Validations and Recommendations

Skills Management

The skills and knowledge section acts as a keyword validator for the platform's search algorithm.

It is vital to list those technical competencies (hard skills) and interpersonal skills (soft skills) that are relevant to the desired position, as this improves the positioning of the profile to recruiters.

If a Civil Engineer wants to be found, he/she should include terms such as "AutoCAD", "Construction Management" or "Structural Calculation".

The platform allows you to set the top three skills at the top of the section. These should be the candidate's core strengths.

It is strategic to order these skills so that the most important ones receive more visibility and therefore more validations by the network.

Although validations are simple confirmation clicks by other users, a high number of them on a specific competency functions as social proof of authority in that subject.

Request for recommendations

Written recommendations carry much more qualitative weight than simple validations.

They constitute public testimonials from third parties that endorse the quality of the candidate's work and character.

However, they do not usually arrive spontaneously; it is necessary to adopt a proactive attitude and request them.

The right strategy is to contact former supervisors, colleagues or clients with whom you have had a successful working relationship and formally ask them for a review.

In doing so, it is useful to suggest to them what aspects to highlight (e.g. "I would appreciate it if you could mention how we managed the crisis on project X"), to ensure that the testimonial reinforces the key points of the profile.

Accumulating 3 to 5 strong recommendations gives the profile a credibility that you cannot self-proclaim.

Difference between validating and recommending

It is crucial to understand the distinction between these two elements in order to manage them properly.

Validation is a passive and quick acknowledgement that the user possesses a skill (e.g. "Excel" or "Leadership"), and is often received even from people who do not have a deep knowledge of the candidate's work.

It serves mainly for algorithm and SEO positioning within the network. In contrast, the recommendation is a narrative text that requires effort and willingness on the part of the sender.

It provides context, nuances about work ethic and details about specific accomplishments.

While validations help you show up in searches, recommendations help convince the recruiter once they are revie