I just happened to notice that a friend of mine had given glowing LinkedIn recommendation  for his boss. Let’s call the boss as John Doe for now. I knew very well that my friend hated and despised John Doe. My friend used to joke that John Doe is an enormously insecure, self-doubting, pessimistic and sarcastic personality wrapped in Xanax. So obviously I was shocked by the glowing recommendation and prompted for a phone call. Following is how the conversation went:

[after usual pleasantry exchanges, we delved into the issue at hand]

me: Saw your review about John Doe on LinkedIn? Why? Has anything changed?

Friend: Well, our company is in a free fall and everyone is preparing for the next job. As a result, everyone is giving others good LinkedIn recommendations.

Me: But.. wait, you hate this guy, right? how can you write such a review?

Friend: Agreed. I hope to never  see this guy after this job. But he has lot of friends in LinkedIn and I need his help to get the job.

Me: Hmm… Something is seriously wrong, I knew you are a righteous freak, so tell me the truth.

[after some more convincing and cajoling, my friend opens up!]

Friend: Honestly, he sent me a request for recommendation. Given the economic situation,  I didn’t know what to do - I couldn’t afford to either ignore or give bad recommendation. So I decided to take the high road by giving a good recommendation. I knew it was wrong, but what can I do.

Me: You know that your are passing the buck here, right? Someone in the near feature will go through what you are now enduring.

Friend: Yes, I feel for those guys, what can I do!

Me: Wait a minute here… those could be your friends. You friends could very well hire this guy based on your own review.

Friend: Oops, hopefully my friends would call me before hiring this John Doe.

I am not saying all LinkedIn recommendations are bad. But here are few things to watch out for:

1. Try to ignore recommendations from team members and subordinates.
2. Be alarmed if someone has numerous reviews. Obviously they are trying to hide something.
3. Before hiring our John Doe, check how many of his co-workers or team members in his current job were from his previous companies. If  none, then you got a hot potato in your hand; just move on. This is especially true for senior roles.
4. Ignore recommendations from vendors, which are useless. Vendors are always willing to give good recommendations to score future businesses.