LinkedIn has become the new normal in professional communication. Since the platform gained so much popularity and respect , giving recommendations via LinkedIn gained people’s attention.Yet , writing a recommendation would take more time if you do not know where to start and what to write .This comprehensive guide will help you to break the tension and to write a awesome LinkedIn recommendation with minimum effort.
For you to recommend someone to an employer or another person, you must know the person you are recommending well, both his personal and professional life. Any recommendation on LinkedIn is an official statement that is written by one of the members of the site, acknowledging the works of one of their connections.
In addition to that, members of LinkedIn can also request a LinkedIn recommendation from their main connections, especially when trying to draw up more work force for their business. Recommendations can come from former or current employees, managers, and any other person whom you have enjoyed his or her service. Writing recommendations for your connections boosts your profile credibility, and can also strengthen your network. Some of the tips to write an awesome LinkedIn recommendation include the following;
1.Use a hook at the beginning of your recommendation
Hooks help in capturing the attention of the reader. When writing a LinkedIn recommendation using a hook shows the reader how you highly regard this person. In addition to that, when using a hook, do not use general statements that every other person uses.
For instance, when referring to the person as a team player, you need to get into details and mention what makes them a good team player. You can say “Caleb is an ambitious and passionate person when it comes to working with people to achieve a common goal. He has a strong humor that no one can resist, which I consider the best skill needed to bring people to work together as a team.” When the reader sees this LinkedIn recommendation, he or she will be sure that you are referring to the right person, and a person who you have related with before to their company.
2.Include a background in your recommendation
In this case, you need to show the reader how you know this person and describe the work relationship you had with him or her. In this area, you need to state how long you worked together and whether you worked together as a team or if one person was more superior to the other. Giving a background check when submitting your LinkedIn recommendation is important in that it shows the reader the kind of relationship that you had with the person you are recommending. Remember that what you are saying to the reader carries weight and will determine whether or not the person you recommended will be hired.
For example, in your recommendation essay you can state that, “Jim and I were part of a marketing team at ABC company. We worked together in all projects and he always did an outstanding job. He handles his duties and responsibilities diligently and works perfectly with or without supervision”. When the reader goes through that in the LinkedIn recommendation, he will know that indeed Jim deserves a chance in his company.
3.Mention what makes the person you are recommending stand out
Many people seem to have the common skills and talents that are required for any kind of job. However, whatever will make your LinkedIn recommendation stand out is listing one or two traits that make the person you are recommending stand out. Moreover, to save the reader’s time, do not list all the skills that they possess, but focus on two main ones that you think will make him stand out among people too. What you can do is to choose any two areas that you know the person you are recommending is best at, and place your focus on those two areas.
You can further go ahead and show how these skills helped in meeting the set objectives, and how it helped in growing the company. Highlighting these skills is important in helping the reader determine if the goals that the person you are recommending will be useful in the future. In addition to that, if the company is looking for a team leader, you should consider the specific skill that makes the recommended person a team leader.
4.Ensure that the recommendation is specific and straight to the point
A great LinkedIn recommendation should be straight to the point, telling the reader how the person recommending and the one recommended know each other. Going into many details may make the whole LinkedIn recommendation lose its original meaning, and the reader may lose interest in reading it. To secure a place for the person you are recommending, focus on his job performance and not general attributes. Everyone can claim to have the general attributes, but being specific and straightforward creates a difference between your recommendation and another person’s LinkedIn recommendation.
5.Mention something that is very relevant to the recommended person’s career path
The main aim of writing recommendations is to convince the reader that the person you are recommending is qualified for the specific position, and will improve the company’s productivity hence resulting in increased sales.
For instance, many people think that it is okay to say that “Jane is a team leader”. Well, everyone can be a team leader, and for you to bring out the difference between you and another person’s recommendation, you have to state something that is very relevant to your career.
You can say that “Jane has a good sense of humor, making people around her very comfortable and willing to work with her in her projects. She also prefers engaging every member of the department in working towards achieving the same goal.” When the reader goes through this type of LinkedIn recommendation, he or she will have interest in knowing the person you have recommended and working with them for the long term objective of the company.
6.Explain how the person you are recommending has grown in the company
When people start working for any company, they always find it hard mastering some aspects of work, and getting everything done in the desired way at one time. If the person you are recommending is your LinkedIn recommendation once reported to you, or is reporting to you then this recommendation can serve them well in the new company they want to work in.
for instance, if the person you are recommending once reported to you, then you can say that “John is a very dedicated and determined individual, who works diligently and delivers all his work before the deadline”.
In addition to that, he is always the first one to come up with a brilliant idea on how to get things done in the company, and is always working with respective team members in achieving the same goal. He believes in team work and is never a boss to anyone. Thanks to John we were able to achieve our target last month.” When the reader gets to see this kind of LinkedIn recommendation, he or she will not hesitate to hire John, because it is evident that his skills and effectiveness will benefit the company.
7.Provide a Personal Insight
A LinkedIn recommendation should be able to provide insight and mention how the recipient made you feel. Providing this kind of personal insight is important since it tells the reader how you met, and how you felt working with the person you are recommending. Remember that this recommendation is professional, and is going to be used by professionals, so you should also keep your details professional.
On the contrary, if you never worked with this individual but there are some aspects of their personality that you noticed while they were in the company then you should mention that. In this case, this LinkedIn recommendation can be provided by a client, a co-worker or a manager.
For instance, you can say that “Alex is a very passionate and patient salesperson who made my first purchase much easier. He dedicated his time, explained and answered all the questions I had about the new product his company launched. I was impressed by his passion about his work since he proved that he is not another sales agent who just wants to get paid at the end of it all.”
This recommendation shows that you noticed his personality trait, and you engaged with Alex to a personal level.
8.Example of a Recommendation Essay
When you are recommending another person, you need to sound confident and sure about their character traits and be straight to the point about why you are recommending them. A recommendation letter is designed to offer a testimony of the skills, abilities, talents, professional and personal relationships with an individual. When writing a good LinkedIn recommendation, you need to section the work into three parts, which are the introduction, body and conclusion.You can use a separate draft or a note taking method to gather information.
In the introductory part, base your focus on introducing yourself and explain your relationship with the applicant. In the body, give some of the examples of the applicant’s skills and qualities, but be straight to the point. Focus on the most important qualities only. Then in the conclusion paragraph, finish with a positive statement about the applicant. Below is an example of a recommendation essay.
It is my pleasure to write a recommendation letter for Alex White. I first met Alex when I attended a business workshop with some of my colleagues. From the first moment I had a conversation with him, I could tell that he is very passionate about his job and loves working together with his team.
While everyone else was taking credit for the success of their company, Alex kept thanking his team for making everything happen. His statements were full of “if it were not for my team, we could not have achieved this.” This showed me that Alex values working with a team than being a group leader.
When the workshop ended, I went to Alex and talked at a personal level, and realized that he is a very amazing person. He is a good listener and makes decisions only after looking at both dimensions of the problem at hand.
Unfortunately, three years after meeting Alex, the company he was working for was acquired by another company and the new management team laid off many staff members. Alex happened to be one of them.
When I heard about this, I immediately called Alex because of the fear of losing him to another company. Luckily, he was still available and came in and started working for my company immediately.
I could tell from the positive changes in the company after a few months that Alex was getting on well with his new colleagues. Our company then received a new project, that was to be completed in less than two months, and when I called Alex and his team members and briefed them about the changes, he assured me that they will get it done before time.
I thought that this involved spending extra hours at work, but to my surprise no one was at work at any odd hours. I then realized that Alex met with his team very early in the morning, engaged in a twenty minute exercise before getting to work.
All of his team members looked happy and were willing to handle any task assigned to them. Alex was part of the team and his team members kept seeking his advice whenever there were any problems.
I was impressed and to my surprise, the project was completed in a months’ time, and it is the same project that pushed our company to the top. Alex is desiccated, passionate and friendly to everyone. He also has a positive sense of humor making it easier to blend with him.
Therefore, if you want to get things done, increase your sales and get the company together then I would recommend Alex. If you have any questions, you can call me at 123-456-7890.
9.Conclusion
A good LinkedIn recommendation should be straight to the point, and should include the unique strengths, credibility and competence of the applicant. This makes it much easier for the reader to know what makes your applicant unique and suitable for a specific position.
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