Anybody can say "Curtis is a smart guy." That's not convincing. Finally, a killer LinkedIn recommendation mentions something very relevant to your career path that you do incredibly well. A great recommendation makes the reader want to get to know both of you better - the recommendation writer, and the person they're recommending!ĥ. It talks about your performance in the job, not your general qualities like being trustworthy, hard-working, etc.Ĥ. It explains how the recommendation's writer knows the person they are recommending. The writer's voice - and the credibility embedded in it - is the most important part of a LinkedIn recommendation!Ģ. There is no voice in it, except the fussy voice of a bureaucrat who evaluates everyone based on when they arrive at work and depart. Your first recommendation - the one that needs a major rewrite or needs to be deleted - comes from nowhere. It is written in a strong, confident and authentic voice. In our minds, we can see you and your buddy zipping around like David Spade and Chris Farley in the movie Tommy Boy, selling stick dynamite and feeling like super stars - because that's what you were.Ī great LinkedIn recommendation has five characteristics:ġ. The recommendation makes that long-ago sales trip come alive for the reader. The recommendation starts with a back story, in which the writer explains how they know Curtis (and by extension, why they are qualified to recommend him). The writer - a real, living person - is telling at story about Curtis, one of their favorite people. What's different about this recommendation, compared to the pale and sickly one that emphasized your ability to get to work on time? In the second example, a real person is talking to us. Curtis' fantastic instincts made him an amazing partner and mentor and I'm happy I got the chance to work with him - I hope we get to do it again. Curtis is the best demo presenter I've ever seen, and he closed more business in that trip than most people do in a quarter. I met Curtis when we were both Sales Engineers at Acme Explosives, traveling around the midwest to demo our new modular (and thus shippable) stick dynamite product. Here's what a powerful LinkedIn recommendation looks like: You can politely let the person who recommended you know that you very much appreciate her time and energy but that you're focusing your search on particular roles - and you'd be grateful if she could rewrite her recommendation to mention your success (not just your diligence and punctuality!) in projects that match your chosen career direction. If you were not an entry-level employee in your last job and if you have other, stronger recommendations to rely on, I would rethink that one. The recommendation you shared in your letter definitely makes you sound like an entry-level employee. That practice is called 'logrolling.' It's not reassuring to hiring managers to see mutual recommendations across a group of people, especially if they all sound alike or very similar. I'm not sure it's a great idea to swap LinkedIn recommendations across your group of former teammates. Sign up here to get top career advice delivered straight to your inbox every week. Subscribe To The Forbes Careers Newsletter
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