Quality Recommendations on LinkedIn

LinkedIn Recommendations

Recommendations on LinkedIn are an important part of telling your story; but not just any old recommendation. What is needed are quality recommendations that talk about your accomplishments and contributions to your current and previous organizations.

Take the Lead

The best way to get a quality recommendation is to:

• Write a quality recommendation for the person you want to recommend you.


• Submit the recommendation to the individual.


• Ask the person if you have addressed or made all the points they would like included.


• Once you have provided the recommendation ask the individual to reciprocate with a recommendation for you.


• When you receive the recommendation; review it and if you would like changes, you have opened the door with the process you followed writing the initial recommendation.

Give and You Will Receive

Receiving quality recommendations is typical of the Web 2.0 environment. First you give and then you will receive. The consideration and concern that you show in giving a recommendation will be returned many times over. Show those that you have worked with in the past that they are important. This process provides you with quality recommendations and builds or rebuilds your previous relationship.

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Is LinkedIn Performing for You?

Getting Value from LinkedIn

Using LinkedIn can be an effective way for hiring managers, recruiters, prospective business partners, and prospective customers or clients to find us; if we do our part. LinkedIn is not a passive activity; we need to work at it. It is like anything we do; our LinkedIn presence will reflect the effort we put in.

This effort or lack of effort is also what readers of our profile see. If our profile is weak and incomplete; is it representative of our effort in other areas of our lives? What does that tell those that find us in a search?

With that said some people think that they would be better off without a LinkedIn presence. That way they will not have to worry about their presence. This is faulty thinking! Our LinkedIn presence, our viral presence is a necessity in today's world; it is a must have. Our LinkedIn and viral presence show that we are current on today's technology, that we accept and adopt change, and that we are willing to put ourselves out there.

Key Elements to Your LinkedIn Presence

To be effective using LinkedIn these basic elements must be present in your profile:

1. The use of keywords.
2. Use keywords in our current and past job titles.
3. Personalize our profile.
4. Have a professional (not necessarily professionally produced) picture.
5. Use applications to represent who we are and what we can do.

If you are having difficulty with your profile or would like a professional review of your profile that is a service offered by UP^PROACH. Contact us and let us help you make your LinkedIn Profile work for you.

Job Search - What Are You Attracting

In August I posted "You Are What You Attract". That concept, the Law of Attraction, was brought home to me recently when I presented a workshop on LinkedIn. One of the attendees talked about some of the inquiries he was receiving regarding employment and how none of those inquiries related to what he wants to do or has done in the past.

He is not the first person to encounter this; I have had many of these emails myself. When you receive them you just sit there in wonderment. You are trying to figure out what this individual is thinking and why they would send this information to you. I still have not figured it out completely, but I believe I am getting closer.

Many times it is just a random process or an automated emailing system that searches resumes. If it is one of those emails; there is not much you can do. If you are really searching for work you have few other choices than to put up with it and use the delete key when they arrive in your in-box.

Review Your On-line Presence

If you are being approached for things that are not of interest and do not apply; you need to step back. It is time to review your resume, your Web 2.0 application profiles, your website, your blog postings, your comments, your posted resumes, and any other "branding" that may exist to find out why you are getting these solicitations.

There is nothing worse than receiving a job posting for something completely unrelated and of no interest. Not just because it is a waste of time, but it is also disconcerting and makes you wonder why someone would even think of you for this type of position. These emails can also cause self doubts which are counter productive and take you off task. Put them aside and keep moving forward.

Granted there will always be some random opportunities presented because those people do not care about what you want and, more than likely, have not read your information. All they know is that you are out there and you are potentially or specifically looking for employment. To them that is an open opportunity to approach you: whether you are interested or not.

If the solicitations or opportunities are more specific or it looks like they have actually done some research; then it is time for the review. You need to look carefully at your information and try to determine what is giving people the incorrect impression. When you locate the confusing information you must clean it up.

Clarify Your Profiles and On-Line Presence

It is important that you create a consistent On-Line presence that clearly presents you and your skills. Each profile tells part of your story or reinforces parts of your story; you want to ensure that the story is consistent and clear.

Part of having a consistent On-Line presence is to distinguish yourself from anyone else that may have the same or a similar name. Having a consistent or at least readily identifiable picture with each posting is one way to accomplish this. Using a middle initial or middle name is another part of creating your brand.

Some of the confusion that could occur with potential employers could be the result of confusion between people of the same or similar name. You must differentiate!

Keep Your Information Relevant

Do not muddy the water with information that is confusing. Read the post "Does Your Resume Pass the So What Test on Wordpress?" This information is as valid for your on-line profiles as it is for your resume. Ensure that you are only posting information that helps to tell your story and clarify who you are.

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