Do you endorse the skills and expertise of others on the professional social media site LinkedIn?
Are other people endorsing your skills and areas of expertise?
Some people argue that these endorsements are meaningless. They point out that it’s easy to make an endorsement compared to taking the time to write someone a recommendation.
I beg to differ.
True, there is a huge value of getting recommendations from people. These recommendations speak specifically to the particular way in which you engaged with that person. Plus I like to write recommendations for those I think deserve a public shout out.
With endorsements, those who know you have the chance to validate the skills that you say you have.
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When you think about it, anyone could put any skill they want into their LinkedIn profile. Unless someone was mean-spirited and questioned your having that skill, you could go about proclaiming you were good it.
Now with endorsements, there is a process where people can acknowledge that you DO have a particular skill. In fact, what I find fascinating is what skills are most endorsed and which ones are least endorsed.
It doesn’t surprise me that public speaking is my highest endorsed skill. I recently read that public speaking is one of the top ten most endorsed skills on LinkedIn. Plus with my Toastmasters background, it makes sense that I would get endorsements for this skill.
The next two most endorsed skills – social networking and social media – relate directly to my business as a social media tutor. It would be awkward if the skills I use in my business didn’t show up pretty high on this list.
The rest of my top ten most endorsed skills come in part from my business and in part from my experiences in Toastmasters and in other volunteer organizations. Those are training, blogging, social media marketing, coaching, entrepreneurship, editing and leadership.
What are your most endorsed skills? Are these the ones you WANT listed in your top ten?
What I did when the endorsement feature first came out was to reach out to those who had already recommended me. I asked them to endorse me for skills related to my business, such as social networking and social media. Plus I endorsed them for the skills I knew them to be good at.
Don’t overlook the power of others providing validation for the skills you demonstrate.
How have you used the endorsement feature of LinkedIn? How has it been of value to you and to others you know?
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Joyce Feustel, Founder of Boomers’ Social Media Tutor, helps people relatively new to social media to become more effective and comfortable in their use of this medium. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com
Hey Joyce
Ive been have a running conversation with a few folks on this subject and to top it off – had few ask that I “un” endorse them as I really didnt know them – so how could I endorse them – their feeling was it degraded their profile in some way that they could not define.
I was presenting at a SCORE event last week about Linkedin and someone also said the same thing.
I guess the endorsements is the same as followers on Twitter/contacts of Linkedin/Friends on Facebook and so –
I got started in Social Media a few years back and really didnt understand the value of a network until I heard someone say
and I believe it was Guy Kawasaki
Its not about
“who you know”
but “who knows you”
and the implied value of that.
To some having a large network is meaningless
if you dont know the person
and I still dont understand what “know really means”
and others – its invaluable
Not sure who is right but
Im going with – knowing everyone in world
Good to know you 🙂
Thanks
Bob
Hi Bob,
I was very interested in what you wrote, as I know that those negative sentiments about endorsements will likely always be out there. Yet, as I wrote in the blog post, to me it makes sense to have others validate that you DO have the skills you say you have. And I am all about having an extensive network of connections, because as you quoted, the next job, client, etc. so typically comes from someone you know, even if they don’t know you that well.
It is very nice to meet you!
Joyce
An endorsement from someone who knows your abilities in that area has value. An endorsement from someone who doesn’t know your abilities in that area is meaningless.
I have an endorsement for my skills in semiconductors from someone I work with regularly – but our interactions are related to career guidance. He’s a recruitor in the biotechnology and life-sciences fields. He knows I work in semiconductors, but that’s it. He has no knowledge of what I do or how I do it (that I’m aware of), so while I think it’s nice that he went to the effort I consider it a meaningless endorsement.
I also will not automatically endorse someone just because they ask me to, nor will I solicit endorsements. I understand the value of self-promotion, but “begging for endorsements” is not the same thing. If someone feels my abilities meet their standards, it is up to them to determine if they want to endorse me. An endorsement you have to ask for just doesn’t have the same value as an unsolicited endorsement.
Rich,
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment on this blog post and share your perspective on endorsements. Since this feature was introduced last year, there has been a wide variety of opinions shared about the endorsements. It seems strange to me too when someone endorses me for a skill where I am not sure how they would even know I have that skill. What probably happens is that I just pop up in that quadrant of faces once someone has endorsed someone else for a skill.
Then because they know me to some extent, they want to do a nice thing by helping me out in that way. So, to the extent that this kind of thing happens, I do agree that the endorsement process has its limitations. That said, I find that most of the people who have endorsed me actually do have direct experience with me performing the skill that they endorsed me for. I am honored that they have endorsed me.
I also agree in general that an endorsement that you solicit doesn’t have the same value as an unsolicited endorsement. However, when this feature first came out, I did write to people who had recommended me, and I asked them to endorse me for the skills that related to what they wrote in their recommendation. To me, that didn’t seem tacky, just asking them to expand on their recommendation by doing the associated endorsements.