Latest / Job Hopping with Fexingo: Tenure, Loyalty, and the Modern Career Resume / How LinkedIn Endorsements Shape Your Job Search
Transcript
- Lucas: If we've helped you think through a career move or decision, you might have wondered what actually moves the needle on your profile when you're not actively applying. Today I want to talk about something that almost everyone has but almost no one strategizes around: LinkedIn endorsements. Luna: The little blue tags under your profile photo? I've got 47 for 'Public Speaking' and I haven't given a talk in two years. Lucas: Exactly. And that's the problem — they're treated as noise. But according to a 2025 LinkedIn survey of 1,200 hiring managers, 57 percent said they look at endorsements when evaluating a candidate, and 23 percent said they'd move a candidate to the top of the pile specifically because of relevant endorsements. Luna: Wait, is that real? I always assumed nobody actually reads those. Lucas: It's real. And the gap between how casually we give them and how seriously they're read is enormous. Let me give you a specific example. I talked to a marketing manager named Priya who had 500-plus endorsements for 'Social Media Marketing' — because she'd worked at an agency where everyone endorsed everyone back. But she had zero endorsements for 'SEO Strategy,' even though she'd led SEO campaigns for three years. When she applied for a senior digital marketing role, the hiring manager later told her the endorsements made it look like social media was her only strength. Luna: Ouch. So the algorithm basically locked her into a skill she didn't even want to be known for. Lucas: Exactly. There's a real anchoring effect. Once you have a high endorsement count in one skill, LinkedIn's algorithm prioritizes it on your profile, and recruiters searching for that skill find you more easily — which reinforces the cycle. But if you want to pivot, that same cycle works against you. Luna: So what's the fix? Do you delete the unwanted endorsements? Lucas: You can hide specific endorsements from your profile — there's a little pencil icon. But the better move is to proactively curate your top three skills. LinkedIn only shows the top three on your profile header, and you can reorder them. If you want to be seen as a product manager, not a social media person, put 'Product Management' first. Luna: But won't people endorse you for what they've seen you do, not what you want to do? Lucas: That's where the strategy comes in. You can prime the network. A few weeks before a job search, privately ask three or four colleagues or clients to endorse you for the specific skill you want to highlight. Most people are happy to do it, especially if you return the favor. The algorithm interprets a sudden cluster of endorsements as a signal of growing expertise. Luna: So it's like a coordinated campaign, not a passive accumulation. Lucas: Right. And the data backs it up. LinkedIn's own research shows that profiles with three or more endorsements in a skill get up to 60 percent more profile views from recruiters searching that skill. But here's the catch: those endorsements need to be from people who actually know your work. Generic endorsements from strangers or bots actually hurt you — LinkedIn can flag them as spam, and recruiters can usually tell. Luna: I've definitely gotten random endorsements from people I've never met. I always assumed it was some kind of reciprocal game. Lucas: It is. The platform gamifies it. When you endorse someone, LinkedIn prompts them to endorse you back. That's why you see inflated counts. But a recruiter who's paying attention will notice if your endorsements for 'Financial Analysis' all come from non-finance people. Luna: So quality over quantity. That's actually refreshing. Lucas: It is. And I think the best use of endorsements is as a trust signal for a skill that's hard to prove otherwise. For example, 'Cross-functional Leadership' — you can't put that on a resume in a way that's as credible as a peer saying it. Luna: If today was actually useful to you, the way these stay ad-free is listener support — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It really helps us keep digging into these niche career angles. Lucas: Yeah, it makes a big difference. So back to the strategy: one thing I'd add is to use the 'Skills' section to reflect your next role, not your current one. If you're a financial analyst trying to move into data science, list 'Python' and 'Machine Learning' even if you only have one endorsement in each. The keywords will get you found. Luna: And then you ask your data scientist friend to endorse you. Lucas: Exactly. One endorsement from a credible source is worth fifty from random connections. And here's a pro tip: when you endorse someone, write a brief recommendation instead of just clicking the skill. A recommendation carries more weight and also stays on your profile as social proof. Luna: I've never thought about it that way. I've been treating endorsements like Facebook likes — meaningless. Lucas: Most people do. But if you treat them as a strategic asset, they can actually shift how recruiters perceive you within a few weeks. I've seen people go from zero interviews to multiple callbacks just by cleaning up their profile and adding targeted endorsements. Luna: So the takeaway: curate, don't accumulate. Lucas: Curate, target, and ask. One last number: a 2024 study by CareerBuilder found that candidates with relevant endorsements were 28 percent more likely to get a first-round interview than those with no endorsements in the required skills. That's not nothing. Luna: Twenty-eight percent is huge. I'm logging into LinkedIn as soon as we finish recording. Lucas: Just remember — hide the ones that don't serve you, and ask for the ones that do. It's one of the lowest-effort, highest-impact things you can do on a platform you're probably already on. Luna: And if you get a random endorsement from me for 'Active Listening,' you'll know why. Lucas: I'll endorse you back for 'Asking the Right Questions.'