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3 New LinkedIn Features to Help You Land a Job

Published: Sep 22, 2017

 Career Readiness       Job Search       Networking       
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Last year around this time, I wrote about three LinkedIn features you might not know about, as well as how to get started on LinkedIn. Since then, LinkedIn has added several new capabilities that you should be aware of to be a savvier job applicant. Below are three new features you should take advantage of in order to maximize your networking efforts and succeed in your job search.

1. Multiple photo posts

One of the benefits of LinkedIn is that it enables you to establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry by contributing to group discussions and posting relevant content. If the content you post is high-quality, it can even drive recruiters to your profile and persuade them to reach out to you.

To this end, LinkedIn now allows you to post multiple images in one post. So if you want to upload a series of images from a business conference you attended or a company-wide event, you can now do so.

In general, posts that include images typically receive 94 percent more views than text-only posts. So, it’s in your best interest to post photos, and lots of them, on LinkedIn. Of course, you should bear in mind the “quality over quantity” principle and only showcase the best of your photos when highlighting your and your team’s achievements.

2. Hover feature

Another new capability LinkedIn boasts is the hover feature, which allows you to hover over an individual’s name or photo to learn more about the person, without clicking through to their profile. With this feature, you can see a person’s headline—usually their job title and place of employment— which might inform whether you want to view their profile or not. You can also see how many mutual connections you have with the person, along with a few of those shared connections’ names.

The hover feature can be helpful if you don’t want someone to receive a notification that you viewed their profile. For example, you might want to learn more about someone before responding to their InMail message, in which case you could simply hover over their name or picture for more information.

3. Active Status

Lastly, LinkedIn deployed a feature that enables you to see when fellow connections are online, and thus available for you to message. Similar to Facebook Messenger, LinkedIn Messenger shows when individuals are online by placing a green dot next to their names.

If you’re on LinkedIn for work purposes or don’t want to be interrupted for some other reason, you can hide your active status under Settings, where you can control who can and can’t see when you’re online.

If you’re still not convinced this is a great feature, here are some stats that may change your mind. According to LinkedIn, more than one-third of members have discovered potential job opportunities through casual conversations via LinkedIn Messenger. What’s more, a whopping 70 percent of new hires result from personal connections. So, you certainly don’t want to miss out on any new opportunity to communicate with your network and build those relationships.

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