Back in October, as an accompanying note to their Q3 earnings numbers, LinkedIn announced that they now have more than 400 million members worldwide. That's a lot of digital resumes, a heap of data on people's education, career history, skills, experience, etc. Just imagine the possibilities of that data? From this, LinkedIn could, with some degree of accuracy, predict things like career longevity, the likelihood of a person getting a job, the likely level of success people of certain backgrounds will have in certain roles. When you factor this into recent research findings that computer algorithms actually make better hiring decisions than humans, based on such factors, you can start to imagine the full power and capacity of such data. LinkedIn is in a unique position, one which has them placed to cause a significant shift in accepted recruitment and staff-sourcing norms.
In this sense, it's logical to see LinkedIn moving into new realms of career data and analytics. While the LinkedIn platform itself hasn't undergone any major makeovers or upgrades in some time - and there's no reason they should, they're not trying to keep up with trends or keep people engaged with 'fun' new features - what LinkedIn has been making progress on is data-utilization and translating their vast career insights into actionable opportunities.
They acquired online learning provider Lynda back in April, which is a perfect match - they have data on both what skills companies are looking for (through job ads) and what training relevant candidates have, so they can see the gaps and focus on highlighting relevant training packages, through Lynda, accordingly. They recently announced a coming upgrade to their Recruiter platform which will enable companies to use analytics tools to find better candidates. And just last week, they unveiled new data tools for job ads that will help candidates get a better idea of their fit for an advertised role.
All of these little additions may seem small in isolation, but taken as a whole, it's clear to see that improved data utilization is going to be a key focus for LinkedIn, and will likely change the way we think about and use the platform. And recently, the company outlined a few new data improvements that people may not have been aware of, built into the new, re-vamped, LinkedIn app.
Seeking Improvement
In a post on the official LinkedIn blog, the platform's Search and Discovery Product Manager Wesley Yeung has outlined three ways the new search function within the LinkedIn app has been improved.
First, LinkedIn's improved their predictive search capabilities, making it easier to find details on people.
"Are you having momentary brain freeze on the name of a new coworker at your holiday gathering? We've got you covered. Just start typing in the start of a name, and we'll help you find the rest. In addition to spelling variations for different names, we also factor in your shared connections and companies to make sure your results are the most relevant to you."
More than that, LinkedIn's also improved the system's ability to find matches based on various details - if, for instance, you can only remember the first name of a person and the company they work for, the new search system will be able to use that to find relevant matches.
The second upgrade relates to building connections and finding people based on where they went to school or specific skills and experience.
As you can see, the system will list relevant profiles based on that information, but it'll also show you search groups that the system thinks may match your query, which can then provide further info based on those suggestions.
"Tapping on any of these suggestions will take you to the full list of results, where you have access to the filter menu on the top right. Here you can refine your results further by connection distance, location, current company and industry."
And the third LinkedIn search addition relates to job seekers more specifically.
"Get started with your job search by typing the titles you'd like to have, companies you're interested in, or skills you'd like to employ. Suggestions can again point you to the most relevant set of results."
The new features will make it much easier to navigate through LinkedIn's data to find the most relevant information while on the go, and will no doubt provide a significant boost for regular users of the app.
A Critical Link
Of course, this is just search - this isn't an improvement in data, as such, but more a refinement of the discovery process. While this is totally true - there's no new data being added to the search process, necessarily, in these new features - what is new is the improved access to LinkedIn information and advanced processes through which to utilize LinkedIn's data stores.
LinkedIn's giving users more ways into their data, showcasing more ways that LinkedIn data can provide value and improve the way they do business. That invites more people in, it gives users a means to get an insight into the information and professional knowledge that LinkedIn holds. As more people become aware of such possibilities, it opens up consideration on what else such insight could be used for and highlights the depth of resources that LinkedIn has on a wide range of subjects.
As such, the improved LinkedIn search serves as a part of the platform's wider push to transitioning beyond being a professional networking platform to becoming the key data resource for career development and advancement. LinkedIn has more information, more resources on this front than any organization in history.
In 2016, expect to see LinkedIn using them more and more, and playing a more critical role in business as a result.