Referrals, recommendations, and testimonials are a huge part of building online trust and maximizing your online footprint. When a trusted friend tells you about a business, you transfer that trust to the company. Similarly, when a trusted industry professional recommends a person, you transfer that trust onto the person they are referring. This is where LinkedIn recommendations come in. As important as they are, many people are uncomfortable asking for them. Truth be told, asking for a LinkedIn recommendation is not as scary as it sounds. Read on to learn about the best way to ask for a LinkedIn recommendation!
How Do LinkedIn Recommendations Benefit You?
LinkedIn recommendations are a great way to highlight your expertise and leverage your connections. LinkedIn recommendations benefit you in a few ways. They can shed light on your achievements, and strengthen the trust in you and your personal brand. Additionally, LinkedIn recommendations can provide insight into how well you’d fit into company culture. If you have a coworker, manager, or even underling write a glowing LinkedIn recommendation about how funny you are at work, or how you helped them through a challenging time, potential employers can gain insight into your personality, character traits, and if you’d fit into their work culture.
Career Consultant Jessica M. Williams explains, “LinkedIn recommendations help professionals build their credibility. Readers like to gain perspective on the type of professional you are-seen through other eyes. Recommendations build your strengths without you having to do anything. When readers look at LinkedIn recommendations, they are looking for common connections, conversation pieces, and companies they may have worked for.”
As Williams mentioned, LinkedIn recommendations help highlight your connections, and can illuminate a shared connection between contacts. Any time someone shares a mutual contact, it can establish an element of trust and create an easy talking point, both of which can positively impact you when you’re applying for a job.
The Best Way To Ask For A LinkedIn Recommendation
Many people feel uncomfortable asking for a LinkedIn recommendation, but there’s nothing to be afraid of! More often than not, people will want to help you and shed light on your expertise.
Williams goes on to say, “Create a template that you can customize per request and within this template be direct and clear with the purpose of your ask. Be sure to inform the individual that you are actively building/refreshing your LinkedIn profile and would love to get a recommendation from them to include. It is really helpful when you offer recommendation exchanges. Let that individual know you would be more than happy to write one for them as well.”
If you’re stumped on how to reach out to someone about writing you a LinkedIn recommendation, consider phrasing it like this:
“Hi [Name],
Hope this note finds you well! I’m working on building my online footprint and I was wondering if you would be willing to share some feedback on your experience working with me? If so, I’d really appreciate it if you could write me a short LinkedIn recommendation.
Thanks, and please let me know if there’s anything I can do to return the favor! I’d be happy to write you a LinkedIn recommendation as well!
Best,
[Name]”
_______
Updating your LinkedIn profile can seem overwhelming, but there are simple ways to enhance your profile with minimal effort. Aside from updating your career history and building a well branded profile, consider asking for a LinkedIn recommendation to build trust and give insight into how others view you at work.