The Dreaded LinkedIn Endorsement Question

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:

• I’m on LinkedIn: Now What? blog post about Endorsements

• 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:

• LinkedIn Endorsements: What You Can and Can’t Manage

And this is a very frequently asked question for me:

• “I have duplicate skills on my profile. Can I merge them?”

My biggest pet peeves:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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:

1. Only endorse people you know for skills you actually know about.
2. 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.
3. Choose from skills on their list. Do NOT write in anything new. They have chosen their own branding, and you need to honor that.
4. 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.