LinkedIn have just added a new Endorsement feature for profiles. This feature allows you to endorse the specific skills (or expertise) of your connections with a single click of the mouse.
How
can you utilise this new feature?
There
are three options:
A)
When you go to a connection's LinkedIn profile, you may be prompted
to make an endorsement through a new section which is displayed at
the top of that profile. It will be similar to this one:
You
can delete any skills you're not in a position to endorse. Or even
type in a skill you would like to add to the selection shown. (My
experience so far is that this section does not always display the
most appropriate skills for the person concerned.)
Just
click the “Endorse” button to confirm your endorsement.
B)
Once you have made an endorsement as described in A) above, you are
often also offered the chance to make additional endorsements, to
other LinkedIn connections, through a panel like this:
Just
click the appropriate “Endorse” button to confirm endorsements.
(Once again, the most appropriate skills do not always appear to be
displayed in this section and you can only endorse the single skill
displayed.)
C)
In my opinion, the most effective way to make endorsements is to
scroll down a profile to the actual “Skills & Expertise”
section. Then select the specific skills you would like to endorse.
This section now looks like this (with or without the prompt from
LinkedIn):
Simply
click on the cross adjacent to the skills you wish to endorse.
Once
you have endorsed a skill, your picture is shown on that person's
profile, alongside the endorsed skill.
What
do you need to do to take advantage of this new feature?
Make
sure you have added the “Skills & Expertise” section to your
LinkedIn profile. If not, you can add this section via the “Add
sections” tab available when you select the “Edit Profile”
option.
Also,
ensure that your most pertinent skills are listed first in the
“Skills & Expertise” section. So that they are easy for
people to select. Although from what I have seen so far, it appears
that LinkedIn is automatically re-ordering the “Skills &
Expertise” section to reflect the number of endorsements received.
How
significant will this new feature become?
It's
hard to tell how widely accepted the LinkedIn Endorsements feature
will become at this stage. But it is certainly a nice way to
acknowledge the business capabilities of those with whom you work
most closely.
