How to Use LinkedIn Recommendations

2026-04-06

A few years ago I wrote a post on building your LinkedIn profile from scratch. Since then, I’ve gradually added colleagues, managers, and partners on LinkedIn.

One day, a contact I hadn’t talked to in ages messaged me. I clicked into their profile to see where they work now, and noticed they had several Recommendations. That was the first time I realized LinkedIn had this feature. Compared with a resume-style “Experience” section (company + title), recommendations feel more three-dimensional — you can see traits like how someone collaborates, communicates, or shows up under pressure.

Later, when I was in the middle of a job change, I took the chance to talk with my manager and asked if they could write me a recommendation. They said yes right away.

Here’s the exact process I followed.

1) Ask verbally first

Before you do anything in the system, make sure the other person is willing and gives you a clear yes.

2) Go to their LinkedIn profile and click “Request a recommendation”

Next, go to their LinkedIn profile and choose Request a recommendation.

LinkedIn will ask you to pick your relationship. Options look like:

X managed you directly
X was a senior to you but did not manage you directly
You worked with X on the same team

This part surprised me (in a good way). From this information, readers can quickly understand the context: were you peers, or was it a manager–report relationship? Different roles see different angles. It also hints at how closely you worked together — which indirectly affects how much weight a recommendation carries.

3) Add a short “prompt” message in the request

In my message, I thanked my manager (since I was about to move on) and shared that I’d grown a lot during our time working together. I also reminded them of specific moments where they had given me positive feedback — the goal was to jog their memory and make it easier to write something concrete.

4) Review the recommendation and decide whether to accept it

After they submit it, LinkedIn will notify you, and you can choose whether to accept it. Only after you accept will it appear on your profile under Recommendations.