The Ultimate Guide on How to Endorse Someone on LinkedIn in 2024

LinkedIn endorsements are a great way to strengthen your professional network by recognizing the skills and expertise of your connections. Whether you want to help out a former colleague, return the favor for someone who endorsed you, or simply show appreciation for someone’s work, endorsing them for relevant skills gives their profile a credibility boost.

But for LinkedIn newbies, the endorsement process can feel a bit mysterious. Where exactly is the endorse button? What happens when you endorse someone? Are there any endorsement etiquette rules you should follow?

This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about how to endorse someone on LinkedIn in 2023.

Benefits of Endorsing Others on LinkedIn

Before we dig into the logistics of how to endorse someone, let’s look at why you should spend time endorsing people in your network in the first place. Here are some of the benefits:

Boosts Your Connections’ Profiles

When you endorse a connection for skills and expertise they have, it gives their LinkedIn profile a credibility boost. The more endorsements they rack up for a particular skill, the more it signals to others that they truly possess that skill.

Strengthens Your Relationship

Endorsing a connection takes just a few seconds, but it can go a long way in strengthening your relationship with that person. It shows them that you appreciate their work and want to help support their professional brand.

It’s a Quick Way to Give Back

If someone endorses your skills, endorsing them back is an easy way to return the favor and recognize them. LinkedIn is built on reciprocity, so pay it forward.

Helps You Discover Connections’ Skills

Perusing the skills section of your connections’ profiles can surface talents and expertise you didn’t realize they have. You can learn a lot about someone’s background and capabilities through their endorsements.

Can Potentially Lead to Opportunities

There’s a chance the person you endorse will take note and think of you for future job openings, freelance gigs, or other opportunities. LinkedIn is all about relationship-building after all.

Also read: What Are The Benefits Of LinkedIn?

How to Endorse Someone on LinkedIn

Ready to start spreading those endorsements? Here is a foolproof step-by-step process:

1. Login your LinkedIn Account

2. Search the name of the person you want to endorse

3. Scroll to the “Skills & Endorsements” Section

Scroll down their profile until you get to the “Skills & endorsements” section. This is usually on the lower half of the profile.

5. Click the “Endorse” Button

Find the skill you want to endorse them for, then click the blue “Endorse” button on the right side.

6. Confirm the Endorsement

A pop-up will appear where you can add an optional personal note and then confirm the endorsement by clicking “Send”.

And that’s it! The person will receive a notification that you endorsed them.

Also read: What Does 1st, 2nd, 3rd Mean on LinkedIn Connections? A Detailed Guide

Tips for Customizing Your LinkedIn Endorsements

Now that you know how to do a basic endorsement, let’s go over some ways to customize it and make it more meaningful.

Add a Personal Note

When endorsing someone, take a few seconds to customize it with a short personalized message. Comments like “It was great collaborating with you on [project name]” or “Your expertise in [skill] is unmatched!” make the endorsement feel more sincere.

Endorse Multiple Skills

Don’t limit yourself to just one endorsement per person. Endorsing colleagues for 3-5 of their top skills shows you took time to recognize their expertise.

Share Why You’re Endorsing Them

Rather than just writing something generic like “Great working with you!”, explain specifically why you’re endorsing their skill. Mention details like a project you worked on together where that skill was on display.

Use Hashtags

Including relevant hashtags like #javascriptninja or #publicspeakingpro makes your custom endorsement message more searchable/discoverable by others.

Return the Favor

If someone endorses your skills, don’t just endorse them back in the same skills they picked for you. Take time to endorse their actual top skills.

Also read: How to Hide Your LinkedIn Profile

Should You Endorse Back Everyone Who Endorses You?

This is a common dilemma — someone you barely know endorses a random skill of yours on LinkedIn. Should you feel obligated to automatically endorse them back? Here are my thoughts:

Pros of Endorsing Back	Cons of Endorsing Back
It maintains reciprocity and goodwill within your network	It comes across as less sincere/genuine if you don’t put thought into which skills you endorse back
The person endorsing you likely did it to be nice, so returning the favor is polite	You risk endorsing skills they aren’t actually qualified in
It takes under a minute and requires minimal effort	It contributes to endorsement clutter on profiles

My Advice:

Take a middle ground approach. Unless it’s a close contact who thoughtfully endorsed your key skills, just focus on endorsing 1-2 relevant skills back rather than blindly matching all the endorsements they gave you. Add a polite note acknowledging their endorsement.

Something like “Thanks John for the endorsements! I really appreciate you taking the time.” This strikes the right balance of showing gratitude while not distorting your own endorsements.

LinkedIn Endorsement Etiquette

Endorsing willy-nilly could backfire. Follow these etiquette tips:

• Only endorse people for skills you can authentically validate. Don’t just endorse random skills because you feel obligated. Stick to areas where you have firsthand knowledge of their abilities.
• Avoid endorsing competitors or company leadership unless you legitimately want to promote their skillset. Don’t stir up trouble.
• Use endorsements judiciously. Endorse thoughtfully and infrequently vs. endorsing everyone for every skill.
• Say thanks. If someone goes out of their way to endorse your skills, take a minute to thank them and return the favor.
• Don’t take lack of endorsements personally. Don’t read into it if connections aren’t endorsing you back. They likely just aren’t heavy endorsement users.
• Endorse equally. If endorsing a group like your whole team, endorse them in equal numbers/frequency to avoid perceptions of favoritism.

Also read: What is the LinkedIn Character Limits: The Definitive Guide for 2023

Current LinkedIn Endorsement Limits

LinkedIn puts caps on how many endorsements you can dole out to avoid abuse. Here are the current limits as of October 2023:

• 30 endorsements per profile per day
• 200 endorsements per profile per month
• 1000 total endorsements per month

So pace yourself rather than trying to endorse your whole network in one day!

Latest News Related to LinkedIn Endorsements

LinkedIn is continually making changes to improve the endorsement experience. Here are a few recent updates:

• Endorsements now appear as skills on profile: Endorsed skills now directly show up in the skills section, better showcasing someone’s expertise.
• Endorsements from connections are weighted more heavily: Getting endorsed by people you’re closely connected to gives more of a boost than random endorsements.
• Improved endorsements management: You can now easily remove outdated endorsements and organize top skills.
• Receiving endorsements triggers profile traffic notifications: When you get endorsed, you’ll be notified of the spike in profile views driven by the endorsement.

Also read: Troubleshooting “LinkedIn Unable to Connect” Error Messages

FAQs About How to Endorse Someone on LinkedIn