LinkedIn has probably never felt more used outside of this year, largely because it’s the only place people can really look for work these days. That’s the result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in plenty of businesses downscaling dramatically or shutting their doors entirely. It’s been a real nightmare for many desperate folks just trying to find work because… well, where does one even start if you can’t even leave the house?
Well, LinkedIn has been everyone’s go-to platform to find work and running with that surge in use, the Microsoft owned social media platform is expanding to offer tools that should hopefully make the lives of job seekers on the app easier during the pandemic.
Given that Microsoft estimates that 250 million jobs could be lost by the time the year ends. These features are probably going to see a great deal of use, so let’s run down how LinkedIn is expanding to offer some extra help and insight to those that desperately need whatever support they can get.
LinkedIn and the Career Explorer
The first major addition to LinkedIn is a so-called “career explorer” which takes a user’s skills, which have presumably already been added to their account, and shows how they relate to the thousands of jobs recognised by the platform. It then offers advice on how they can improve their skills and highlight new skills that they still need to focus on. LinkedIn won’t leave you hanging there though as it will also point you to online courses that will no doubt look great on a CV.
Speaking to the addition of the career explorer, Karin Kimbrough, a chief economist at LinkedIn, stated that “In this environment, continued learning and investment in new skills are really critical for job seekers in order to get them back on their feet.”
Beyond the option to broaden your skills portfolio, LinkedIn will also offer advice on nailing an important interview by showing users common questions asked by those hiring in fields such as product management, marketing and sales to name a few.
LinkedIn is feeling linked in
While plenty of people are struggling to find work, LinkedIn has seemingly grown exponentially. Within the last quarter alone 15 million signed up for the career-orientated social media platform. According to data, LinkedIn has been gathering, three people are hired off their site every minute which is pretty impressive. Still, that’s certainly not enough to make up for all the people losing their jobs every day.
“We’re seeing some improvements (in hire rates), but it’s not going that quickly, and in many countries that haven’t contained COVID, hiring is likely to hit a ceiling until a vaccine is widely available and distributed,” continued Kimbrough. One can only hope we can hold out until then.
(Source: CNET)