I blame it on the recession.
In the past six months I’ve noticed an uptick in the number of requests from LinkedIn connections for Recommendations. The more requests I’ve received the clearer it has become to me that there is a right way to go about asking for recommendations. The key, as with so many other things in life, is to think first about what your final goal or intention is (thank you Steven Covey) and work backwards from there.
Without calling out any one person, these requests tend to reflect some of the same half-hearted and haphazard efforts that many people apply to job searches:
- Mis-directed requests for support to all of the colleagues from a former job or or even (heaven help us) all of their LinkedIn connections
- Open-ended requests for recommendation with no clear guidance on what basis I should write an endorsement or what attributes I should highlight
- Making it all about you with a lack of concern or interest in what you can do for me or what is going on in my life.
Let me address each one of these in turn. I hope that those who read this post will keep these issues in mind when they consider asking their LinkedIn network for recommendations.
What is your end goal of your LinkedIn campaign?
The reasons for having a LinkedIn profile fall into two general categories. There are those consultants, independent contractors and even corporate practitioners that maintain a presence to establish their credentials in a given industry or practice. The other purpose is to find new employment opportunities. These are not mutually exclusive. Where do you fall on this spectrum? From that, what is the target audience for your LinkedIn program– who are the individuals or types of people you want to sit up and pay attention should they come across your profile? What are their needs and hot-button issues likely to be? What is the specific call to action you are trying to construct?
Your target audience is likely to find you through a search of some kind, so you will want to make sure relevant keywords are included in your LinkedIn profile. The Summary and the Interests section of your profile in particular are your opportunity to apply some basic search engine marketing. What are the keywords relevant to the field in which you want to establish your expertise with your target audience? Use synonyms and alternative terminologies that reflect subsegments of your target audience.
For example, my Interests section of my LinkedIn profile basically touches on three themes from a variety of directions and terminology to make sure I show up on any relevant search regardless of the specific keywords someone in my target audience chooses:
Competitive Intelligence, Market Intelligence, Marketing Strategy, Competitive Analysis, Strategic Intelligence, Secondary Research, Internet Exploitation, Primary Research, Intelligence Networks, Trade Show Intelligence, Employee Intelligence, Project Management, Personnel Management, Presentation, Writing, Delivering Actionable Intelligence
Be Specific and Guide Your Recommender on Writing a Good Recommendation
Your recommendations are an opportunity for you to communicate your professional reputation with those who read your profile. Reviewers are going to make conclusions about you based on who is recommending you, what they are saying about you and how well they have written their recommendations of you.
When asking for an endorsement, choose people with whom you have worked on something specific and measurable. Ask them to highlight the results, and align these recommendations with the questions you are likely to be asked in a job interview about past experience, and the SOAR (Situation Obstacle Action Result) narratives you will share during an interview.
What personal and professional skills and attributes do you want to convey to someone looking at your LinkedIn profile? Some in social media reject the notion of the “personal brand” because brands are artificial marketing constructs. Without getting too philosophical there is clearly a constructed component of a good LinkedIn profile.
Your target audience is looking for specific skills and has an idea of what the attributes, attitudes and behaviors are for an ideal consultant or job candidate. Anticipate what these are and make a realistic assessment of which of those attributes you have clearly demonstrated. A clearly demonstrated differentiating capability that delivers value for your target audience or customer is a strength,
Ask your recommenders to specifically highlight those strengths in their recommendation. When you make your request for a recommendation remind your colleague of the specific instances when you demonstrated these strengths when you worked together on the project in question. Ask your recommender to highlight these details.
Be Considerate of your Recommender
The best networkers give before and more than they get. I am not a fan of the quid pro quo endorsement. These are very transparent and damage both parties’ reputation if all of your recommendations are reciprocated like-for-like. However, establish a track record of generosity by taking part in LinkedIn group discussions, answering questions and reaching out to your prospective recommenders through other venues well in advance of asking for a Recommendation.
It’s likely that your colleagues are busy and have their own challenges and issues themselves going on in their lives. When you make a request of a LinkedIn connection for a recommendation you should expect that they will need some time to get around to this. The easier you can make it for them (without writing it FOR them) the better. Be patient and don’t expect them to get to it right away.
I am pretty promiscuous with my LinkedIn connections. I don’t accept all connection invites, but I do have a pretty low bar for connections. There is a considerable proportion of my LinkedIn connections I have never met in person and with whom I have never worked. I am in no position whatsoever to recommend these people. A connection, to me, is a means to communicate and share. You should know that most people aren’t going to recommend somebody with whom they have not worked closely. Their own reputation is at stake.
In Conclusion
- Think about who can best write the recommendation to meet your ultimate goal for being on LinkedIn.
- Make it easy for them to write the Recommendation that is going to highlight your strength and emphasize results that will resonate with your target audience.
- As in all networking be a giver and maintain a positive balance in your social checking account.
