A critical component to a well-developed LinkedIn profile is the Recommendations sections. When many recruiters view an executive candidate’s profile, they go straight to the recommendations first. These recommendations provide recruiters social proof of your professional talents and workplace relationship-building. Demonstrations of your competence in both of these area will be crucial to successfully winning over recruiters and prospective employers. Don’t squander the opportunity of having inadequate recommendations displayed on your LinkedIn profile. Instead, follow the steps below to score some amazing, relevant LinkedIn recommendations that will be sure to leave a lasting impression on the favorable outcome of your executive job search.
- Find the “Ask to Be Recommended” Page
If you’ve never asked anyone to provide you a LinkedIn recommendation, you may not even know how to find this page. Here’s how to do just that:
- Hover over the tiny picture of yourself in the top right corner of the screen
- Select “Privacy & Settings.”
- Next, choose “Manage Your Recommendations”
- Then, click “Ask for Recommendations”
- Ask for Recommendations Judiciously
Prioritize quality over quantity with your recommendations. Your aim should be to secure powerful recommendations that support your professional brand and the skills that will aid you the most in your job search. Ideally, you want to approach connections who know your work well and can speak intelligently towards your proficiencies that will matter the most to your prospective employer. 
- Approach with Specificity
LinkedIn will default users to a generic, and ultimately ineffective, recommendation request message. That is, if you don’t personalize it otherwise—which is a must. In this personalized message, you want to share with the person you’re approaching exactly what you’d like, and how he or she can best help. Try messaging along the lines of: Good morning [insert name], I hope everything’s going well in [insert place]! I’m writing to ask if you’d be willing to write a LinkedIn recommendation for me that highlights my crisis management skills. Ideally, I’d love for you to outline the experience you had with me through the initiative last year in Dover. I’m working hard to transition into a new executive role, and most of the employers I’m considering put a strong focus on crisis management. Make sure to be gracious and thankful in this personal message. At the end, encourage this person to let you know if you may ever return the favor. Reciprocity is a fantastic tool to use to acquire the recommendations you require.
- Don’t Ask People En Masse
Recruiters, can always tell if someone has raced out and asked half the people in their network to provide a LinkedIn recommendation. How? The recommendations are date stamped. 
You want to make your recommendations look like they’re coming in organically rather than as a result of your own efforts. Therefore, space out your requests a little bit. Build thoughtfully, not hurriedly. LinkedIn recommendations pack a lot of punch when it comes to supporting your professional brand online. Use them to your advantage to add a substantial boost to your executive search efforts. If you need help with any of the above, get in contact with one of our relationship managers today to discuss options to increase your visibility online.
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