If you have a profile on LinkedIn professional social network you have definitely recently noticed how quickly users began to mutually endorse their skills among themselves. For even on the profiles of Czech users of LinkedIn the functionality called Endorsements already operates at full swing.
Recommending via Endorsements works on a basis of "liking" on Facebook. A user who displays a different user profile, will see above the list of skills of the given user, which he can recommend. So just click on the particular skill and your suggestions are automatically displayed in his profile in the "Skills and Expertise" section. You can also recommend more skills to the concerned person, he should add to the profile. It's easier and faster than the only so far possible possibility, i.e. writing recommendation in your own words.
Nevertheless, given how quickly Endorsements, took roots, a question arises as to what is actually the value of such recommendations? Can it be a relevant source of information for HR specialists? For example, even the British specialist server People Management finds it curious and notes that quite logically we can find most Endorsements in profiles of the most active users. However, most endorsements of these users come from third parties whose legitimacy is questionable at best.
Users tend to reciprocate endorsements, without knowing whether the respective person actually has the relevant skill. A situation when someone directly asks for confirmation of his/her skills is no exception. Just one click ... It seems, then, that he who has the most endorsed skills in his/her profile is an excellent self-promoter rather than a jack of all trades.
Do you use Endorsements? What do they actually tell us in your opinion?
-kk-