For candidates · Core concept
Endorsements & reputation
Endorsements are the signal Vetted uses that LinkedIn and other platforms can't match. This page explains what they are, why they matter, and how to earn them.
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What an endorsement is
An endorsement is a public, financial bet by a guild expert that you will be hired. The expert locks up a chosen amount of VETD tokens on your application. If you're hired, they get their stake back plus a reward and reputation gain. If you're not, 10% of their stake is slashed and they incur a reputation penalty.
The important part is the word lose. On most hiring platforms, a recommendation or vouch is free — someone types a few sentences, clicks a button, and moves on. An endorsement on Vetted costs the endorser actual money if it turns out to be wrong. That's what makes the signal load-bearing.
Why they matter for you
Three concrete effects:
- Hiring companies see them directly. Endorsements are surfaced on the shortlist the company reviews, alongside your consensus score. A candidate with two or three serious endorsements looks dramatically different from an unbacked candidate with the same score.
- They bias other experts' attention. Endorsements are public as they happen, so other experts in the guild know that someone with skin in the game already believes in you. That alone causes them to spend more time on your application.
- They accumulate into a track record. Candidates with multiple successful endorsements across platforms build a portable, on-chain reputation signal that carries to future applications — even at companies outside Vetted.
How to earn endorsements
Earning endorsements is mostly indirect — it comes from writing application answers that are clearly evidence-rich and well-reasoned, and from having a public body of work that reviewers can click through to. Specific things that move the needle:
- Answer the "failure" question well. Experts are disproportionately likely to endorse candidates who show calibrated self-awareness. A crisp failure story with a clear lesson is more endorsable than a polished success story.
- Link to work that's easy to verify. Public GitHub repos, published writing, case studies with real screenshots — all of these lower the cost for an expert to form conviction, and therefore make endorsement more likely.
- Apply to jobs inside your core competence. A borderline application rarely gets endorsed. A strong application in a narrower domain is endorsed more often than a middling application in a hot field.
How this differs from LinkedIn-style recommendations
The side-by-side explains why endorsements carry signal where LinkedIn recommendations don't.
LinkedIn recommendation
Web2 pattern
- Written for free — costs the writer nothing.
- Frequently exchanged in kind, softly inflating everyone's score.
- Carries near-zero weight in hiring decisions past the entry level.
- Usually from someone you know personally.
Vetted endorsement
Staked reputation
- Costs the endorser real VETD — 10% slashed if you're not hired.
- The endorser's own reputation moves on the outcome.
- Surfaced on the company shortlist as a separate signal.
- Made by a guild expert picked for the role, not your personal network.
What if nobody endorses me?
Most candidates don't get endorsed on their first application, even ones who eventually get hired. Endorsements are a low-base-rate event because they cost real money — experts reserve them for high- conviction bets.
Not getting endorsed doesn't mean you're failing. The consensus score from the regular review pool is what actually determines whether you move forward. Endorsements are upside on top of that, not a floor.