What are LinkedIn Endorsements, and are they useful?

At almost every Linkedin training and seminar, I’m asked:

“What are LinkedIn endorsements, and are they useful?”

This is an excellent question.

LinkedIn endorsements are typically found at the top of the page. Here’s an example:

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When you complete the skills section of your profile, your 1st degree connections are prompted to endorse you for the skills you have chosen for your profile, or for other additional skills you may have. (Note: adding at least 3 skills is an essential element to get to 100% completion of your profile)

My opinion: I think LinkedIn is trying to elicit engagement amongst its members but they don’t do much more than annoy people.

I see LinkedIn endorsements as kind of a professional version of a “Facebook Poke”.

Unlike a recommendation, which takes a lot longer to write, endorsements are a “one-click” way to send something “nice” to a person in your network.

Unfortunately, no one really takes them seriously and many people are simply clicking on them – sometimes without even really knowing the skill set of their connections. The reason why endorsements are so popular is because it’s a primary call-to-action we are on LinkedIn.

In this article on ReadWriteWeb, says

“LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner trumpeted the new product hitting 1 billion Endorsements in just under five months. He called out how the service has done a “nice job … of creating the right kind of viral loops,” bringing people back to the site that otherwise might use LinkedIn as a site to use when actively looking for a job every few years.”

Sorry Jeff Weiner, but endorsements are not what brings me back to LinkedIn. What brings me back to LinkedIn are:

• engaging and building quality professional connections
• reading great, relevant content that LinkedIn publishes on LinkedIn today
• staying top-of-mind with my professional network and getting new clients

On the whole, endorsements don’t seem carry much weight to them. (Although I’ve heard people say their connections get angry if the endorsement isn’t reciprocated).

There may be some merit in the skills and endorsements that appear in your profile so that it may be ranked higher in a particular skills’ search. Repetition of those skills and perhaps the endorsements may have an effect on your ranking but I haven’t found any data to verify this. Besides, most of us are using LinkedIn to connect with people we know and rarely are people using LinkedIn to do a search for people by skill.

Sometimes (when I have the time), I will use the opportunity of a LinkedIn endorsement to reach out to people I haven’t talked to in a while. I’ll simply email them to thank them.

Staying top-of-mind and building quality connections is the key to converting business.

So, whether you endorse people, or thank them for endorsing you, be sure that you continue earn their trust and stay connected through two-way conversation.

Now it’s your turn!

What are YOUR thoughts about LinkedIn endorsements? Do you have any suggestions, recommendations or thoughts about LinkedIn endorsements?

Answer your with your thoughts in the comments area below.

 

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