LinkedIn Skills & ExpertiseI’m a self-identified control freak when it comes to certain aspects of my life, and as such, I am perpetually perturbed by the Skills & Expertise section on LinkedIn. The way this section works, anyone can endorse me for anything – even things I know nothing about! And if enough people endorse me for things I do not consider important, these skills will be prominently displayed at the top of my Skills list.

Aargh!

You might, like me, get an email almost daily telling you that someone wants to endorse you for “new” Skills not currently listed on your profile. And if you’re like me, there was a reason you didn’t list that skill in the first place. Either you don’t have that skill or you don’t want to market it.

What I do in this situation is press “Skip” and wait until the next well-meaning person endorses me for skills I don’t have.

At the National Resume Writers’ Association Conference in Chicago this past week, LinkedIn endorsements were a hot topic. We are all concerned that the wrong people are endorsing us for the wrong things. In one session about LinkedIn, trainer Dean DeLisle suggested that we take control of our Skills & Expertise and stop complaining about it!

How can you wield control over this pesky section? Well, let me tell you:

  1. Fill in ALL 50 Skills. This way there will be less likelihood of additional, inappropriate skills being added to your profile. You would have to delete one skill to add another.
  2. Press “Skip” to decline adding Skills to your profile.
  3. Know that the skills listed at the top of your Skills list are the ones with the most endorsements. If you want different skills to show up there, ask your connections to endorse you for the ones you want to appear at the top! (I am going to do this momentarily. Be forewarned.)
  4. As a last resort, you can delete a skill, add it back, and start over from zero endorsements. That will push other skills higher up on your list.

Please Take Action! A Request

I’ve found that a lot of people seem to endorse me for Blogging, Social Networking, Social Media Marketing, Nonprofits, Career Management, Time Management, and a lot of other things I don’t market as my specialties. My request to you is to endorse me for the list of Skills & Expertise that appears below. Please only do so if you are confident that I have the skill! Also note that to endorse a skill, you must be a 1st-degree connection. I invite you to connect with me on LinkedIn if we are not already connected.

Hint when endorsing anyone for skills: Don’t default or be limited to the ones suggested at the top of their profile! Scroll down in the profile to the Skills & Expertise section and choose from there. You will be able to click on a + sign to choose the skill.

For example:

Resume Writing

 

Here’s my list of requests. Thanks in advance for your support!

  1. Resume Writing
  2. Executive Resumes
  3. Executive Resume Writing
  4. Sales Resumes
  5. Marketing Resumes
  6. C-Level Resumes
  7. Senior Management Resumes
  8. Supply Chain Resumes
  9. Operations Resumes
  10. LinkedIn
  11. LinkedIn Profiles
  12. Cover Letters
  13. Professional Bios
  14. College Application Essays
  15. MBA Admissions Consulting
  16. Law School Admissions Consulting
  17. Law School Resumes

I’m making this request partly as an experiment in service of my e-book, How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile. If I can change the appearance of my Skills & Expertise section, then I will be able to stand tall and recommend similar action to my e-book readers in the 8th edition.

Also, if you think I am familiar with your skills and want me to endorse you for specific ones, I will do so IF I know your abilities first-hand.

Thank you and I look forward to the changing face of all our LinkedIn profiles!

 

4 Comments

  1. Better yet, opt out of displaying your endorsements on your profile at all! Regain control of the order in which they appear, leading with your core or strongest skills first.

    The vast majority of power users and recruiters know endorsements are absolutely meaningless. It is the most abused feature on LinkedIn and anyone that would place any merit on the endorsements is clueless.

  2. I can agree with you on that. As I see it part of the problem is on LinkedIn when you look at someone’s profile you get that blue box above the main header box that asks would you like to endorse ” ” for X skill?

    If that did not show then I think that it would be more simple to control your endorsements.

    I have been out of work for five months and would really like to read you book on “… profile on LinkedIn.” However, I do not posses anything that will read a digital file, unless it comes in a ” .pdf” type of file.

  3. Yes! I have been so frustrated by people who have no knowledge of me or my work endorsing me for things that they wouldn’t know about even if they DID have knowledge of me and my work. And I’ve run into dead ends trying to contact them to tell them to stop.

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