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The Trouble with Tribbles Endorsements Having started a critique of LinkedIn, the most often complaint I hear is that the endorsement feature is not to be taken seriously. They’re like “tribbles” in the original Star Trek series 44th episode “The Trouble with Tribbles.” Endorsements (like tribbles), seem harmless and are fun to give and receive. They tend to multiply quickly and take up a lot of space on your profile, but have no apparent value. The key people you would like to take notice of your endorsements, such as: recruiters, hiring managers, talent acquisition, and human resources typically don’t pay much attention to your endorsements. Why should they? Everybody you know would like to wish you well, so they endorse you for everything possible. Here’s a great example:

My mother, who is 75 years old, recently joined LinkedIn and soon connected with all us kids and her grandchildren. She started endorsing everyone for everything—bless her heart. She wants everyone in the family to be successful and if she can lend a hand by endorsing, then what’s wrong with that?

Now, I’ve heard from a few people who only endorse others who they personally know and feel comfortable with endorsing for a specific skill set or trait. That’s probably how it should be, but it has now grown beyond any level of control—much like tribbles. To date, I’ve received a total 480 endorsements. Of which, 74 are for recruiting and 56 for human resources.

I’ve begun to look at endorsements as a gauge. What are you known for? For me, I am viewed as a recruiter (74 endorsements), slightly more so than human resources (56 endorsements). That’s about as much value as I can gleam for endorsements. They tell

me what a candidate is known for within their own network. Why would LinkedIn have this feature that seems to have so little value or none at all? Another possible use for the endorsement is "keyword search." When recruiters seek candidates with hard to find skills, we could use the endorsement categories as part of a keyword search. The endorsement feature seems like a nuisance, but it may have some minimal use. I searched the LinkedIn Help feature for "endorsements," which includes quite a bit of information posted, including how to "opt out." http://help.linkedin.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/31888 My next article will be about “LinkedIn References” and will include a comparison to endorsements that should highlight why giving and receiving references is a better feature to use.

Robert H. McNeilly MSM, SPHR Executive Recruiter