LinkedIn Endorsements – the inside track
It’s new, it’s easy, and it’s on one of the most influential B2B social sites on the web. But is it of any value?
Generally (and there are many exceptions, such as manners) the easier something is the less value it has. I’ve always valued the recommendations area in LinkedIn as it takes some thought and 15 minutes of your time to prepare one, and you’re only going to do this if you genuinely feel the recipient is worthy.
Endorsements are a simple click, you even get options presented front and middle when you log into LinkedIn, making it hard to ignore, although not all the time. So does their ease of creation reduce their value? My opinion is yes but I’d love to hear what you think. I’ve had endorsements from people I have not had direct dealings with and although you can hide these how many will.
LISTING YOUR SKILLS
If you’ve not listed your skills you can’t get an endorsement so if you’ve not done this then log into your profile, go to your profile page, scroll down to the skills area under your CV and on the right click on + ADD A SKILL.
ENDORSEMENTS FROM PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW
The counter argument to this is also strong, especially if you’re a content generator. I follow many people on blogs and social channels, and I genuinely feel I know many of them, even though we’ve never connected. If I leave an endorsement for one of these people they will have no idea who I am but the endorsement will be genuine.
ENDORSEMENTS FOR SKILLS YOU HAVEN’T LISTED
Incidentally did you know you can leave an endorsement for someone for a skill they don’t have listed, this could be fun. Several friends are growing moustaches at the moment for charity and I consider this a skill as I still have bum fluff. If this happens the SKILL will appear in a blue box at the top of your profile. You can put a X there to get rid of the suggestion or just hit ADD TO PROFILE to add the skill.
RETRACTION
You can also RETRACT an endorsement in the same way you can remove a recommendation, from your connections profile just hover over it and click UNDO.
CONCLUSION
Even though I am unsure of their value it still feels good to get endorsed, and making others feel good is a worthy reason to endorse them, assuming you are being genuine. The long term value of LinkedIn endorsements will only become apparent once they have matured, but you can bet LinkedIn are looking at using endorsements as part of the search algorithm, so although I’m a naysayer, please endorse me and make my day.
