James SpillaneInspiration for today’s blog came in the form of a LinkedIn message I received this week asking for a recommendation.
Some context: I have never worked with, spoken to or had any correspondence with this person, but they thought I’d be the best person to recommend them to potential future employers. Hmm.
This message got me thinking about LinkedIn endorsements and recommendations and the real value of them. Then it dawned on me… there isn’t any. While there may be the odd credible endorsement or valuable recommendation, most of them are from people you don’t know, haven’t worked with or who have only endorsed or recommended you in the hope you’ll repay the favour.
While doing some research for this blog, I stumbled across a website giving me the option to purchase 15 LinkedIn recommendations with one click. If that isn’t a sign that this feature is useless, I don’t know what is.
Another problem with recommendations is that most of them are “trades” and not a true testament to your work life or style. Getting Debbie from accounts to write verse and chapter on your social media expertise in return for you lauding her ability to crunch numbers like there’s no tomorrow isn’t really helping either of you. Remember, recruiters will look at your LinkedIn profile to get an idea of your experience and qualifications. Getting fake recommendations is no worse than lying on your CV – which is a big no-no in job land!
The best tip I can give is to only get recommendations from people who have actually worked with or hired you utilising the skills you want showcasing to potential employers and recruiters, otherwise it’s a completely futile exercise.
Now, you might want to take a breather before this next bit, as I unleash my fury on the useless feature that is LinkedIn Endorsements.
Ready?
Not a day goes by when someone in Bubble HQ isn’t endorsed for a) something they are not actually skilled at by b) someone they don’t even know. I wouldn’t go on Joey Essex’s LinkedIn profile and start endorsing him for economics and mathematics, so why people feel the need to endorse me for storytelling when I haven’t written a piece of fiction since my English GCSE days is beyond me.
The main problem with endorsements is not just that people endorse you for stupid skills, but that the more and more people endorse you for them, the further down your actual skills get pushed down the list – something that is really not ideal when potential employers are scouring your page for skills.
Don’t get me wrong, real endorsements can have great value, but they are cheapened by the blind/fake endorsements thrown about like they’re going out of fashion.
This isn’t helped by LinkedIn’s extremely irritating reminder pop-up box that tells you to endorse five people at once for a load of skills you don’t even know if they have. There’s no difference between this and liking your mate’s Facebook status. The value of these endorsements is about as much as the effort it takes to do them – not a lot.
So, while these features were a great idea, they have been cheapened by people who are too eager to build up endorsements and recommendations while forgetting about the quality and credibility of them.
I’m keen to hear what you think on this one. Are LinkedIn endorsements and recommendations a great feature to showcase your skills, or waste of time tools that hold no value whatsoever?
Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @BubbleJobs! :)
This article was written for Business 2 Community by James Spillane.
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Thank you! I have felt like this about those features for some time. I only have recommendations on my profile from individuals I have known for a long time, or have worked with. I am always concerned about those that have too many.
I put little value in the endorsements (but they are a nice ego stroke – for whatever limited value they provide, I guess).
Recommendations and endorsements on LinkedIn are not a purple cow.
I agree 100% and you can’t stop people from endorsing you either. It’s the same as having a lot of contacts. What does that help if you don’t do anything with them or they aren’t in the area of business that is worthwhile to your networking?
I think the LinkedIn “Recommendations” feature was, and perhaps still is, somewhat buggy. I received an automated request to endorse my son’s profile for the skill “Microsoft Word”. So I asked him why he claimed to have MS Word expertise. He told me that he didn’t. Neither of us could figure out why LinkedIn thought he might have that skill.
now that you mention it i tried to get most of my co-workers on linked in to endorse me and they have yet to. I am in the free arrangement I guess when you pay th etwenty bucks per month then you can get endorsed by people you don’t know. My question is how can I remove someone that has endorsed me that I don’t know
I manage 7 fake profiles on LinkedIn. Each one of those completely fictional profiles have over 1000 connections, and are endorsed by a surprising number of people. LinkedIn is a joke, and real people are the punchline.
The endorsement idea at heart is not a bad idea. It was just poorly implemented. And now, years later, it is out of control and has little value. Especially since 80% or more of the endorsements I receive come from people I see every day who never sent the endorsements to begin with. This fake activity generated by LinkedIn borders on illegal. Nevermind the annoying emails I get telling me my friend and coworker of 15 years who is sitting right next to me just endorsed me for some skill that has nothing to do with my skillsets, despite the fact that he’s not even logged into to a PC.