Over the past few years, LinkedIn has grown in importance as a recruiting tool. Not only does it offer managers the opportunity to source and connect with passive candidates, but it also provides valuable insight into a candidate via their profile.
But when it comes to LinkedIn recommendations, can they be trusted as a reliable indicator of a candidate’s true worth? Or should they be viewed simply as an empty list of praise and accolades?
As top Tempe recruiters, PrideStaff knows that you shouldn’t completely discount many positive recommendations – particularly when they support what you already know about a candidate from their resume and the interview process. However, they should also be taken with a grain of salt.
Why? Because LinkedIn recommendations aren’t necessarily a direct reflection of a candidate. They’re filtered and, oftentimes, biased in favor of the individual.
For instance:
- An individual can pick and choose whom they ask for recommendations from. And they’re likely not going to reach out to someone – a colleague or a boss – who would be more critical of them.
- Individuals can reject bad recommendations. So even if a candidate gets a negative review back (which is unlikely considering that most potential recommenders would rather ignore the “request for recommendation” rather than offer a negative one), they can simply reject it…meaning you can’t see the comments anyway.
- Recommendations are oftentimes traded between colleagues. In other words, one individual might recommend another in return for a recommendation. Therefore, even if recommendations are positive, they’re coming from individuals who have a personal stake in the recommendation.
On the flip side, LinkedIn enables you to verify whom the recommendation is coming from. As a result, you can see whether the person making the recommendation is a credible source. And if a candidate has many recommendations that offer specific details and information (rather than vague language or hyperbole) from credible sources, then that could be a good indicator as to whether they’d be a good fit for you.
The bottom line is that while LinkedIn recommendations shouldn’t be ignored, they shouldn’t be your only source for checking out a candidate. It’s imperative that you dig deeper in order to gain a true sense of each candidate…all so you can make a smart hiring decision.
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