Long ago, and far away, I knew I should be listing my skills on LinkedIn. Hey, at least I bought the Strengths Finder and listed my top 5 strengths! Then I went on to other things….
Lo and Behold, LinkedIn added a section where others could identify your skills; little gifts from above dropped onto your LinkedIn profile. One should really be grateful, n’est pas? But……. I noticed that I was being given credit for skills I would never have given myself credit for. Here comes the double-edged sword!!!
One very sharp side of the sword says never give yourself a skill you can’t defend in an interview, giving real life examples in the behavioral interview format. If that is truly the case, about 2/3 of my skills should be deleted. And yet…..
Perception is reality. If others think I have these skills, then perhaps I do. Or I could fake them until I learned them. In the words of my darling Diana Vreeland, “Fake it until you make it”!!!!
Then skill envy took over; here’s one example. I started out a networking queen, and added on a social layer in the last couple of years, until social networking is something I eagerly lay claim to. And yet no one endorsed me for social networking. What to do, what to do???
I decided to take the bull by the horns; I emailed 5 friends that I was bemused by LinkedIn’s skill system. Would they be willing to endorse me for the following 5 skills that I truly believe I have, but that others have not yet selected for me?
So far that’s working. Oh, and I did ask what skills they had that they wish someone (moi!) would credit them with. So. All better now.
What do YOU think? Was I proactive? Or did I game the system?
Kay Roseland @KayLoire
I think you very adeptly played by the rules. You weren’t asking anyone to credit you with a skill you didn’t possess and I doubt you credited others with non-existent skills. Truth is truth whether volunteered or requested. Well done.