LinkedIn Recommendations: How to Get Them and Why They Matter

LinkedIn recommendations are written testimonials from your professional connections that appear directly on your profile. They provide social proof that your skills and achievements are genuine — something that self-reported profile content alone cannot do.

How Recommendations Affect Recruiter Perception

Recruiters reading a LinkedIn profile with detailed recommendations from former managers, colleagues, and clients have a richer picture of your professional character than those reading a profile without them. Recommendations answer the questions that job descriptions and experience sections cannot: what is it actually like to work with this person? Do they deliver what they claim?

A profile with three well-written, specific recommendations from credible sources is meaningfully more compelling than one without any.

Who to Ask

The most valuable recommendations come from:

• Former managers (or current manager, if you have the relationship and the discretion)
• Senior colleagues or stakeholders who observed your work directly
• Clients or customers who can speak to your delivery and professional manner
• Mentors or professional advisers with credibility in your field

Do not collect recommendations from everyone you have ever worked with. Three to five strong, specific recommendations from credible sources outperform ten generic ones.

How to Ask

The most effective ask is direct, personal, and specific:

"I am updating my LinkedIn profile and I would really value a recommendation from you about our work on [specific project or context]. I would particularly appreciate if you could speak to [specific aspect — my project management, my communication with clients, my technical approach]. I am happy to write a draft if that would be easier."

This approach works because it is specific (the person knows exactly what you want them to say), respectful of their time (the draft offer helps), and genuine (you have named a specific context).

What a Good Recommendation Contains

Specific examples, not generic assertions. "Sarah delivered the product migration in half the expected time without any customer-facing issues" is a recommendation. "Sarah is a great colleague who is always positive and hard-working" is praise but not evidence.

Build your CV free at CVCircuit, then update your LinkedIn profile — including requesting recommendations from former colleagues.