Have you thought about the value of getting and giving recommendations on LinkedIn? Potential employers, clients and referral partners notice both those you receive and those you give.

Yet, many people remain reluctant to ask for public recognition of their work. And some also hesitate to write a recommendation for someone else. Perhaps they don’t know how to ask for a recommendation. Or maybe they’re not sure what to say in one.

Recommendations are vital ways to make your profile stand out. It’s one thing to say you’re great at something. It means a lot more when someone else attests to your abilities and contributions.

 

Whom to Ask For a Recommendation

As always, it’s best to be deliberate and thoughtful about the process. Here are some things to consider prior to asking for recommendations.

  • Which of your LinkedIn connections are most likely to write you a recommendation?
  • Which position in your experience section is a potential recommender best suited to recommend you for?
    • If someone has known you over the course of many years, you might ask them to write you a broad testimonial to use as part of your summary in your About section.
    • If you worked on something specific with or for someone, ask them to recommend you for those specific skills.

 

How to Request a Recommendation

  • Go to the profile of the person you want to ask. click on the More… button and select Request a Recommendation.
  • Click on Select Relationship to choose the nature of your relationship.
  • Click on Select Your Position at the Time, to select the position for which you want to be recommended. Then click Next.
  • Type a short, yet very specific message, about what you’d like them to recommend you for and click Send.
  • Notify the person via email or phone that you’ve asked for this recommendation. Tell them they will see the recommendation request in their LinkedIn messages.

 

How to Make a Recommendation

The process for making a recommendation is quite similar to that of requesting one.

  • Go to the profile of the person you want to ask. click on the More… button. This time, select the Recommend button.
  • Click on Select Relationship to choose the nature of your relationship.
  • Click on Select Your Position at the Time, to select the position for which you want to recommend them. Then click Next.
  • Type the recommendation (I recommend doing this as a word or similar document first and then cutting and pasting the text). Click Send.
  • Keep in mind that you can only write one recommendation for each position someone has had. If you want to update a recommendation, go to the Recommendations section of your profile. Then click on the pencil icon at the top right of this section and click on the word Given.
  • Scroll down until you find the recommendation you wrote earlier and click on Revise. Type in your revised recommendation and click Send.
  • Be sure to email or call this person to tell them you’ve revised your recommendation. They need to click on Add to Profile to have the updated recommendation display. It will replace the old one.

 

How About You?

Are you asking your LinkedIn connections to recommend you? What kinds of responses have you received? How has having recommendations made a positive difference for you? What’s been the response when you’ve recommended someone else?

 

About Joyce

Joyce Feustel helps people, especially those age 45 and up, become more effective and productive using social media, especially Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. She provides social media tutoring and training to business owners, business development professionals, job seekers and more – ranging from entrepreneurs to people in large companies. Find her at www.boomerssocialmediatutor.com.