HOW TO WRITE A LINKEDIN RECOMMENDATION IN FIVE STEPS
With the steps below you can write a perfect recommendation within 10 minutes.
FIVE TIPS TO WRITE A LINKEDIN RECOMMENDATION
1. START WITH A CATCHY FIRST SENTENCE
Just like with an article, you want to draw the reader's attention with the first sentence, because the goal of course is that your recommendation is read. Ideally, this sentence is about how well the person did, but do not overdo this. Write for example:
"Not many people are lucky to have a manager who also works as a coach and mentor, ... is such a person." or
"Inspiring and motivating, that is what comes to mind if I describe ...".
2. DESCRIBE YOUR RELATIONSHIP
The next step is to indicate the relationship between you two. What joint projects did you work on and how long have you known each other? You don't have to write an extensive story, it is primarily important to show that you are qualified to write the recommendation. Consider:
"I have had the pleasure of working for over two years with ... at ..., in many different project teams." or
"I hired … as an interim ... to get started with ..., and she has completed this six month task fantastically."
3. CLEARLY SHARE THE COMPETENCES
If you recommend someone, chances are that you have a positive feeling about this person. It is important to formulate this as briefly as possible, in order to convey the message as clearly as possible. Think of one or two things that this person is better in, or does differently than anyone else. When writing a LinkedIn recommendation, keep the potential new position that someone is going to apply for in mind:
“... his ability to work on multiple projects at the same time was good to see. And at the same time he also made a big difference in productivity of the team. " or
"It was always special to see how … got a group of people on board for her ideas, even when some people didn't seem to agree in the first place”.
4. ADD SOME PERSONALITY
Let's face it, it's important that a person’s hard skills match a job. However, nowadays it is increasingly important that someone has the right soft skills, and is nice to work with. So bring some personality in the recommendation. Be formal in this, such as:
"It didn't matter how tense everyone was for a meeting, ... always made for a smile." or
"To get Mondays off to a good start ... always made us a cup of coffee and a delicious piece of cake during our meeting."
5. END YOUR RECOMMENDATION STRONGLY
The last step is to end the recommendation as strongly as possible. Think of a short but powerful end:
"... would be an great addition to any team" or
"Every employee would be happy with a manager like ..."
With these 5 steps you can write a perfect LinkedIn recommendation. The writing does not take long, and you will someone a great favour.
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