Donna Serdula - LinkedIn Profile Optimization For Dummies

1 Open your LinkedIn profile.

2 Scroll down to the Skills & Endorsements section and click Show More.A full list of your skills and endorsements expands. You may have to scroll to see all of your skills.

3 Click a skill to see all the people who have endorsed you for that skill.A pop-up window appears with a listing of all the people who have endorsed you. In Figure 3-6 you can see all of the connections who endorsed me for Marketing Strategy .

4 Toggle the switch to the right of the connection whose endorsement you want to hide.

5 Click the X in the upper-right corner to exit.

FIGURE 3-6:Hiding an endorsement is as easy as switching it off.

Although I highly recommend embracing endorsements, there are some jobs in which endorsements are frowned upon. Financial advisors, for example, often prefer to opt out of LinkedIn’s endorsement feature for compliance and regulation reasons.

If you wish to opt out of receiving endorsements, follow these steps:

1 Open your LinkedIn profile.

2 Scroll down to Skills & Endorsements and click the pencil (edit) icon.

3 Click Adjust Endorsement Settings at the bottom of the screen.The Endorsements screen appears where you can manage how you receive and give endorsements, as shown in Figure 3-7.

4 Toggle “I Want to be Endorsed” from Yes to No.After selecting No, LinkedIn indicates that it will show your skills but not your endorsements. You can also opt out of having endorsements of your skills suggested to your connections. And you can also out of having your connections’ skills suggested to you for endorsement.

5 Click the X in the upper-right corner to save your changes and exit.

FIGURE 3-7:Opt out of endorsements completely.

Most people focus on getting endorsements, but it’s just as important to give endorsements. Endorsements are a great way to remind connections that you recognize their strengths. By endorsing connections, you are showing acknowledgement and respect for their areas of expertise. Think of endorsements as a “thumbs up” from a business acquaintance. It’s an easy way to say, “Hey, I remember you and respect your skill set.”

When giving endorsements, read through the person’s entire list of skills and endorse those skills that you are able to authentically validate from personal experience with that person.

Here’s how to endorse a connection’s skills:

1 Visit the LinkedIn profile of the person you want to endorse.

2 Scroll down to the Skills & Endorsement section.

3 Click Show More to expand the Skills & Endorsement section to see all of his or her skills.

4 Hover over the skill you want to endorse and click the plus ( + ) sign that appears to the right of it.A pop-up window opens.

5 Select how good the person is at the skill and how you know about that skill.You can choose from Good, Very Good, and Highly Skilled. You can also note whether you managed or reported to the person. This information is not shared with person you are endorsing.

6 Click the Submit button.You can endorse numerous skills; just keep clicking the plus ( + ) signs.

You are only able to endorse first-degree connections. When you visit a profile of a second-degree, third-degree, or Out of Network profile, you see their skills and endorsements, but the plus ( + ) sign to endorse does not appear.

Endorse your first-degree connections honestly and genuinely. No one wants to be endorsed by someone who is only guessing at their skills. When you make a thoughtful endorsement of a connection you admire, that person is more likely to return the favor in kind.

There may be times you receive endorsements from people within your network that you don’t know all that well or at all. This is especially true when you are an open networker and connect with people regardless of whether you know them or not. These first-degree connections that you don’t know so well may endorse you because they know of your work and wish to promote positivity in the world. They also may hope that you operate with a quid quo pro mentality and want you to endorse them right back. Do not feel strong-armed! Endorse people because you appreciate their work, not because you feel guilt.

When viewing a first-degree connections’ profiles, every now and then LinkedIn may provide you the ability to endorse them for skills they have listed (see Figure 3-8). This prompt is a great way to keep in touch with connections and show your appreciation for their strengths.

FIGURE 3-8:Endorsing a connection during a visit to her LinkedIn profile.

Did you endorse someone only to learn that you would prefer to disassociate from them? Remove your endorsement from his or her profile by performing a few easy steps:

1 Visit the LinkedIn profile of the person you endorsed.

2 Scroll down to the Skills & Endorsements section.

3 Hover your cursor over the check mark next to the skill you already endorsed.

4 Click the check mark to remove your endorsement.

Don’t worry; the recipient is not notified of the removal.

Are you not receiving endorsements from your connections? Sometimes all it takes is a nudge. Rather than sit and stare at your lonely Skills & Endorsements section, get proactive and send your connections an email. Send a simple LinkedIn message to a few of your close connections and ask them to endorse you. Remember, the squeaky wheel gets the oil!

Following are two sample messages to send to connections with whom you recently finished a project or whom you’ve recently endorsed. The first is an example of requesting an endorsement after finishing up a project or other work with a client:

If you were happy with my work I performed at Widgets, Inc., would you be so kind as to endorse me on LinkedIn?

It’s just a simple click of a button. The skills and expertise I would like to be endorsed for are Project Management, Leadership Team Building, and SEO.

All you need to do is visit my profile and scroll down to the Skills & Endorsements section located at the bottom of my profile.

Here’s the link to my profile: www.linkedin.com/in/todonna .

The next is an example of requesting an endorsement using the power of quid pro quo:

I just endorsed you for Project Management and Leadership Strategy on your LinkedIn profile.

If you’re comfortable with it, would you do the same for me?

There’s 50 skills to choose from. All you need to do is visit my profile: www.linkedin.com/in/todonna .

When your connections do endorse you, make sure you reach out and thank them. Call them on the phone or send them a message via LinkedIn. Use LinkedIn as an excuse to get in touch. This is a great way to continue to network and forge strong relationships.