Ever play Whac-a-mole at an arcade or fair? What a fun time, as the little mole pops its head up from any of six or seven different holes on the game, you attempt to smack or whack it down back into it’s hole. In the 90’s it was not uncommon for software companies to have one game available for employees amusement and/or release frustration.
LinkedIn introduced a feature in the last week or so and you may have been seeing it’s effects in your email. LinkedIn Endorsements were announced in late September this year with the tagline, “Give Kudos with Just One Click.” (See LinkedIn Blog)
Scott Kleinberg, of Tribune Newspapers say about LinkedIn Endorsements, “Click. Click. Boom. Show someone you respect them professionally. Endorse them on LinkedIn.” Yet, there has been two side effects I’ve noticed. One, what do you do when you get a notification email? Two, when you endorse someone, a window pops up with other connections’ skill, asking if you would endorse them.
The first is easy, thank the person either on LinkedIn in a message or send them a thank you email. This is a great opportunity to further network with them and see what’s going on in their lives. But the second side effect, well that is something else...
This is the Whac-A-Mole game. As soon as you acknowledge someone’s endorsement, a window pops up with four people you are connected to and asks “Now it’s your turn. Endorse your connections:” and you can endorse a skill of theirs from their profile. (I have one client that never added Skills & Expertise to their profile and LinkedIn identifed potential skills within their summary and sent me an inquiry to endorse them - very smart technology.) Here is how it is a Whac-A-Mole game.
When you endorse one person’s skill, another person and skill pops up. If you endorse all four, then four new endorsements pop up. If you are an addictive person you cannot stop, and you click, click & boom, your connections will soon know how much you appreciate their skills and expertise.
LinkedIn has provided a wonderful tool for people to connect and build relationships as well as providing an outlet for random acts of kindness. However, don’t use the endorsements willy-nilly or it will cheapen the endorsements as a whole. We need the to make sure that people, job holders, recruiters and hiring managers understand that when a prospective candidate has a number of endorsements attached to a specific skill, they can expect the candidate to demonstrate expertise in that skill in the interview.
So be considerate when you endorse someone’s skill. It’s quick and it’s easy, but it’s not trivial. It doesn’t take as long to produce as a recommendation, but it can be just as important to that person’s career future.
