Zero is NOT the correct answer to “How many recommendations should you have on LinkedIn?” If you are a jobseeker, hiring managers might set their own minimum thresholds of the “right” number.
If you are a small business owner or entrepreneur, hopefully you have some “testimonials” or recommendations from previous satisfied clients.
If you are employed, make sure you get written validation from your supervisor or colleagues while you are “in between transitions”. One never knows when a reorg or downsizing might happen, so … MANAGE YOUR CAREER and keep all your career documents up to date. If you are a supervisor, why not show some gratitude to the people who work for you and make you look good. Take the time to show your appreciation.
If you know of someone who volunteers with you or for a cause that is meaningful to you, give a shout out via a recommendation, instead of sending them a thank you in an email or inmail. That way it’s public for others to see.
You must be a 1st level connection with someone in order to give or receive a recommendation. When you write, try to make the opening line have a little pizzazz to make it interesting for the reader.
You cannot reorder the recommendations in order of importance to you as they are listed in chronological order. The section is at the bottom of one’s LinkedIn profile, which cannot be moved either.
If you want a recommendation from someone, you might offer to draft the verbiage and tell them to tweak as they see fit. This allows you to highlight the points you want to be included.
Not everyone knows LinkedIn well enough to navigate the recommendations section, so you can even share these HOW TO links as follows:
Recommending Someone on Linkedin
Accepting and Displaying Recommendations
Revising a Recommendation You Have Given
Deleting a Recommendation You Sent
Hiding and Unhiding Recommendations
Declining a Requested Recommendation
Here’s hoping YOU, the reader, become the writer to make someone’s day! #gratitude
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AUTHOR BIO
Lynne M. Williams is the Executive Director of the Great Careers Network, a volunteer-run 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that provides career development and networking connections for 1) job seekers in career transition, including veterans, and 2) employed and self-employed for career management.
Aside from writing keyword-focused content for ATS resumes and LinkedIn™ profiles, Lynne is writing her doctoral dissertation on LinkedIn™ for Job Seekers. She is a contributing author on “Applying to Positions” in Find Your Fit: A Practical Guide to Landing the Job You Love, along with the late Dick Bolles, the author of What Color is Your Parachute?, and is also a speaker on career topics.
