I was at a networking event recently, and someone asked me my most un-favorite question: “What do you think about Endorsements?”
Honestly, I can not stand them. Really. I am that emphatic about it.
I know why LinkedIn created Endorsements. It was supposed to be a way for recruiters to search based on a specific skill, and then they could verify the level a candidate was qualified at that skill by the quantity of endorsements they had.
And it didn’t work.
At all.
Apparently, I’m not the only person that is not a fan of them, either:
- When your mother-in-law is endorsing you on LinkedIn, it’s time to question endorsements
- LinkedIn recently added “Endorsements”. What value, if any, do these offer?
Very useful article:
And this is a very frequently asked question for me:
- LinkedIn allows others to make up their own endorsements to add to your list. This is ridiculous. I’m constantly deleting endorsements that have nothing to do with what I want to be known for, or my personal brand. And the only way to fix it, is to delete them.
- You can’t merge endorsements. This is especially annoying with those written-in endorsements: at one point I had endorsements under “careers,” career coaching,” “career counseling, “career services,” etc. And it matters because the quantity matters. If these were able to be added together, then I could make the number under “career coaching” be much higher. Unfortunately, my only ability is to delete the ones I don’t want, and hope others endorse me under the one I do want.
- You have no control over WHO endorses you. Or how often. I can’t tell you how it frustrates me that not only do I have people writing in different skills, it’s from people who have no personal knowledge of what I do! A doctor I used seven years ago, before I became a Career Coach was endorsing me for my career coaching! A personal acquaintance endorsement for random skills! Neither of them have personal knowledge or experience with my services. And yet, they are endorsing me so hopefully I will go back and endorse them. That drives me batty.
Here are my personal rules of manners for Endorsements:
- Only endorse people you know for skills you actually know about.
- Endorse them ONCE, and then move on. Trying me every single week is getting old. And I know exactly who you are. If I haven’t endorsed you by now, I won’t.
- Choose from skills on their list. Do NOT write in anything new. They have chosen their own branding, and you need to honor that.
- Do not play the “you-scratch-my-back-with-an-endorsement,-I’ll-scratch-yours” game. I consider it highly unprofessional.
So there you have it. My real and true answer about how I feel about LinkedIn Endorsements.