LinkedIn Lets Job Hunters Scope Out Competition And See Employee Tenure With New Tools

LinkedIn LNKD -1.20% is hoping new data it is adding to job postings will make job hunting more successful and efficient for its users.
The Mountain View, Calif.-based professional network announced on Tuesday that it is adding a handful of new features to job postings in an effort give users better insight into the roles and employers they are researching, as well as what could give their application a competitive edge.

 

The features are aimed at making it easier for users to quickly find out if they have any connections at the company, if the employer hires people whose experiences are similar to theirs and who the user would work with if they got the job. The move could help boost job searching activity on the platform, as well as users’ satisfaction with where they land.
A new “Meet the Team TISI +%” feature shows users profiles of people already at the company whose roles are similar to the position the job seeker wants. A “ Premium Insights” tool will show users the rate at which a company is hiring and the average tenure of employees, which could shed light on the company’s culture and health. The feature also shows which schools and companies the employer hires from most. The tools are available to all members for free with the exception of “Insights,” which requires a Premium membership to view. Before these changes, a job posting for a free user on LinkedIn would include a description of the role, jobs other people viewed who looked at the posting and a company description. Users could also see their connections at that company at the bottom of the posting. However, now these connections will be shown much more prominently and with the option to message the connection with one click.
“This is just the beginning of the ultimate jobs experience we aim to deliver to all job seekers on LinkedIn,”  Vidya Chandra, a senior product manager at LinkedIn, said in a post.
The tools are launching first on desktop to 10% of users in the U.S., Canada, India, the U.K. and Australia with plans to include more regions early next year. The company also plans to roll the changes out to its Job Search app, its recently overhauled flagship LinkedIn app and to the mobile Web during the first quarter.