LinkedIn is fast becoming a popular destination for every job seeker and recruiter out there. While the good ol’ recommendation feature was a fine indicator of the users’ skill-sets and soft skills, there was a pressing need for a feature that would enable recruiters and employers to take an objective look on the person. Zerply, a popular networking site for creative professionals has been using an endorsement feature from quite some time now.
While LinkedIn started to roll out the feature a few days ago, earlier this week the company made an official announcement about Endorsements. Users can directly go to the Skills & Expertise section of the profile page of the connection whom they wish to endorse. LI is also featuring a box on the top when you visit a connection’s profile page. It recommends a few skill sets for you to endorse.
One great thing about LinkedIn endorsement is it will make the whole recommendation process easy. While I am a writer, I have seen that a lot of people find it difficult to either write or find time to write recommendations. Also, the recommendation feature was open to abuse. I must have received at least 10 emails from LinkedIn connections whom I have never met asking me to write a recommendation in return for one! While this can happen for the Endorsement feature too.
But as the usage and the volumes increase, it can be a great tool for recruiters to objectively gauge the skill sets. LI has also made the process transparent by including who has endorsed a person for the particular skill set. A clever recruiter will know how to quickly use this information to his or her advantage
Of course, we do have a little bit of Oliver Twist in all of us, and I do want some more from LinkedIn. I am sure many hiring managers too would prefer statistics when it comes to endorsements. The professional networking site already provides numbers when it comes to certain aspects, such as the Company Page. Maybe they could do the same for Endorsements too!
For example, if a developer has received many endorsements for PHP, the feature should give combined demographic details about the endorsers, or whether it’s the boss or the client. Who knows HR managers could also use the Endorsement feature to see if employees are getting endorsed by their clients or seniors and use it as a metric for performance appraisal.
LinkedIn Endorsements have started to become popular with users, and hopefully, the company would make more enhancements to it.
