LinkedIn is a valuable resource used by nearly one billion people to connect professionals, businesses, and clients throughout the business world. Of the myriad tools available on the site, endorsements are one of the most important for growing your connections and getting jobs.
But what exactly are endorsements, and how do you get them? Read our handy guide to learn how to get more endorsements on LinkedIn and use them to your advantage!
What Are Endorsements?
Endorsements are an easy tool for your clients, friends, and colleagues to use to help boost your resume. With a simple click, your coworker can verify that you have a particular skill, know a programming language, or otherwise endorse your resume skills. This is one of the key LinkedIn benefits that makes this social networking platform so valuable.
Basically, anyone who has a first-degree connection with you can endorse skills that they know you possess. These could be coworkers, friends, or family who’ve seen you demonstrate skills.
For example, pretend you’re really good at technical writing because of a previous job you had. Coworkers who’ve seen your writing, or even the boss who handled your reports, can endorse you for that technical writing skill.
This means that these people are willing to back up your claim that you’re good at technical writing. When a potential employer comes along looking for technical writers, it will help tremendously to see that people you’ve worked with are willing to verify your skills.
Why Are Endorsements Important?
Anyone can put skills on their resume, but there’s often a lot of exaggeration and sometimes outright lying when it comes to resumes and skills. Some studies show that as much as 85 percent of people lie on resumes or job applications! That’s a huge amount of misinformation, and employers are often wary when they see people tout their own skills and abilities, particularly if they’re stellar or even above average.
That’s why a professional endorsement on LinkedIn is so important. Rather than simply tooting your own horn, they let others verify that you’re actually good at the skills you claim.
This puts you well above the rest of your competition when looking for jobs. Potential employers can see that not only do you claim to have a particular skill like everybody else, but that people are willing to back you up on that skill. They may get in touch with some of your contacts if they really want to make sure that you can do what you claim, but the truth is that having endorsements goes a long way.
It’s a bit like having job references for an employer to contact. You not only make your claims for what you can do, but you have people backing you up to show the employer that you really are what you claim.
How to Get More Endorsements on LinkedIn
There are a few key ways you can get more endorsements for your skills. It’s very important that you get as many good, solid endorsements as you can, as it will help grow your career and job search tremendously.
Some of these methods are rather simple, but others may require a bit more effort on your part. It’s worth it, though, as getting endorsements can really boost your job prospects!
Listing Your Skills
The first step is to list the relevant skills that you think matter the most for getting a job. You are allowed up to 50 skills on your LinkedIn profile, so take some time to make sure the strongest and most relevant skills are listed there. This is a key step for readying your profile to get more leads.
While you may be a good team player, knowing Python or how to operate heavy machinery is probably more important. Typically, the more specific, the better, as many companies are looking for people to fill a specific role. It’s great if you’re a hard worker on top of all that, but start with the specifics that nobody else has!
That way, people who know you will be willing to endorse your specific skills. It’s a lot easier to say “Yeah, this person knows Excel!” than to question whether someone really has enough people skills to list it on their resume.
Endorse Other People
Once you have your skills down, the first step is to start endorsing other peoples’ skills. Most likely, these will be friends, family, and coworkers who you’ve seen demonstrate particular skills that they have on their resume.
Did a coworker save your bacon with their IT knowledge more than once? Did you and a teammate work together to create art for company logos? Endorse them!
The good news is, once you start helping other people, many folks are more than willing to help you back. Maybe you can verify your teammate’s artistic skill, and he’ll turn around and do the same for you. Maybe your intern will be happy that you verified some of their skills to help them get started, so they’ll verify what they’ve seen you do on the job as well.
Asking Friends and Colleagues
Aside from that, sometimes you just have to reach out and ask people. It’s fairly easy to create endorsements, but you still have to be careful with how you approach folks. You are asking them for help, so don’t be pushy!
You can send people an email, or ask them in person if you see them, and just ask them to help you out with your job. Many people are more than willing to lend aid where they can, so you’ll doubtless find many willing endorsements!
And if you need to sweeten the pot a little bit, start with a trade. Offer to endorse them for skills, and ask them if they’d be willing to endorse you when they get the chance. You’ll be amazed how far this friendly, casual approach can take you!
Learn More About Generating Leads!
Now that you know a bit about how to get more endorsements on LinkedIn, it’s time to get out there and start growing your connections! You want a solid profile to start getting leads, and there’s no better time to start than now.
But if you’re still not sure how to get started, or you’re interested in automating and streamlining your lead generation on LinkedIn, we’d love to help! Feel free to contact us with any questions you have, and we’ll be happy to show you how we can help your career thrive.