Most LinkedIn recommendations are a waste of everyone's time.
You've seen them: "Jane is a fantastic team player who always goes above and beyond. I highly recommend her!" That's not a recommendation — it's a fortune cookie. And if you're trying to figure out how to write a LinkedIn recommendation that gets results, you already sense that this kind of generic praise does absolutely nothing for the person you're trying to help.
Here's the uncomfortable truth: hiring managers and clients skim recommendations looking for evidence, not adjectives. They want a story. They want specifics. They want to see the person in action before they ever schedule a call.
This guide gives you a formula-driven system for writing recommendations that actually move the needle — with before/after rewrites and fill-in-the-blank templates for every relationship type.
Why Most LinkedIn Recommendations Fail to Get Results
Before we fix the problem, let's name it clearly.
The average LinkedIn recommendation fails for three reasons:
- It's all adjectives, no evidence. "Brilliant," "hardworking," and "dedicated" are invisible words. Every recommendation uses them, so none of them land.
- It's about the writer, not the reader. The person reading a recommendation is a hiring manager or potential client. They don't care how much you enjoyed working with someone — they care what that person will do for them.
- It's vague about context. "We worked together on several projects" tells a reader nothing. What projects? What role did this person play? What happened because of them?
A recommendation that gets results does the opposite: it tells a specific story, names a concrete outcome, and makes the reader feel like they already know what it's like to work with this person.
The STAR-P Formula: How to Write a LinkedIn Recommendation That Gets Results
The most effective LinkedIn recommendations follow a four-part structure I call STAR-P:
- S — Situation: Set the scene. What was the context, the challenge, or the stakes?
- T — Task: What was this person responsible for?
- A — Action: What did they specifically do? This is where the story lives.
- R — Result: What happened because of their actions? Numbers are gold here.
- P — Prediction: What will they bring to their next role or client? This is the forward-looking close that hiring managers actually care about.
Most people write recommendations that skip straight from T to P, leaving out the A and R entirely. That's why their recommendations feel hollow.
The sweet spot for length is 150–250 words — long enough to tell a real story, short enough that a busy recruiter actually reads it.
Before & After: Seeing the Formula in Action
The Generic Version (Before)
"I had the pleasure of working with Marcus for two years at our company. He is an incredibly talented engineer who always delivers high-quality work. Marcus is a great communicator and a true team player. I would highly recommend him to any organization."
This recommendation is well-intentioned and completely useless. It could describe literally anyone.
The STAR-P Version (After)
"When our payments infrastructure went down three hours before Black Friday, Marcus was the engineer who kept us from losing an estimated $2M in sales. He was brought in mid-crisis, diagnosed a race condition in our checkout service within 45 minutes, and had a patch deployed in under two hours — all while calmly briefing the exec team every 20 minutes. What makes Marcus exceptional isn't just his technical depth; it's his ability to think clearly when everyone else is panicking. In two years of working together, I watched him turn three would-be disasters into non-events. Any team dealing with complex distributed systems would be lucky to have him — and they'll probably only realize how lucky once something goes wrong and Marcus makes it look easy."
Same person. Completely different impact.
Fill-in-the-Blank Templates for Every Relationship Type
How to Write a LinkedIn Recommendation as a Manager
When recommending a direct report, your credibility comes from having seen their work up close. Focus on growth, ownership, and impact.
Template:
"I managed [Name] for [X years/months] at [Company], where they were responsible for [core responsibility]. When we faced [specific challenge or situation], [Name] took ownership of [specific task or project]. They [specific action they took — be concrete]. The result: [measurable outcome, e.g., 'we reduced churn by 18%' or 'shipped the feature two weeks ahead of schedule']. What sets [Name] apart is [one defining quality backed by evidence]. I've managed [X] people over my career, and [Name] is the kind of person who [forward-looking statement about what they'll bring to their next team]."
How to Write a LinkedIn Recommendation as a Colleague
Peer recommendations carry weight because you saw how this person operated day-to-day, not just in polished presentations.
Template:
"I worked alongside [Name] on [team/project] at [Company] for [duration]. While most people knew [Name] for [visible skill or role], what I saw up close was [less obvious quality or skill]. During [specific project or situation], [Name] [specific action]. I remember [brief story detail that makes it real]. Because of that, [specific result or outcome]. If you're looking for someone who [key capability], [Name] is the person. They're also just genuinely [one human quality] to work with — which matters more than people admit."
How to Write a LinkedIn Recommendation as a Client
Client recommendations are among the most powerful on LinkedIn because they come from someone who paid for results. Be specific about what you hired this person to do and what you got.
Template:
"We hired [Name] to [specific scope of work] at [Company/context]. Going in, our biggest concern was [challenge or risk]. Within [timeframe], [Name] had [specific action or deliverable]. The outcome: [concrete result — revenue generated, time saved, problem solved]. What made working with [Name] different from other [consultants/freelancers/vendors] we've used is [specific differentiator]. They [specific behavior that impressed you]. We've since [continued working together / referred them to X / expanded the engagement] — which should tell you everything. If you're considering hiring [Name] for [type of work], do it."
How to Write a LinkedIn Recommendation for Your Manager
Recommending up requires a different lens. Focus on leadership behaviors, how they made the team better, and what you learned under their guidance.
Template:
"I reported to [Name] for [duration] at [Company], during which time our team [brief context — grew, shipped a major product, navigated a tough period]. What I'll remember most is how [Name] handled [specific challenging situation]. When [situation], they [specific leadership action]. The effect on the team was [concrete outcome or cultural impact]. Under [Name]'s leadership, I [specific way you grew or what you achieved]. They have a rare ability to [defining leadership quality backed by a story]. Any organization that gets [Name] as a leader is getting someone who [forward-looking statement about their impact]."
How to Write a LinkedIn Recommendation That Gets Results: The Details That Make the Difference
Getting the structure right is half the battle. These details separate a good recommendation from a great one.
Use one specific number or metric
Even a rough number makes your recommendation 10x more credible. "Increased revenue" is forgettable. "Increased revenue by 34% in Q3" is not. If you don't have an exact number, use a range or a comparison: "cut our deployment time from days to hours" or "one of the top three performers on a team of twelve."
Name the stakes
Why did this situation matter? "We were three months behind on a $4M contract" hits differently than "we had a tight deadline." Naming the stakes makes the reader feel the pressure — and makes the person's contribution feel proportionally impressive.
Write the opening line last
The first sentence is the only one a skimmer might read. Write the rest of the recommendation first, then craft an opening that captures the single most impressive thing about this person. Think of it like a headline.
Avoid these phrases entirely
- "Pleasure to work with"
- "Goes above and beyond"
- "Team player"
- "Hard worker"
- "I can't recommend them highly enough"
These phrases are recommendation filler. Every reader's eyes slide right past them.
How to Write LinkedIn Recommendations for Different Industries
The STAR-P formula works across industries, but the evidence you highlight should shift based on what matters in that field.
- Sales professionals: Focus on quota attainment, deal size, pipeline metrics, or a specific win.
- Designers and creatives: Focus on a project outcome — conversion rate improvements, user feedback, a rebrand that changed how customers perceived the company.
- Engineers: Focus on technical problems solved, system reliability improvements, or shipping velocity.
- Consultants and advisors: Focus on the client's situation before and after, and what changed because of this person's involvement.
- People managers: Focus on team retention, hiring decisions, culture changes, and how their reports grew.
The principle is the same: replace adjectives with evidence.
A Note on Giving and Receiving Recommendations
If you're writing a recommendation for someone and you're drawing a blank, reach out and ask them two questions:
- "What role or opportunity are you targeting with this?"
- "Which project or moment do you think best represents your work?"
Their answers will give you a story to tell. This isn't cheating — it's being strategic about making your recommendation as useful as possible.
On the flip side, if you're the one asking for a recommendation, make it easy for the writer. Tools like Writio can help you draft a structured brief or even a first draft that the recommender can edit in their own voice — dramatically increasing the odds that they actually follow through.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should a LinkedIn recommendation be?
The ideal LinkedIn recommendation is between 150 and 250 words. Shorter than that and you don't have room to tell a real story. Longer than that and most readers won't finish it. Think of it like a strong paragraph in a cover letter — dense with specifics, but tight enough to read in 60 seconds.
How do I write a LinkedIn recommendation that actually helps someone get hired?
To write a LinkedIn recommendation that gets results in a hiring context, focus on what the person will bring to their next role, not just what they did in their last one. Use the STAR-P formula to tell a specific story, include at least one concrete result, and close with a forward-looking statement that speaks to what a hiring manager or client would care about. Avoid generic praise — it actively hurts credibility.
What should I include in a LinkedIn recommendation for a colleague?
For a colleague recommendation, focus on what you witnessed firsthand that their manager might not have seen: how they handled pressure, how they collaborated under difficult circumstances, how they showed up when things got hard. The most powerful peer recommendations reveal the behind-the-scenes version of a person — the qualities that don't show up in performance reviews but that teammates know are real.
Is it okay to write your own LinkedIn recommendation for someone else to approve?
Yes, and it's actually quite common. Many professionals ask the person they're recommending to draft a first version that they then edit and post. If you're helping someone draft their own recommendation, focus on the story they want told, use their voice, and make sure the recommender reviews and personalizes it before publishing. Writio can be a useful tool for drafting structured recommendation content that sounds natural rather than AI-generated.
How many LinkedIn recommendations do you need to make an impact?
Quality beats quantity here. Three to five strong, story-based recommendations from credible sources (managers, clients, senior colleagues) will do more for your profile than fifteen generic ones. Hiring managers and clients typically read two or three at most — so make sure your best recommendations are pinned at the top of your profile. Focus on getting recommendations that cover different aspects of your work: a manager who saw your leadership, a client who experienced your results, and a peer who can speak to how you collaborate.
Writing a recommendation that actually helps someone isn't about being effusive — it's about being specific. The next time someone asks you for a LinkedIn recommendation, open this guide, pick the right template, fill in the real story, and give them something that works.
And if you're building your own LinkedIn presence alongside your recommendations strategy, Writio can help you create consistent, high-quality content that makes your profile worth recommending in the first place.