Are recommendations found on individuals profiles on LinkedIn a valued source for you? A debate you hear out there from time to time.

I have my opinion, which I just posted to Jason Alba's blog post on the same subject.. Read his thoughts and the comments.

Do you care? Are you leveraging the service to represent an authentic personal brand?

As I commented
"I think the recommendation feature is fabulous. You can tell a lot about the personal brand - good and bad.

I advice people to ask for recommendations, with pride, from those who have already written letters and otherwise provided shinning and authentic reference. Especially during time when it is difficult to express transferable skills to different/new industry.

I lost count how many times I have been in a bulk message asking for recommendation and/or asked by someone I don’t really know - they are the people with 15 not so thought out endorsements in one day. I tell them why I will not and am thrilled to learn about them this way when considering being a connector.

Those who have been inspired to recommend me are responsible for some of the sales on my website from people who have never contacted me - for that credibility I am grateful. Recommendations are a good thing and that is why I do it for people without ask - reminds me I need to do more!"


Read Jason's post - what do you think?