LinkedIn Family Endorsements. Good or bad? [closed]

Question

I am working on a resume for a job, and am also including a link to my LinkedIn (Linkopedia according to my dad) for an extended resume including endorsements. My parents, who are proofreading my resume want me to remove any family endorsements (one, my dad) because they will look fishy. I am currently trying to reverse that and add my cousins, as my network of other computer people is extremely limited, and while I am extremely strong in linux and unix, the only people I know that know about my skills are my cousins. Is it good or bad to have family who you have worked with professionally endorse your skills?

Answer 1

I've yet to meet a single person that felt that linkedin endorsements meant anything beyond the effort to click a button. That is to say, they don't mean anything. I've received "endorsements" from people I haven't seen in 10+ years for things that they would obviously have zero knowledge about.

Beyond that, I'd say that if the only people that endorse you are those who you have a familial relationship with, then you're likely better off not including any at all.

Answer 2

Is it good or bad to have family who you have worked with professionally endorse your skills?

No.

It is neither good nor bad to have LinkedIn endorsements from your family. It's basically just a waste of time for two reasons:

1. It's your family. Does anyone really care what they say about you professionally? I know for anyone I'd hire, I wouldn't care what their family said.
2. In general, LinkedIn skills endorsements are worth almost nothing. The UI that LinkedIn pushes to people in your network begs them to click an endorsement button. No thinking is involved. This means almost everyone is endorsed for skills they don't actually possess.

I'm with your parents that you should remove all family endorsements from your LinkedIn account. But not because it will look fishy, or because it's "bad". Rather, you should remove them because they distract the reader from anything else on LinkedIn that might actually have some value.

Answer 3

LinkedIn endorsements have a marginal value - I know it, because I have former bosses endorsing pieces of my skills set, with nothing but their god intentions showing for it.

Don't worry, I can make a determination as to whether you know Linux with just a few questions. It doesn't matter who endorses you or who recommends you - in that interview room ,it's just you and me. And you have to get past me :) If you know your stuff, you have nothing to fear.