How to integrate a LinkedIn recommendation into your resume

A LinkedIn recommendation can be an extremely valuable tool in your job search. If you received a glowing recommendation from a supervisor, consider adding part of it to your resume. After all, why sit back and hope they find it on your profile?

There's more to it than simply copying and pasting, however. Like anything you add to your resume, you need to take a measured approach and carefully assess whether each sentence, and each word, adds value.  Here are some things to think about.

This is an example of a commonly worded LinkedIn recommendation:

"I worked with Ben for five years while he was a store manager with 7-Eleven and I was his district manager, and I am happy to offer this recommendation on his behalf. Ben was a very capable and energetic store manager who excelled in many areas. During the five years I worked with him, I assigned him to several different stores that had been underperforming and in each case he cleaned them up and turned them around in record time, with significant improvement in every area of the store. He possesses great communication and organizational skills, and his staff are motivated to work for him. I recommend Ben for any position in store management and I would welcome the opportunity to work with him again. Please contact me with any questions."

- Catherine Thompson, Regional Manager, Circle K

Even though the entire recommendation is great, you wouldn't want to include the whole thing on your resume (unless you're trying to fill up space, but that shouldn't be an issue). It's just too long and that's daunting for recruiters to see on a resume. They want quick and easily accessible information. So instead of integrating the entire recommendation into your resume, I suggest pulling out a strong quote and highlighting that. So what should you use?

Let's break it down:

I worked with Ben for five years while he was a store manager with 7-Eleven and I was his district manager, and I am happy to offer this recommendation on his behalf.

This first sentence is simply there to describe the relationship. It's not needed on the resume because that relationship will already be obvious to the reader, since they will see that Ben is/was a store manager at 7-Eleven and the person recommending him was a district manager at 7-Eleven.

Ben was a very capable and energetic store manager who excelled in many areas.

I wouldn't include this sentence either. To me, "capable" and "energetic" don't generate much excitement. Better than being incapable and lethargic I guess, but there are stronger sections of this recommendation that can be used.

During the five years I worked with him, I assigned him to several different stores that had been underperforming and in each case he cleaned them up and turned them around in record time, with significant improvement in every area of the store.

This is a really strong statement, and showing it (or part of it) on your resume could have a really powerful impact. It's one thing for you to say that you turned around several stores, but it's another thing entirely to have your boss say it.

He possesses great communication and organizational skills, and his staff are motivated to work for him.

Similar to the "capable" and "energetic" sentence above, this isn't too exciting either. Yes, it's important to have great communication, organization, and leadership skills, but....yawwwn....it's not eye-popping to read.

I recommend Ben for any position in store management and I would welcome the opportunity to work with him again. Please contact me with any questions.

This is how a lot of people close their recommendations, and there is some value in that statement. The fact that your boss would like to work with you again is great but, again, not all that thrilling.

So we've come to the conclusion that we're going to extract this sentence out of the recommendation and use it somehow on our resume:

During the five years I worked with him, I assigned him to several different stores that had been underperforming and in each case he cleaned them up and turned them around in record time, with significant improvement in every area of the store.

As it is, it's still a bit long and it contains some information that really isn't crucial. You really want the final snippet that you include on your resume to be short and powerful. Here is what I would suggest using from this example:

"I assigned him to several different stores that had been underperforming and in each case he cleaned them up and turned them around in record time..."

- Catherine Thompson, Former District Manager, 7-Eleven

Including a quote like this on your resume packs a lot of punch. It validates everything that hopefully you have already shown through your achievements and explanations of obstacles you faced. It provides a level of "proof" that you can never provide yourself because it comes from an authoritative third-party.

Every recommendation you get will be different (and I advise you to get as many as you can from supervisors, peers, and subordinates). Not every one will include a snippet that can help your resume, but I strongly encourage you to examine each one closely and you may find a few words or a sentence that will help take your resume to the next level.

Of course, never take a phrase out of context or change the intended meaning of the recommendation - recruiters can still see the full testimonial on your LinkedIn profile. Adhering to ethical practices in every area of your job search is paramount.