LinkedIn is a powerful networking tool that is attracting more and more professionals each day. The idea is that it could replace the formal resume and make networking — even face-to-face — much easier. Fears about social media affecting personal interaction have been largely unfounded, with many studies showing that it actually enhances relationships — even offline. With that in mind, the team at LinkedIn is consistently rolling out new features that make the site easier to use and more practical. Here are some of the most useful LinkedIn updates you will see rolled out on the site:
- Give feedback from the home page.
The new homepage for LinkedIn provides a great feed of information based on the people and companies you follow. But it also offers something else. In the top right corner, directly under your login information, you’ll see a scrolling panel of updates for your connections. It gives you quick and easy way to see what people are up to, and respond. Each time you log in, take a moment to scroll through and make an effort to respond to at least one update. - Know who is reading your blog content.
Do you publish blog content on LinkedIn? If not, you should consider it. It is a great way to demonstrate your expertise in your subject matter without owning, hosting, or maintaining your own professional website. You can also see the analytics of who is viewing your posts. This gives you a new audience to connect to and allows you to write more content to attract certain demographics on the site. - Research graduate schools in relation to jobs.
LinkedIn also provides information on graduate schools all over the country. Most specifically, how the job success of their graduates reflects on the quality and performance of the school itself. It is a poor investment to go to grad school without knowing what kind of job opportunities you will have after graduation. LinkedIn can help. - Limits on personal searches.
Though not as important for job seekers, the new free LinkedIn format has placed limits on personal search functions. Most job seekers aren’t going to use the search enough times to warrant a problem, but recruiters will now have to pay for the premium subscription to be able to find job seekers in their fields. How will this help job seekers? They will receive less spammy connections and more quality communications.
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