A LinkedIn endorsement is a one-click confirmation that someone believes you have a specific skill
When you endorse someone on LinkedIn, you are telling your network that this person is good at something — coding, project management, public speaking, whatever skill they listed. The person being endorsed sees your name attached to that skill. You do not write anything, explain your reasoning, or prove you have worked with them. You just click a button.
Endorsements show up on a person's profile under their headline and above their experience section. The skills with the most endorsements appear first and larger. LinkedIn uses endorsements as a signal of credibility — the more people who endorse a skill, the more prominent it becomes on that profile.
Unlike recommendations, which require you to write a paragraph about someone's work, endorsements are frictionless. This makes them straightforward to give and straightforward to collect. It also means they carry less weight than a written recommendation, but they are visible to everyone viewing the profile.
Key Takeaways
- Endorsements are public one-click confirmations of skills that appear on your profile and in your network's feeds.
- LinkedIn shows endorsements from people in your network, and the number and visibility of each skill endorsement affects how your profile ranks in search results.
- You can remove endorsements you do not want, hide the endorsement section entirely, or turn off notifications when people endorse you.
- Endorsements you give are visible to the person you endorsed and to mutual connections, so they carry a small social cost if you endorse someone you do not actually know.
How endorsements appear on your profile and affect visibility
LinkedIn displays your top endorsed skills prominently on your profile. If you have 47 endorsements for "Project Management" and 3 for "Excel," the project management skill will appear first and larger. This ordering matters because recruiters and hiring managers often scan the top skills first.
Endorsements also feed into LinkedIn's search algorithm. When someone searches for "project manager in Seattle," LinkedIn weighs endorsement count as one factor in ranking results. A profile with many endorsements for relevant skills will rank higher than an identical profile with few endorsements. This is why some people ask their network to endorse them — they are trying to improve their search visibility.
Your endorsements are not private. Anyone viewing your profile sees which skills you have been endorsed for and how many people endorsed each one. Your network also sees endorsement activity in their feed — when you endorse someone, it can show up as an update to people connected to both of you.
Why LinkedIn makes endorsements so straightforward to give
LinkedIn designed endorsements to be frictionless on purpose. When you visit someone's profile, LinkedIn suggests skills you can endorse with a single click. No explanation required. This low friction means endorsements happen constantly, and people accumulate them quickly.
The downside is that endorsements can become meaningless. Someone might endorse you for a skill they have never seen you use. They might endorse you because you endorsed them first, creating a mutual back-scratching dynamic. They might endorse you by accident while scrolling. LinkedIn knows this happens, but the system is designed to maximize engagement and endorsement volume, not to may support accuracy.
This is why endorsements are useful as a rough signal of what people think you do, but not as proof of competence. A hiring manager will weight a detailed written recommendation much more heavily than 200 endorsements from strangers.
How to control which skills appear on your profile
You control which skills show up on your profile. When someone tries to endorse you for a skill you have not listed, LinkedIn asks if you want to add it. You can say no. You can also delete skills from your profile entirely, which removes all endorsements for that skill.
To remove a skill: go to your profile, scroll to the Skills section, click the three dots next to the skill name, and select "Delete." The endorsements disappear with it. This is useful if you listed a skill years ago that no longer represents your work, or if you want to remove a skill that has accumulated endorsements you do not want visible.
You can also reorder your skills by dragging them. LinkedIn shows your top three skills most prominently, so moving your strongest skills to the top affects what recruiters see first. Endorsements do not automatically reorder your skills — you have to move them manually.
How to hide or turn off endorsements entirely
If you do not want the endorsement section visible on your profile at all, you can hide it. Go to your profile, find the Skills section, click the three dots, and select "Hide section." Your endorsements still exist in LinkedIn's system, but visitors to your profile will not see them.
You can also turn off notifications when people endorse you. Go to Settings and Privacy, then Notifications, then find the Endorsements section. You can choose to receive no notifications, or to receive them weekly instead of when ready. Turning off notifications does not prevent people from endorsing you — it just stops you from being notified.
If you want to remove a specific endorsement, you can do that too. Hover over the endorsement and click the X. This removes that person's endorsement from your profile. You cannot see who endorsed you for what, so you cannot selectively remove endorsements from people you do not know — you just remove the endorsement itself.
The difference between endorsements and recommendations
Recommendations are written statements from people who have worked with you. They appear on your profile and require the person writing them to spend time composing a paragraph. Recommendations carry more weight because they are harder to fake and because they include specific detail about your work.
Endorsements are one-click confirmations with no explanation. They are easier to collect but easier to dismiss. A hiring manager reading your profile will trust a detailed recommendation from a former manager much more than 500 endorsements from people they have never heard of.
Both are useful, but they serve different purposes. Endorsements signal what your network thinks you do. Recommendations prove that someone specific has seen you do it well. If you are building credibility on LinkedIn, focus on getting recommendations from people who can speak to your actual work.
What happens when you endorse someone
When you endorse someone, they see your name attached to that skill. If you are connected to them, they will recognize you. If you are not connected, they will see your name and profile picture, and they may or may not remember you.
Your endorsement is visible to mutual connections. If you and the person you endorsed have friends in common, those friends might see in their feed that you endorsed them. This is why endorsing someone you do not actually know can feel awkward — it is a public statement about your relationship to their work.
Some people endorse strategically. They endorse people they want to build relationships with, hoping for reciprocal endorsements or recommendations. Others endorse freely without thinking about it. There is no rule about who you should or should not endorse, but be aware that your endorsements are visible and they carry a small social signal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can people see who endorsed them for a specific skill?
No. LinkedIn does not show you the names of individual people who endorsed you for a skill. You only see the total number of endorsements and the names of people who recommended you. This anonymity is why some endorsements feel meaningless — you cannot follow up with someone to understand why they endorsed you.
Does removing an endorsement hurt your relationship with that person?
No. The person who endorsed you will not be notified if you remove their endorsement. They will not see that you deleted it. Removing endorsements is a private action that affects only what appears on your profile.
Should I ask people to endorse me?
You can, but it is not necessary. Endorsements accumulate naturally as you interact with your network. Asking for endorsements feels transactional to many people, and endorsements given under request carry the same weight as any other endorsement. If you want to improve your profile credibility, asking for written recommendations is usually more effective.
Do endorsements from people I do not know count for anything?
LinkedIn's algorithm treats all endorsements the same way — they all contribute to your skill ranking and search visibility. However, a hiring manager reviewing your profile will likely notice if most of your endorsements come from people they have never heard of, and they may discount them accordingly. Endorsements from people in your actual network carry more credibility.
Can I endorse someone I have never worked with?
Yes, technically you can. LinkedIn will let you endorse anyone for any skill. But endorsing someone for a skill you have never seen them use is misleading. It is better to endorse only for skills you have genuine knowledge of, or to skip the endorsement and write a recommendation instead if you want to support someone's profile.