Etiquette on LinkedIn recommendations

Do you consider as being acceptable to walk down a corridor and bump into a colleague, manager or peer, saying hello, starting a conversation but never receiving any answer? That individual would just walk away and continue his activity as nothing had happened? Not acceptable!

Then why would you think it is acceptable to send someone a recommendation request and not receive any answer for weeks? Electronic communication in 2014 is just as important as face to face communication, thus ignoring e-messages is just as unprofessional as not saying hi back when someone is standing right in front of you.

What is the etiquette on LinkedIn recommendations?

When you receive a recommendation request, you should analyse it rapidly and see if it’s a valid one. There is a certain category of people that request recommendations or endorsements, without having a real visible professional connection with you, now that’s wrong.

So once you have establish the relevance, in my opinion you have two big fat options:

Option 1. Take maximum three working days to reply with:

a) either a simple message saying that you received the request, you feel happy to offer support, AND that you may take a few more days to come back with the requested recommendation. You may ask for more details, reminders of that contact’s work.

Do not take more than seven working days to actually return the recommendation. Don’t count on the person to remind you, just sit down and do it, it will take ten minutes of your time and you will receive endless goodwill from the person that will publish it on their profile page. Not to mention the free publicity that you generate to your own personal branding or to your company. Not to mention the positive connection that you keep with that person, for all your future potential collaborations. Not to mention who might read it and, funny enough, discover you to be the answer to their professional needs, as they would find in you a good supplier, customer, business partner.

b) or a short and polite message saying that you actually cannot/ will not write it because: you don’t know the person at all, well enough or haven’t worked with them directly. Also consider that they might have made a genuine mistake is directing the request to you. Clarify the situation with diplomacy and don’t let any loose ends.

Option 2. Reply very late or never. (it is not really an option if you consider yourself a professional )

You may feel that it is not a priority for you as you are busy. You may feel that you could reply one day, when you are bored on the subway, on your way home. You may think that they will forget and not take it seriously anyway. BIG Mistake!

The applied etiquette on answering a LinkedIn recommendation request says a lot about the person.

In a world where the job market is highly competitive, any advantage can take a candidate to the short list. Collaborating via LinkedIn is a practice used by most of the job seekers these days. That is why taking the time and courage of asking for a LinkedIn recommendation should be valued.

It’s OK to be busy and overwhelmed but it’s NOT OK to ignore an employee, colleague or partner with whom you collaborated successfully in the past. There should be no excuse not to come back in maximum 7 days (unless you are on vacation, hospitalised or worse).

Should you not find 10 minutes of your time to write a recommendation, it means you are a really poor time-manager and professional, showing no respect to your colleagues or for yourself. By being two months late or by never replying you are doing yourself a huge damage, because you appear to be disorganised and ignorant to etiquette and professional conduct. It means that the person who requested your recommendation was wrong in the first place for thinking highly of you, with kindness and respect.

We have perfected customer care into replying to any business e-mails or request in 24 hours, 48 hours..hey even 30 days. Why not perfect the Etiquette on LinkedIn recommendations or introductions and reply within 7 working days?

Time is ticking away for all of us and you never know when you might be on the other side of the line, asking for support and being utterly ignored.

What was your worst experience with LinkedIn Recommendations?