01 Feb Asking & Giving Recommendations on Linkedin
Getting a recommendation on Linkedin is more valuable than getting a recommendation anywhere else because this is the # 1 professional tool today. No one is here to gossip or to share what they had for breakfast. People are here to work, network and make money.
It’s not something you can just do by yourself. You actually do need that person to stop whatever they are doing and donate 10 minutes of their time to write some honest, valuable things about you as a professional. Those few lines about how good it was to work with you or to teach you or how much they admire what you did for their business project is worth a lot. And their picture will be right there, so there is no way you could have made it up.
But no one will actually take this time and write a recommendation up without you asking for it. Trust me. You must ask. And there is the right way to ask. The worse that can happen is them not answering you, right? No big deal.
It is worth more than many things we tend to spend our precious time in when trying to get new customers or make a smart career transition. So please take the time to make a list of 5 to 10 people you have already worked with and that you admire, professionally. They must admire you back, of course. They could be former teachers, co-workers, bosses, so forth.
You can see more information on “the mentor’s list exercise” for further information on the value of this and further ways to use it to boost your career transition.
Since most of our clients come through word or mouth, I never really cared about asking for Linkedin recommendations, but I recently decided to join a group or coaches in an online platform that I learned to admire and in their application form, they asked me to copy and paste at least 6 Linkedin public recommendations. Uh oh! Great opportunity to reach out to my “gurus”and catch up on what each one of them is up to, I guess.
So, since I’m in this process right now, I’ve decided to share my steps with you. Might be useful, even if all you want is a new job.
1- A friendly way to start is by giving that person a recommendation. If you know that person well enough to ask for one, I’m sure you can also give them one, right? Be honest, objective.
Example: “I had the gift of coaching Marcela and later, a few of the managers she hired. It’s just so easy to coach her! She does all the work and I just sit and watch 🙂 And it’s impressive to see how she inspires her team. They all respect and admire her for her hard work and simplicity. Go girl! “
2- On that person’s Linkedin profile, go to “view profile as” and select “recommend”. Copy and paste your recommendation. From there, just follow the steps they put out there (1, 2, 3, 4) and send it.
3- After that, on your Linkedin profile, go to “view profile as” and select “ask to be recommended”. Select “what you want to be recommended for” and follow their questions on steps 1, 2, 3, 4 and press “send” so that person receives your request in their mail box.
4- Since this person might not be visiting her Linkedin account on a regular basis, you might want to let her know that you sent that request. Use the same communication system you are used to with that person: email, telefone or whatsapp to make sure she gets your message and your request.
This message would look something like this.
5- As you noticed, I am giving that person a “friendly” deadline, because nothing happens without a deadline, right? If they don’t give it to me by that date, I’ll send them a small note a week afterwards, something like “Hi Marcela, how are you? Did you have a chance to see the recommendation I sent you?”
There are people who will do it for you and others who won’t. Try not to take it too personally. It could be that they are just too busy at the time, but it could also be that they are not 100% comfortable to give you one, so whatever reason it is, after you’ve sent both messages above, it’s time to just sit and wait. If it doesn’t come, just find another person to ask for.
6- After you get the recommendation and enjoy the thrill that comes with “feeling appreciated and useful” to someone you have worked with, make sure to copy and paste it with the persons full name, company name into your website. That makes a huge difference when showing your value to those who haven’t worked with you, yet.
Have fun!
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