Last week, I sat in on a LinkedIn product demo to improve the searchability of job postings. The AI-powered new feature lets you use more conversational phrases in the search bar – e.g., “I’m looking for entry-level marketing roles at climate change organizations.” In addition, the job postings that are returned will better show how strong a match your profile is with the job opening.
The improvements are still in Beta and will be rolled out to Premium members first. Ultimately, they are supposed to be made available to all members. No specific timeline was given.
I love how LinkedIn hosts these special demos on a regular basis for recruiters, coaches and other career experts to see what’s new and trending on the platform. It was also interesting to get a glimpse of how LinkedIn is using AI.
The concern I have with these “improvements” is that while they may improve your LinkedIn experience, they don’t necessarily improve your ultimate job search results. Submitting unsolicited resumes to postings is still a losing proposition, even if LinkedIn makes it easier to find these postings or the postings seem to be a better match.
People hire people, and they need to hear your story directly. Sending people your resume or LinkedIn profile cedes control of telling your story to whoever happens to get your stuff. They spend mere seconds to consider you – IF they read your submission at all.
Don’t get me wrong. LinkedIn is important to your job search. After refining their LinkedIn profile to better tell their story, my clients report an uptick in recruiter inquiries and networking response. LinkedIn is the social media of choice for recruiters and many professionals.
Here are 10 steps to optimize your LinkedIn profile. Just remember, even the best LinkedIn profile is not a shortcut to your dream career!
If you want to do extraordinary things, it shouldn’t be easy. – Jensen Huang
