A system for writing impactful LinkedIn recommendations

• Author: Dave Poltorak •

Table of Contents

The point behind recommendations

Recommendations are instantly accessible and publicly available references (zero cost for the consumer).

They add authenticity to your profile by giving the reader confidence you can do what your profile says you can do. It's also the only place on your profile where other people can write subjectively what they think of you - it's the only flavour on your profile of what you like to work with.

Having recommendations places you have above the rest of the candidates when applying for jobs, and, makes people more comfortable connecting to you as they can get a sense of who you are (as long as your recommendations are authentic)

Think about it this way, if you are a hiring manager, and you have a candidate with recommendations and one without, which one are you going to create an unconscious bias towards?

Recommendations get you the job.

Here's what I'm trying to prove when I call a candidate's references:

When I write a recommendation, I'm trying to make sure I answer these questions for someone else (and therefore only write recommendations for people who I genuinely think others should employ)

How to write recommendations quickly

  1. 5 minutes - the foundation - generate the core of the recommendation by thinking about three key topics
  2. 5 minutes - the draft - draft the recommendation using a template
  3. 5 minutes (or less with GPT!) - the final version - review the copy and finalise

You won't see that many recommendations on my profile yet, that's why I'm writing this content

This is the system I've designed for myself - I've written many performance reviews, completed requests for feedback and written (political) professional communications time and time again - the best approach is to enforce a time limit on each section, start a timer on your desk and practice completing the section in that time limit

By timing yourself you force yourself to write what's in your head without worrying about making it perfect, this way, you can get the foundational content quickly and polish it later. I find I have a much steeper gradient towards completion if I write in this way.

The foundation

Answer the following questions to generate a foundation, do this quickly, in note-form - the idea is to get them out of your head quickly, don't overthink it, write the first thing that comes to mind:

  1. Achievement - What is the most memorable achievement you think of when you think about working with them? What knowledge and skills did they use to achieve it?
  2. Impact - What was the most memorable impact they had on a project, the team or the business? What qualities about them as a person contributed to this impact?
  3. Reasons to work with them - What's the one or two top reasons why you would work with them again?

Example

  1. Achievement - Implementing a production-ready deployment pipeline using ArgoCD and Kubernetes
    1. Skills - Cloud Architecture and Design, Software Engineering, Research and Prototyping
  2. Impact - Creating a culture of we can do it and rallying the team to come together in times of adversity.
    1. Qualities - Authentic, honest, bold
  3. Reasons to work with them - They put people first and work very hard to get the job done

The draft

Using the answers from above, we add a few more elements to transform it into a recommendation:

Start by setting the context of the relationship

Write the foundation out in prose and add bridging structure

Conclude with a recommendation affirmation

When converting the draft into a recommendation, link together the topics using bridging structures. If these don't come easily to you, use the following prompt in your LLM of choice:

I'm writing a LinkedIn Recommendation. I've written key bullet points down of the information I want to communicate and now need to generate a bridging structure to help me to convert it to prose. I've provided two examples of each type of bridging structure, please generate 5 more different ways to bridge for each bridging structure.
- Setting relationship context 
    - Throughout our time working together, [Name] has...
	- In the duration of our collaboration, [Name] repeatedly...
- Highlighting skills and attributes 
	- [Name] is known for their exceptional [skill/quality], particularly in...
	- One of [Name]'s standout traits is their ability to...
- Discussing achievements and contributions
	- Their expertise was evident when they successfully.
	- A notable achievement was when [Name]...
- Impact and results
	- Thanks to [Name]'s contributions, our team saw...
	- Their influence was instrumental in...
- Personal qualities
	- What sets [Name] apart is their...
	- In addition to their technical prowess, [Name] brings...
- Concluding statements
	- Ultimately, I have no hesitation in recommending [Name] for...
	- Overall, [Name] is a professional who...

Example

Start by setting the context of the relationship

I have had the pleasure of working with Jane Doe for three years at XYZ Corporation.

Write the foundation out in prose and add bridging structure

Achievement

Jane is known for their exceptional cloud architecture and design skills. One notable achievement was the creation of a new deployment pipeline using ArgoCD and Kubernetes, even though Jane hadn't used this technology before, she quickly delivered a production-ready system thanks to her excellent research and prototyping skills and background in software engineering.

Impact

In a challenging environment, Jane showcased remarkable leadership by continually being bold and honest with her communications to the team, acknowledging the issues at hand but rallying everyone to treat each other with care while working together to solve the problem at hand. It's hard to find the words on how much this we-can-do-it attitude positively impacted the team.

Reasons to work with

Additionally, Jane is a joy to work with because she always put people first, caring deeply for those around her while still working incredibly hard on her own projects and objectives.

Conclude with a recommendation affirmation

I see tremendous value for any organisation employing Jane and wholeheartedly recommend her for any opportunity.

The final version

The last step is to review what you've written, ensure it's grammatically correct and improve use of language.

At this stage, tools such as ChatGPT can very quickly act as a professional copywriter and suggest improvements - however - I prefer to use a prompt which keeps the text as close to the original as possible while optimising for correctness and brevity.

If I feel it sounds too GPT like, I'll revert back to my original.

I use the following prompt:

Please review the following text and make any corrections to improve grammar and use of language. Please keep it as close to the original as possible while optimising for brevity:

[TEXT]

Closing remarks

The recommendations generated using this are as I would describe, a traditional narrative style. This style is lengthy and can be time consuming to write and read. (hopefully not too long to write using this systemised approach)

This is my preferred general style but I did generate several other styles (as well as describe the pro's and con's) using ChatGPT.

The other styles included:

Each of these had pros and cons such as how engaging they were and what industries/positions they would suit better - I concluded that you should talk to the person you are writing a recommendation for and ask if there is a specific style that would be well received, they should have a good understanding of what their industry or level of seniority requires*

Finally, make sure what you've written is genuine, honest and impactful - this is the last scan I do before I send over a recommendation for review.

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