Recently I have received a number of requests for a LinkedIn recommendation. I am more than happy to leave feedback for people who have worked for me or for those I have worked for. What I am not happy to do is leave someone a recommendation when I have never used, investigated or often even heard of their new business or service.
If I haven’t worked with you directly or at least am familiar with your work at a level which I feel qualifies me to comment then I will not be writing anything.
Unless of course it looks something like this…
Joking aside, when someone visits your professional profile on LinkedIn or on any professional platform they should only see credible recommendations and endorsements based on actual experiences. References from someone you haven’t worked with don’t give you proper credit for your work and if you are indeed building your business the way you hope to you should have people you are able to call on for genuine feedback.
For those tempted to leave feedback for people who ask for it despite not actually being qualified to do so, consider how your actions alter the validity of the feedback system which should, to a certain degree, be able to be trusted. Obviously online feedback is not the same as undertaking thorough due diligence on a person or a company before hiring them or working with them however it does have its place and may be used to shortlist candidates.
Is it just me?