LinkedIn, the most professional social media handle known in today’s times is no less than an online resume. What makes LinkedIn different from others is its striking and attractive features of which “LinkedIn recommendations” is one. This can be thus used to improve your LinkedIn profile to a great extent!
LinkedIn recommendations can improve your LinkedIn profile, online reputation, and impact positively on your prospects as a candidate. Recommendations should be relevant, clear, concise, and add value to the assessment of one’s professional skills and capabilities.
There are several benefits of LinkedIn recommendation to a colleague:
- By sending a recommendation you increase the chances to get one back and improve your profile.
- It will boost your credibility with the person’s capabilities and skills.
- It gives you a chance to improve your networking relationship.
- It helps to show your profile on other relevant LinkedIn pages.
RECOMMENDATIONS, THE BEST WAY TO OPTIMIZE YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE:
- Who doesn’t want to appear on the top searches for a certain skill?? LinkedIn Recommendations are a way to optimize your profile, make it relevant, and bring your account to the top searches of the recruiters.
- The recommendations are the areas where you can add SEO keywords related to your proficiency, which can drive the needle on your side. A recommendation that matches your bio is considered to be highly optimized.
- When keywords related to your skills are used, your name tends to pop up on top suggestions to the recruiters when they type certain skills or domains to search potential candidates
HOW TO DO IT?
- Explain the nature of your professional relationship:
It is a helpful piece of context that acts as an “intro” for your recommendation. Whether it is a co-worker, a manager, a point of contact at an agency, or someone else, it sets the stage for the reader to learn why you are writing this recommendation.
- Explain how they have grown at the company:
This aspect of a LinkedIn recommendation can improve your LinkedIn profile. This is done by explaining how the person you are recommending has grown either in their role or in adapting himself as the organization expanded.
- Indicate how their contribution helped grow the team or company:
This could be an explanation of how their performance had helped or a demonstration of a contribution towards things, like leading their teammates or executing new initiatives.
- End with a note about the personal aspect of working with him/her:
It hits the message home with a mention of how you felt working with the person, your expectations for his career, or simply a prediction about their future.
- How to manage LinkedIn recommendations:
When you receive a recommendation, you get notified via email and you are able to view the recommendation, if for some reason you do not want the recommendation on your profile, you may not publish it.
HOW TO REQUEST A RECOMMENDATION ON LINKEDIN?
To improve your Linkedin profile, you have to ask for a recommendation, think about what you are trying to accomplish, as this will impact who you will ask and how you direct that person.
Identify the person you’d like to recommend to you:
Keep in mind the best person to write a recommendation is not always the one you are closest to or the one with the most impressive title.
Below are some guidelines to help you search for the perfect person to recommend you and help you improve your Linkedin profile-
- You have worked for six months or more.
- Experienced with other professionals like you.
- Benefited materially from your work.
- Is a strong writer.
