• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Executive Resume Branding™

Differentiate and strategically position your unique ROI for today's executive job search.

  • Essential LinkedIn® Guide
  • Blog
  • About Meg
  • Products and Services
  • Contact Meg

By Meg Guiseppi

Giving and Getting Great LinkedIn Recommendations To Accelerate Executive Job Search

 

Compelling, on-brand recommendations on your LinkedIn profile from those who know your work and value best, are a powerful way to attract your target audience, when combined with a strong, well-written profile.

Writing brand-reinforcing recommendations for people in your LinkedIn network strengthens the relationship and, of course, is a very nice thing to do. An added benefit to writing recommendations for others is that you get a link to your own profile.

A good thing about the recommendations you receive — you can show them or not show them. So, if a recommendation doesn’t quite have the punch you were hoping for or if it becomes less potent, as your focus changes, you can hide it.

Jason Alba has sound advice in the second edition of his book “I’m on LinkedIn – Now What???”:

“If you want a recommendation, give a recommendation! You are more likely to get a good recommendation if you give one first.”

Here are his 5 recommendations:

1. Only ask for recommendations from someone who can give you a real recommendation.

2. Only give recommendations when you have something you can honestly say about the person.

3. Give recommendations without demanding a reciprocal recommendation.

4. Don’t feel strong-armed to give a recommendation.

5. Give recommendations that are specific, speaking to professional competencies, skills, attributes, etc.

Naina Redhu wrote a very helpful post about LinkedIn recommendations on the Online Business Networking blog. She included several LinkedIn recommendations written for her — the good, mediocre, and bad — and offered 8 factors that make or break a LinkedIn recommendation:

1. Whether you have actually WORKED with the person?
2. Whether they have actually DELIVERED a product / service to you?
3. Were you truly HAPPY with their product / service / dealings?
4. Whether you have actually MET this person?
5. Whether you would be comfortable recommending this persons’ services to your own company / family / best friend?
6. Punctuation / language and spellings.
7. Why are you making the recommendation in the first place?
8. If the person had a fall-out with you tomorrow, what would you do?

Her best tip:

Talk about specifics: imagine you are reading someone’s recommendation and figure out what you would want to know about them as a prospective client / prospective business partner / prospective employer / prospective employee and then write your recommendation.

Related posts:

Get the Best Out of LinkedIn for Your Personal Brand, Networking, and Executive Job Search

Q&A With Jason Alba: The Inside Skinny on Using LinkedIn to Accelerate Executive Job Search

Give Yourself Permission For Authentic Personal Branding in Your LinkedIn Profile

Filed Under: Career Management Best Practices, Executive Job Search, LinkedIn, Networking, Online Identity & Online Reputation Management, Personal Branding, Social Media Tagged With: C-level Executive Job Search, executive job search, Jason Alba, LinkedIn Recommendations, Networking, Online Identity & Online Reputation Management, Social Media

Previous Post: « Tap Into the Hidden C-Level Executive Job Market With Top 10 Lists of Best Companies
Next Post: 2009 Outlook for the Executive Job Market »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Donna, LinkedIn Profile Writer says

    February 21, 2011 at 10:35 am

    Hi Meg! My pleasure!

  2. Donna, LinkedIn Profile Writer says

    February 21, 2011 at 7:38 am

    Great article! I often tell my clients that the most important part of a recommendation is the person who wrote it. Don’t ask vendors, friends, service providers, etc to provide recommendations… if you can help it. Instead look to employers, VIPS, or people who play a role within your community. Sure it won’t be easy but recommendations from higher level people mean much more to your reader.

    I have bookmarked your site and look forward to your future articles on LinkedIn. 🙂

    • Meg Guiseppi says

      February 21, 2011 at 9:57 am

      Thanks for commenting, Donna.

      You make a good point. The quality of people you choose for recommendations is most important — more critical than the number of recommendations you have.

      Best,
      Meg

  3. Meg Guiseppi says

    February 28, 2009 at 2:07 pm

    Hi Mark,

    Thanks for your compelling comment.

    Recommendations can be a pivotal part of your LinkedIn profile, so it makes sense to “help” those writing one for you compose a recommendation that will have impact and reinforce your brand, and to reciprocate for them.

    -Meg

  4. Mark Cummuta says

    February 28, 2009 at 12:42 pm

    Great advice, Meg! LinkedIn’s Recommendations are like having 360-degree reviews, and the best recommendations are those that note details of why you are recommending someone. For someone reading your recommendation, the critical points they want to see highlighted are the results this person brought for you/team/project/company, and what key attributes this person has.

    Mark Cummuta
    CIO Job Search – A Real Life Chronicle
    LinkedIn (http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/MarkCummuta/)
    Twitter (http://twitter.com/TriumphCIO)

Primary Sidebar

Job Search Newsletter

Today’s job search is complicated. Get the help you need.

Sign up for my popular FREE weekly newsletter for advice about job search, personal branding, LinkedIn, networking, online presence, interviewing and so much more . . . and get a FREE ebook. Read all about the ebook here.

* indicates required

First Name *

  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Essential LinkedIn Guide

The Essential LinkedIn® Guide for Today’s Executive Job Search – Get Branded. Get Found. Get Hired.

Job Search Worksheets

Get my proprietary personal branding and job search worksheets perfected over 20+ years working with job seekers.

CareerBrandVideos

CareerBrandVideos™ – award-winning customized video system for professionals and entrepreneurs

My Must-Have Guide to Personal Branding and Executive Job Search

LinkedIn executive job search

20 Little-Known, Insider Tips to Accelerate Your Executive Job Search. My ebook will help you land a great-fit new gig faster!

Recent Blog Posts

  • 4 Ways Common Courtesy Drives a Successful Executive Job Search
  • Smart Executive Job Search: How To Sail Through Salary and Compensation Negotiations
  • How To Get Executive Recruiters’ Attention With The Right Email Messages
  • Can I Land My Dream Executive Job Even If I’m Under-Qualified?
  • 15 Common Executive Job Interview Questions and How to Best Answer Them

Blog Topics

10 Personal Branding, Resume and Job Search Certifications including:

Footer

Meg Guiseppi, Personal Branding and Executive Job Search Strategist

Meg Guiseppi

Legal Stuff

  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy

Follow Meg on Twitter

Tweets by @MegGuiseppi

Copyright © 2023 · Executive Resume Branding (Resumes Plus LLC) · All Rights Reserved