Not everyone who knows you and likes you can take the time to write a recommendation for you. Unfortunately, your requests for recommendations on LinkedIn might be ignored until your contacts have a moment to reflect on what you do well and put it down into words. While there are ways to make it easier for them, like “suggesting” what they might write (by writing the recommendation for them), there’s an even quicker way to get the acknowledgment that impresses prospective hiring managers and recruiters. On LinkedIn, that shortcut is skill endorsements.

Choosing what skills to add to your LinkedIn profile allows you to showcase your abilities to anyone who views your profile, including prospective employers and internship providers. If you don’t make the choice, LinkedIn will analyze your experience and make the choice for you. Hence, if you know what type of jobs you want to pursue, choose your skills wisely. Look at job postings you want to apply to and select skills that match the keywords you find in those posts.

LinkedIn skill endorsements appear as a list in your profile right after your experience section. You can add new skills by clicking on the pencil that appears on the righthand side of the skills section. You may also take skills quizzes by clicking on the blue box in that section. Your skills will be categorized by areas of expertise, which fall into these general categories.

  1. Top Skills
  2. Industry Knowledge
  3. Tools & Technologies
  4. Interpersonal Skills
  5. Languages
  6. Other Skills

You can add up to 50 skills to your profile. You must have more than three skills listed in your Skills & Endorsements section for your skills to be categorized. Skills with the most endorsements are listed first, and skills without endorsements are displayed according to the date they were added.

To control what recruiters and hiring managers see, you can manually reorder your skills.

  1. Click the Me icon at top of your LinkedIn homepage.
  2. Click View profile.
  3. Scroll down to the Skills & Endorsements section and click the Edit.
  4. In the pop-up window, click and drag the Reorder icon to the right of the corresponding skill you’d like to reorder.

You can even control how often visitors are asked to endorse you. In the Endorsements pop-up window, manage how you receive and give skill endorsements by toggling Yes or No to the right of each option presented.

Then you can set it and forget it. But don’t! Plan on revisiting your skills section at least every six months because you want to make sure your profile represents everything you learn as your progress through school and your career.

Next Steps

  1. Visit your LinkedIn profile to see what skills are listed now.
  2. Then, click on the Jobs tab. Look through the listings to find skills and keywords that you want to include in your Skills & Endorsements section.
  3. Next, create your list in the Skills & Endorsements section of your profile.
  4. Put the skills you choose in the order of priority that best suits your job or internship search.
  5. Consider taking some skills quizzes on LinkedIn to get that endorsement, too.