to recommend you. Write a customized message for them reminding of your skills for which you want to be acclaimed.