Give and Get LinkedIn RecommendationsFind Your Dream Job

Give and Get LinkedIn Recommendationsâ€"Find Your Dream Job Give and Get LinkedIn Recommendations- Find Your Dream Job Now that you have expanded your LinkedIn Network (Day 8), it is time to utilize that network to help with your job search. LinkedIn allows contacts to give and receive recommendations, which are then embedded into your LinkedIn profile. Recommendations from clients, colleagues, and supervisors affirming your skills and accomplishments will greatly enhance your profile. Hiring managers searching LinkedIn for job candidates will see these recommendations, which will serve as references in advance, and could help you land an interview. Select Five Contacts Today, your goal is to receive five recommendations from LinkedIn connections. However, to get these recommendations, you first have to give recommendations. Make a list of five of your LinkedIn connections from whom you would like to receive a recommendation. Select people who you believe would give you a favorable recommendation, and who you feel you could also recommend. Preferably, they should be people with whom you have worked. If you cannot think of five ideal people with whom you are already connected on LinkedIn, search LinkedIn for staff at your company or former companies. Give a Recommendation Write a LinkedIn recommendation for each of these five people. Again, make sure you select people for whom you feel you can write a positive recommendation, and whom you know think highly of you as well. Writing this recommendation will likely make each contact want to recommend you as well, out of a sense of gratitude. Request a Recommendation Once you have posted a recommendation on a person’s LinkedIn page, send him or her a LinkedIn message explaining that you gave the contact a recommendation. Explain why you chose to give them a recommendation (summarize some of the positive qualities you outlined in the recommendation). Then ask if they might consider writing a recommendation for you. Hopefully, they will say yes, knowing that you wrote a recommendation for them. Manage Your Recommendations Once you receive a recommendation, you will get a notification via email and will be able to see the recommendation. If for any reason you do not want the recommendation on your profile, you can choose not to publish it. Exercise Patience Remember, your five connections may choose not to write you a recommendation in response. However, giving a recommendation is the best way to get a recommendation. If you do not receive a recommendation from these connections, consider giving recommendations to other people in your network, and asking them for recommendations in return. You can also simply ask for a recommendation via LinkedIn’s messaging system. Ask the contact if they feel confident recommending you and if they have the time to do so. This way, they have an out if they feel they cannot give you a recommendation for whatever reason. In your message, be sure to remind the person how you are connected (for example, “I was wondering if you would be kind enough to write me a LinkedIn recommendation due to our five years of working together on the XYZ sales team”). By giving and requesting recommendations, you will enhance your LinkedIn profile, as well as your chances of standing out to a hiring manager.