The Best LinkedIn Recommendations

6 Tips for Writing a Recommendation on LinkedIn

by Eliece Hammond

Write in the present tense

Instead of saying, “Sara was very organized” try on, “Sara is very organized”. If she was organized when you worked with her, let’s trust she still possesses that trait.

Keep it simple

Choose the three differentiating qualities that pop up when you think about the person you are writing for.

Here is a list of examples:

• Team player
• Organized
• Communicator
• Leader
• Personable
• Creative
• Consistent
• Responsible
• Honest
• Interpersonal skills
• Analytical
• Problem-Solver
• High-energy

A simple way to write to the skills of the person you are recommending is to look at their endorsed skills on their LinkedIn Profile and highlight the ones that are relevant to you. This way, you’re promoting a transferrable skill that is valuable to the recommendee.

Show don’t tell

Once you’ve chosen three skills/qualities to highlight, describe how you experienced them in action with a story description instead of saying, “Sara is a high-energy problem solver who takes responsibility for her work.” Try, “When Sara takes responsibility for a project she is fantastic at tackling problems with the end goal in sight.”

Concrete examples

Back up your assertion of their skills with a real world example of your experience with this person. Follow your show don’t tell with something like, “We worked together on a new park initiative with an initial deadline looming only six months ahead. Not only did we complete the project in time, Sara was able to bring the community together to add on a wonderful dog park area.”

Nothing Vanilla

Try to avoid saying someone is “nice” or “fun to work with”, if it sounds like a generic review or a non-genuine opinion, it may sound more like an anti-recommendation. If you don’t have something better than nice, don’t write a recommendation at all.

Do it out of gratitude (not for reciprocation)

Finally, don’t request a recommendation if you aren’t ready to reciprocate and don’t write a recommendation just for reciprocation. Write recommendations the way you might write a restaurant review:  because you had a great experience and you want to make a note of that for future employers, clients, and co-workers. Show your gratitude to the people who are connected with you on LinkedIn who deserve it.

Here are some of my favorite LinkedIn recommendations:

To learn more about how to leverage LinkedIn and other social media platforms to tell your story, contact the team at Dream Local Digital.[ult_buttons btn_title=”Contact Us Today!” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fdreamlocal.com/contact/|||” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-block” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00b5e9″ btn_bg_color_hover=”#6acce8″ btn_title_color_hover=”#ffffff” icon=”none” icon_size=”32″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-right” btn_font_family=”font_family:Roboto Slab|font_call:Roboto+Slab|variant:regular” btn_font_style=”font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;” el_class=”side-bar-button”]