LinkedIn has launched a dedicated app just for job hunting. It's called LinkedIn Job Search, and it takes everything job-hunters love about LinkedIn's existing app and builds on it. The idea behind the Job Search app is to "maximize your 'in between' moments," meaning LinkedIn hopes you'll use those times when you're stuck waiting to use the new app to look for a job.
"Applicants who apply to job opportunities on the first day they're posted are 10% more likely to land the job," said LinkedIn product manager Daniel Ayele in a blog post. "That means that if you are an active job seeker, your job search can't stop just because you've stepped away from your desk."
LinkedIn says it went to great lengths to streamline the search experience, so it's easier than ever to find, research, and apply for the job you want. New advanced searching options let you filter jobs with greater specifics, including job title, location, company, industry, or even seniority level. Most impressive of all is the new Recommended Jobs feature, which learns from your activity what kinds of opportunities you're looking for and automatically brings them to your attention. LinkedIn says Recommended Jobs analyzes jobs you've viewed, searches you've saved, and your own LinkedIn profile to discern what open positions are right for you. Your profile can be used as your resume when applying.
If all the app could do is find jobs that match up with your skills, that would be useful for only part of the process. No one in today's world applies for a job without learning all they can about the company in question, and LinkedIn has put features into the Job Search app to help with this. Just like on linkedin.com, searching for a company will bring up people you know who work there, or common connections that can bring you together with current employees. Reach out to those connections from right inside the app to get the answers you seek, and you can usually find more information about the company listed on its LinkedIn profile, too. The app will also send you a push notification when a recruiter has viewed your application.
Job seekers want the process to be as easy and smooth as possible, and it remains to be seen if the Job Search app will make great strides in taking some of the bumps out of that road. One thing you won't have to worry about is discretion; the company has vowed that nothing you do inside the new app is ever posted to your LinkedIn activity.
iPhone users can download LinkedIn Job Search now for free. An Android version is expected in the future.
