How Many LinkedIn Recommendations Should You Have?

My clients often ask me how many Recommendations they should have on their LinkedIn profile.  The simple answer is: At least three. After three Recommendations, LinkedIn considers this section of your profile “complete.”

The better answer, though, takes these considerations into account:

1. Connections-to-Recommendations Ratio

How many Recommendations you have really depends on how many contacts you have. A good guideline is 1-2 Recommendations for every 50 connections.

2. A Variety of Professional Relationships

Ideally, your LinkedIn Recommendations will be from a variety of individuals — not just supervisors, but co-workers, people you supervise, and clients/customers. Choose quality over quantity.

3. Inclusive of All Positions and Companies

Try to get a handful of Recommendations from each of the positions you’ve held and from people at each of the companies you’ve worked for. If all of your current Recommendations are from just one job or company, go through your connections and solicit Recommendations for those jobs/companies that are under-represented.

Author: Mir Garvy

I’ve written resumes for 2,000+ job seekers just like you—and helped my clients land jobs with companies like Amazon, SAS, Google, Duke University, Travelocity, Cisco Systems, GlaxoSmithKline, Expedia, and IBM.