This is a guest post by Jacob Curtis, a Community manager at Bonfire Marketing who is associated with SteamFeed.
LinkedIn endorsements have been received with mixed reviews since their introduction to the platform in September 2012. What originally started as a way for others to vouch for your listed skills without having to write a lengthy recommendation, has since turned into a popularity contest where just about anyone can endorse you for a skill regardless of their understanding of your actual experience.
Some argue that endorsements do not accurately portray the actual skills of the person who lists them. Just remember, LinkedIn Endorsements can only be given by first-degree connections. Meaning, depending on how you've grown your network on the professional platform, you shouldn't be too surprised by the quality of endorsements you receive.
So if you’re here to learn how to gain more quality LinkedIn Endorsement these 5 tips will sure help you out.
When it comes to business, location is everything. The same is true about LinkedIn Endorsements. As Endorsements were introduced to LinkedIn as an update to the Skills and Expertise section of your profile, it’s likely they haven’t moved a muscle. But did you know, that you could move the whole section entirely.
Moving your Skills and Expertise section to the top of your profile (under your bio for example) will increase your endorsements visibility to those connections that may be viewing your profile.
This small step makes a big difference for prompting visitors to endorse you before they leave. After time, a full list of quality endorsements located at the top of your profile will also look quite attractive to a recruiter or potential employer.
The point here is to make it as easy as possible for your first-degree connections to endorse you. If your Skills and Expertise section is located at the bottom of your profile, it’s very likely a user will bounce off your profile before they even have a chance to get there.
It’s natural for humans to avoid having to think harder than they have to. If you’ve listed too many (especially random) skills on your profile you could be overwhelming visitors with too many choices.
I recommend limiting the amount of skills you have listed to only focus on the one you can leverage for your future career goals. Pick the most important skills you have and avoid including unnecessary skills like Microsoft Word or MS Paint.
You should also work on consolidating very similar skills into one. For example, social media, social media management, social media advertising, could all be lumped into a single “social media marketing” skill. Though this is very situational, you can always elaborate on your specific skills and experience in your job descriptions or bio sections.
Finally, consolidating your skills and experience will also bolster the most important skills you’d like to emphasize to visitors, instead of having 20 or so skills listed with 2 or 3 endorsements each. This will also act to subliminally inform users to only endorse you for your most popular skills.
Utilize Connections
When it comes down to it, the more first-degree connections you have, the more possible endorsements you can receive. LinkedIn has a wonderful function that reminds your connections to endorse you while they’re logged in.
However, this function can cause more harm than good as it allows your connections who endorse you for anything and everything. Thankfully, LinkedIn notifies you when you receive these endorsements through a notification and email. Let’s not forget you can always choose to deny them.
Give Endorsements
People love reciprocity. As mentioned before, LinkedIn does a wonderful job reminding you to endorse your first-degree connections for their skills.
Giving “quality” endorsements is a great way to encourage users to visit your profile and return the favor. When I say “quality” I mean endorsing a connection for a skill that you’ve had experience with them performing or know they are capable of.
For example, I’ve accepted endorsements for “Social Media Marketing” from old college classmates or professors in return for endorsing them. Though they may not have worked with me directly, they still recognize my proficiency through conversations, my blog or these contributing articles.
Take the next step by leaving a connection an endorsement and then sending them a message explaining why.
Finally, the most overlooked way to gain more LinkedIn endorsements is to simply ask your first-degree connections for them. Utilize email, other social media channels, or LinkedIn’s native messaging system to send personalized messages asking to be endorsed. Be sure to include which specific skills you’d like to be endorsed for and reach out to those who are already familiar with your experience.
Don’t be shy about asking for LinkedIn Endorsements!
As endorsements can only be given by registered first-degree connections, they are already very familiar with endorsements and how to give them. You may just be surprised how effective this method can be.
Now depending on your experience or preference, LinkedIn Endorsements may not be right for you. Rest assured, LinkedIn allows you to either remove individual endorsements or remove the skills and expertise section from your profile entirely.
This of course will limit the visibility of your profile as LinkedIn utilizes these keywords for search. As mentioned before I believe having a full list of endorsements on the top of your profile will help catch the attention of a recruiter who may be researching you.
In the end, the choice is yours and those who choose to game these endorsements will end up having to account for them in the long run.
What is your experience with LinkedIn Endorsement and what tips do you have for gaining more of them? Let me know in the comments below.
