Donning a black waistcoat and reclining comfortably in a corner chair edged against the floor length window of his San Francisco office, Rohan Rajiv, LinkedIn’s new Director of Product Management and the master-brains behind the candidate experience on the platform, was ready to spill all the details.
He had just recently released some ground-breaking features on LinkedIn to fast-track jobseekers’ success with the platform and was already witnessing incredible results and feedback.
But Rajiv was no stranger to product management in the career development space. He had been in the business of designing and managing job-search-centered optimization products for over 15 years, with a rather brief sprint in between at a boutique management consulting firm.
There are now approximately 61 million job-seekers searching for roles via LinkedIn weekly, with 8 offers to candidates every minute; and Rajiv, who leads a team of dedicated product managers focused solely on the job search experience, had tons of advice to share.
“Rohan, what tips would you recommend to job-seekers to become more discoverable on the platform?,” I asked, leaning intently, to which down-to-earth Rajiv cheekily retorted, “Do you want the 30-second answer or the 3-minute answer?”
Well, 3-minute answer it was!
“The way I look at it,” he began, “there are three things jobseekers can do with their profiles.
“First, you need to create an identity so the LinkedIn community knows you exist and can reach out to you for opportunities. Second, you need to open your identity to a world of recruiters who are all using enterprise products to search for candidates. Finally, you can apply for jobs and express your interest tangibly. But it always begins with having a complete profile; that’s essential.”
Rajiv was only getting started, gearing up to really blow me away for the next few minutes.
The LinkedIn director explained that he and his team are focused on helping jobseekers tell the story of their skills, and therefore have made recent improvements that make it easier for these skills to be expressed and noticed.
“We’ve added features such as Top Skills in your “About” section (this highlights 4-5 skills you most want to be known for.) You can also add skills to your education, experience, and projects, to provide context.”
Gone are the days of trying to explain your transferable skills to recruiters. LinkedIn has done it all for you!
But Rajiv wasn’t done yet. “The next thing is super unique to LinkedIn, and this really changes how you are discovered.”
He then introduced three game-changing tools on LinkedIn that are available to everybody, free of charge:
Open to work
“It’s a bit like raising your hand and shouting out ‘I’m here!’ isn’t it?” We both laughed and said the same thing simultaneously!
“Exactly,” he agreed, “and recruiters find this valuable. This increases your chances of receiving an InMail 2x.”
I had a nagging question I just had to get to the bottom of while chatting with Rajiv. “What if one decided to turn the open-to-work frame on to just recruiters only? Will it still be effective?
“The frame adds a sense of urgency and gets the community involved; however the frame is not for everybody. It’s only beneficial if you want to amplify your intent,” he explained.
Resume visibility
“People can switch on a setting that permits them to make the details of their resume available to recruiters when they search for certain keywords,” Rajiv continued. “It will show keywords from both on their profile and resume.”
I’m interested
Rajiv’s face began to really light up and his eyes sparked as he announced his new product launch called “I’m interested”, initially released six months ago. I could tell this was his favorite feature by far, as he made certain to tell me this was something he was really excited about.
“This feature is for employers who want to grow their employer brand on LI; they have a button called “I’m interested” which allows you as a potential candidate to be in their talent pool. It has completed roll-out in May, and so far, we’re seeing a lot of traction and response from members and influencers on TikTok. It has really caught on, so now recruiters can hear back from people who’ve already expressed interest.”
But that’s not all.
Rajiv announced that there was even more in store for LinkedIn Premium members.
Turbocharge with LinkedIn Premium’s new features
“We have our free offering that is available to everybody and has significant value. But for those who choose our Premium offerings, we have a bunch of stuff that turbocharges success. For example, we now have AI assisted profile descriptions to guide you as you complete your profile.”
“There is also AI-assisted messaging for InMails to recruiters.”
By now my jaw had dropped wide open.
“This is still rolling out so you’re getting it hot off the press, no pun intended,” he cheekily added with another good-natured laugh.
Top Choice
“With LinkedIn Premium, you have access to a very unique feature called Top Choice. Top Choice Jobs gives job seekers the ability to mark a job as a top choice when applying through Easy Apply,” Rajiv continued, “signalling to recruiters that you have strong interest in a job they’ve posted and can increase your visibility. In fact – job seekers are 43% more likely to hear back from the recruiter for the jobs they are most interested in when using the Top Choice Jobs feature.”
Actively hiring
This tool is rolling out this month! Rajiv and his team are currently rolling out a new tool to Premium subscribers so you can now filter your people search by those who are “Actively Hiring” in or outside your network.
“But what about when you are about to apply for a job, and it already has 200 or 300 applicants? Are the numbers sometimes flawed? How accurate are those numbers?,” I was curious to know.
“There are two kinds of ‘applies’ on LinkedIn; one takes you to a website, and the other is ‘easy apply.’ Easy apply is always accurate but the others may or may not have followed through with their application.”
As the interview wound to a close and Rajiv was within sight of his lunch break, I quizzed, “Is there anything exciting coming up with LinkedIn products that you’re able to leak to the public?”
Full of humor, Rajiv chuckled, “We are rolling out so many features so fast within the past six months alone, so watch this space.” Peering out into the window, the director’s passion for the LinkedIn community, was clear: “it’s a really special thing to come to work knowing we have a shot at helping people find work.”
Who knows what may be on our profiles six months from now?
Read the full article here
