Most people who read the blog know that I use LinkedIn many times during the course of the day. Currently I have over 3,700 connections and frankly believe it is an invaluable tool in todays’ business world.
Recently LinkedIn added a feature called “Endorsements” which basically means that your contacts are endorsing you on a certain type of skillset. Everyone can pick their own skillsets. Here are five of mine:
- Marketing (58)
- Marketing Research (48)
- Customer Insight (45)
- Business Strategy (22)
- Social Media (14)
Every day in my inbox I have another notice from LinkedIn congratulating me that one of my contacts endorsed me. A number of those names weren’t familiar to me so I was curious and did a little test.
I tested two categories and found that I didn’t know (or couldn’t remember) 41% of the people who endorsed me. After scratching my head for a minute or two I asked myself and now you a few questions:
- Do LinkedIn endorsements really matter?
- How accurate are they?
- Do they really represent who I am and my skillset?
- As someone who uses LinkedIn to hire staff some I put value on these endorsements?
I look forward to reading your comments.
stephenie gordon says:
Like you, i have received many endorsements from folks that i do not have any relationship with. I haven’t been on LinkedIn in awhile, but from what i understand is that when you open Linked In now, it gives you a list and asks you if you want to endorse people on that list. So it’s not something people are seeking out to do, but rather just clicking as a sidebar.
while i am completely flattered that someone took the time to click the “endorse” button; i feel that the tool has become more of a popularity contest (in my opinion it relates to the number of likes you can get on a Facebook post/picture) as oppose to a tool for business savvy.
Ken Roberts says:
Like you, I find LinkedIn to be very valuable and I use it daily. I’ve noticed the same thing recently – people I vaguely know, or people I have fallen out of contact with are suddenly endorsing me. Even more, some areas where I have been endorsed, while within the realm of marketing research, are not necessarily an area where I consider myself to be an expert. Not only do I fear this could eventually harm my own credentials, but it also leads me to question the actual value of such endorsements. I would put little faith in the endorsements if I was checking on a potential hire or business partner.
Merrill Dubrow says:
Here is a quick update with ,my endorsements:
92 Market Research
77 Marketing Research
66 Marketing
57 Customer Insight
26 Strategy
24 Business Strategy
18 Advertising Research
16 Segmentation
15 Social Media
14 Quantitative Research