Should I endorse them?
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Ok I'm in a bit of a conundrum, and I'd like some advice. I've received 2 endorsement requests on Linked-in (www.linkedin.com - no I'm not shilling) from former managers of mine. I hesitate endorsing them because, while both were adequate managers, I never considered them exceptional in any way, and I've also had major disagreements with both of them. One I kept in contact with over the years the other disappeared completely. But I also have an inherent dislike of authority and management in general, which may colour my judgement.
I'm on the fence here because, there is the slightest possibility they could have influence over my future career. I work in a small industry (est. 30,000 of us WORLDWIDE) so there's less than 6 degrees of seperation.
So what do I do? Do I suck it up and take one for the future, or ignore them and hope it doesn't have any detriment?
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I feel your pain...
1. LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to endorse without being asked; I don't have any endorsements nor have I asked for any (I've got 44 connections, so I have a pretty good network and never felt like I needed endorsements) but it would mean more to me if someone endorsed me because they wanted to, not because I asked them to. I've endorsed a couple of others because I truly thought they did great work and were a pleasure to work with.
2. If you don't feel strongly one way or the other (see point 1) then your endorsement basically comes down to "Yes, I worked with this individual and they performed the duties of their job..." You don't have the "previous employer" problem, but it comes out about the same. (Here in the US, employers are basically limited to confirming that you worked from date X to date Y, to avoid lawsuits.) A half-hearted endorsement is worse than none at all.
Or as a wise friend of mine once said, "If you can't say anything nice, STFU."
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Just ignore the request
Chances are that they sent requests to everybody who's ever worked with them, and 90% of those folks will never bother to respond. Just fade into the crowd.
(unless it was me - I could really use the endorsement)
