LinkedIn recommendation can improve your chances of getting a job.

If you want a job, it definitely makes sense to be LinkedIn!

 LinkedIn is an employment-oriented social networking platform, which is mostly used for professional networking where employers post job vacancies and job seekers upload their CVs (Papacharissi, 2009;  Rapanta & Cantoni, 2017). Additionally, mirroring real-life professional relationships, LinkedIn allows online “connections” to be established between employers and employees. “The gated-access approach” allows contact with a professional merely on the basis of an existing relationship or an introduction from a contact of theirs. As a result of strict regulations, this platform is perceived as highly trustworthy and is certified by its members.

Interestingly, LinkedIn allows its users to write each other testimonials and recommendations. As a result of the high rate of qualified specialists among LinkedIn users, these recommendations may have influential effects on employers. Overall, an audience of qualified specialists creates a sense that references being written are by those in “authority”. According to Cialdini (2007), information being presented by an authoritative source may be especially trusted and may, therefore, influence people to think highly of the person. Even though there is no evidence of who is writing it, a positive Linked-in recommendation from a complete stranger may be beneficial in finding a job. Additionally, certification is one of the types of social proof that creates approval by an authoritative figure in your industry. Authority is certainly something viewed positively.

Moreover, according to the principle of social proof - that a person may look to other people to imitate what they are doing in a case of uncertainty and this will provide guidance for his actions. Social proof becomes more influential when the surrounding people are perceived as particularly knowledgeable about a situation (Cialdini, 2007). Therefore, if others think highly of a candidate, that should make the person examining the candidate think highly of her/him as well.

Conclusively, your academic references may have the same influential effect on the person reading the reference on the other side. Advice: choose a particularly authoritative referee and persuade them to write a good reference. This will increase your chances of getting a job.

References:

Cialdini, R. B. (2007). Influence: The psychology of persuasion. New York: Collins.

Papacharissi, Z. (2009). The virtual geographies of social networks: a comparative analysis of Facebook, LinkedIn and ASmallWorld. New media & society, 11(1-2), 199-220

Rapanta, C., & Cantoni, L. (2017). The LinkedIn endorsement game: Why and how professionals attribute skills to others. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 80(4), 443-459.