LinkedIn endorsements are a great way to build your professional brand and get recognized for your skills and expertise. However, asking for endorsements directly can feel awkward. Here are some tips on how to get more endorsements in a genuine, natural way.
Add Skills to Your Profile
The first step is to make sure you have a robust “Skills & Endorsements” section on your LinkedIn profile. This gives people an easy way to endorse you for relevant skills.
Go to your profile and click “Add profile section” > “Skills & endorsements.” Make sure you’ve added all your key skills here. You can rearrange them so your most important or prominent skills are at the top.
People often browse LinkedIn profiles for skills, so having a fleshed-out skills section makes it more likely someone will endorse you. Plus, it shows you have expertise worth endorsing.
Showcase Your Skills in Your Summary and Experience
Don’t just list skills – demonstrate them. In your profile summary and experience descriptions, give tangible examples of your skills in action.
For example, rather than just listing “Social Media Marketing” as a skill, describe how you “Implemented social campaigns that drove a 20% increase in engagement.” This provides proof that you truly have this skillset.
This gives people more motivation to endorse you – they can clearly see your skill level based on your profile details.
Connect with More People Who Know Your Work
The best endorsements come from people who have directly worked with you and can vouch for your skills. Make sure you’re connecting with all relevant coworkers, clients, managers, etc. who can provide meaningful endorsements.
When connecting with new LinkedIn contacts, view their profiles first and see if they have skills relevant to yours. If so, they are more likely to understand and endorse your skills too.
You can also join LinkedIn Groups related to your industry or interests. This expands your network to include more potential endorsers.
Engage With Your Network
Be an active member of your network by commenting on posts, sharing useful articles, congratulating connections on work anniversaries, and sending personalized messages. This drives more visibility to your profile.
When people are regularly seeing your name pop up in their feed, they are more inclined to click on your profile and potentially endorse you. Make sure you’re putting yourself out there on LinkedIn.
Endorse Connections for Relevant Skills
The best way to get endorsements is to give them. Make a habit of regularly endorsing your connections for skills that you can authentically vouch for.
This does several things:
- It raises your profile as an engaged, thoughtful LinkedIn user.
- It reminds people to revisit your profile and potentially endorse you back.
- It builds goodwill and motivates people to help support your professional brand.
To make endorsing easier, go to your homepage and find the “Skills & Expertise” section. Browse this list of skills and check off ones that apply for your connections. This prompts you to endorse them in a couple clicks.
Say Thank You
Always send a personalized message thanking someone for endorsing you. This boosts the chance they’ll do it again in the future.
You can write something simple like: “Thanks so much for the Product Management endorsement! I appreciate you taking the time to vouch for my skills.” Add a customized note if this person is a close connection.
Graciously thanking endorsers makes the process feel collaborative rather than transactional. People want to help out others who show gratitude.
Post Profile Updates Showcasing Skills
When you post article links, job updates, event pics, or other news on your LinkedIn feed, include a mention of relevant skills.
For example: “Excited to speak at today’s PR conference and share my social media strategy expertise!” Or: “Grateful to my team for the successful product launch. Couldn’t have done it without their incredible product development skills.”
This surfaces your skills to your network and reminds people they may want to endorse you for them. Think of profile updates as mini advertisements for your skills.
Join the LinkedIn Skills Assessment Program
LinkedIn’s skills assessment program lets you take short multiple-choice tests to demonstrate proficiency across 100+ skills.
Once you pass an assessment, you get a badge on your profile signaling you have this verified skill. You also get put on the top of search listings for that skill.
Getting skills badges can significantly increase endorsements and profile views. To start the assessment process, go to your Skills section and click “Take skill quiz.”
Ask for Endorsements During Reference Checks
When a connection is serving as your reference for a job application, ask if they’d also be willing to endorse you on LinkedIn.
Chances are, they will be happy to do both. This takes advantage of the context where your skills are already top of mind.
Many job seekers focus only on getting written or call references, but LinkedIn endorsements can powerfully reinforce your qualifications.
Suggest Skills When Endorsing Connections
When you endorse others, LinkedIn prompts you to select from the person’s listed skills. But you can also freely type in unlisted skills.
Pay attention to skills you have in common with a connection, even if they haven’t added it to their own profile.
Endorse them for the relevant skill and politely suggest they add it to their profile. They’ll likely be prompted to endorse you back.
This opens up endorsement opportunities around skills people may not have thought to include.
Conclusion
Building up genuine, high-quality endorsements takes time and effort. But it’s a valuable way to reinforce your personal brand. Focus on organically integrating endorsements into your existing LinkedIn relationships and activities.
And always thank every endorser – never take your network’s support for granted. With this thoughtful, engaging approach, your endorsement count will steadily grow.
Tip | Details |
---|---|
Add Skills to Your Profile | Ensures you have a robust skills section for people to endorse |
Showcase Skills in Your Profile | Provides examples and proof of your skills in action |
Connect with People Who Know Your Work | They can give meaningful endorsements from experience |
Engage With Your Network | Increases profile visibility and prompts endorsements |
Endorse Connections for Relevant Skills | Encourages reciprocation and reminds people to endorse you |
Say Thank You | Shows gratitude and motivates re-endorsements |
Post Profile Updates Showcasing Skills | Surfaces skills to prompt endorsements |
Join the LinkedIn Skills Assessment Program | Earns badges and increases profile visibility |
Ask for Endorsements During Reference Checks | Leverages existing context to get endorsements |
Suggest Skills When Endorsing Connections | Unlocks endorsements for unlisted skills |
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