If recruiters had an essentials kit to survive, I imagine LinkedIn would be in it. Social media is at the core of recruitment with LinkedIn standing firmly at the forefront. With a quarter of job seekers using social media as their primary tool for job searching, it’s something we can’t ignore.
LinkedIn have decided to kick 2017 off with a revamp, bringing the simple design of the iOS app to the desktop environment. As you can imagine this will reduce the functionality available especially as it loses one of its most popular features, advanced searching. Don’t panic though, it’s not gone forever! You will still be able to access this tool through a premium account even though this may not be readily available for the majority of us.
Not only have they axed every recruiter’s favourite function but saved searches, Slideshares and 3rd degree connections are also no more along with a bunch of other functions.
It’s not all bad news though! The new update will provide consistency across both mobile and desktop platforms through the new simple and clean design. Just imagine your LinkedIn app blown up onto a screen and that’s pretty much how it will look.
Navigation will become ten times easier with the addition of their streamlined menu bar containing seven sections: Home, Messaging, Jobs, Notifications, Me, My Network, and Search.
A big hit has been the platform’s new real-time messaging feature which looks extremely similar to Facebook’s. If all goes to plan, this feature should be able to compare users’ calendars and help them schedule meetings by suggesting times and places.
With improved profile suggestions, a fine-tuned newsfeed and the ability to find out more about who views your profile, the good definitely outweighs the bad when it comes to LinkedIn’s update.
Along with the design update, Linkedin Learning has also recently been launched, an online training centre if you will, it allows you to access relevant courses and develop your skills.
Even though changes have already started being implemented, it won’t affect everyone at once so you might still have a few precious days left of advanced searching and the old layout. So all we can do now is cross our fingers and look forward to our new LinkedIn profiles!
If you’re interested in learning more about the platform then you can check out our recent blog post about why your business should be on LinkedIn.
