I’ll admit it, I’ve never been one to write a ton of LinkedIn recommendations. I know I should…I meet and work with a lot of great women and men. Besides, we all know LinkedIn is sexy. The main reason is that I always want to write the “perfect” recommendations. So I take the time, think it through, write out drafts and the end result is that I never quite send out all the recommendations I want to. I’ve finally decided to keep it short an honest. Here’s some advice on writing LinkedIn recommendations.
(If you just want a LinkedIn recommendation outline that will help you write some up in 5 minutes, you’ll find that here).
- First of all, I think it’s important to recommend colleagues and business partners you really are able to recommend. It shows you’ve appreciated working with them, but it also shows others that you were willing to take the time to recommend this person. It says, all these people have taken the time to recommend this person so write recommendations for people you can truly vouch for.
- Second, keep it short and sweet. It’s not a recommendation to get in to a doctoral program at Harvard, it’s a quick endorsement of someone’s work — we all know people scan when they’re online and if they want more info they’ll contact you. Once you find someone you enjoyed working with, come up with a couple things you really enjoyed and focus on that.
- Third, although LinkedIn gives you a recommendation sample, keep it honest. If you use short sentences, use short sentences; if you don’t like using terms like “detail-oriented supervisor” and would rather say “cool boss”, say that. Generic recommendations won’t impress anyone and it won’t motivate you to write them.
- Finally, just do it. If all you have to say is one sentence, if it’s honest and true, then just do it. LinkedIn allows you to go back and edit it after it’s been posted. Just go to Profile on the top navigation, select Recommendations and go to the Sent Recommendations section. That way if something new comes up, or if you think of a better way of saying something you can just go back and do that.
Showing colleagues and partners you enjoy working with them is important and it also shows others that you’ve willingly taken the time to write something nice and that goes a long way. So keep it short and sweet, keep it authentic and go for it!
[Update] A few LinkedIn recommendation examples
This is a recommendation I wrote for a current colleague of mine:
“Although I’ve only been working with Sébastien for a short period of time, it’s been a great experience. Sébastien is dedicated to teaching and educating his coworkers and clients. He’s always open to learning new things and improving service levels.
I’m thrilled to be able to work with him and I hope I will get to do so for a long time…”
Notice how it’s short and it emphasizes what I feel are two of his biggest qualities — great teacher and open to learning new things.
This is a recommendation I wrote for someone I worked with before:
“En travaillant avec Thoma j’ai eu l’opportunité d’apprendre à connaitre quelqu’un de curieux et honnête. Il cherche toujours à trouver de nouvelles façons de faire et d’apprendre tout ce qu’il y a de nouveau dans le monde des médias sociaux. C’est un bon enseignant, toujours prêt à aider et un collègue vraiment cool. J’espère encore pouvoir travailler avec lui un jour !”
Again, the recommendation is short and honest — I wrote it in French because I think that’s more helpful for him.
This is a recommendation I wrote for someone who organized a conference I spoke at:
“I had the pleasure of meeting Jeff while preparing a talk at the Social Media Breakfast in Montreal. Jeff is the founder of the local chapter and his dedication to this and his other ventures is awesome. I don’t get to work with Jeff as much as I would like to. He’s a smart fellow always looking for ways to help out others and a great person to work with. I would encourage you to get to know him…”
Here to I briefly described how I knew him and what I feel his strengths are — smart and helpful.
How often do you write recommendations? Do you have any tips to share?
(Photo credit: Alessandro Reginato)
Pingback: Write a LinkedIn recommendation in 5 minutes | FabriceCalando.com