An About Face for Linkedln

Job seekers are increasingly turning to electronic means to find jobs. Online sites such as monster.com and careerbuilder.com have high traffic. But what is the role of social networking sites such as Linkedln?

Linkedln is a professional social networking site in which users build up a network of contacts to which they are directly connected. Users can then view the network of contacts created by each of their connections (these are called second-degree connections). Users can ask their direct contacts to introduce them to secondary contacts in the network. Linkedln is often used as a tool to build up professional networks that can be influential in the hunt for new career possibilities. Employers can list vacant jobs they are seeking to fill. Employees can view the profile of hiring manages and see if any of their contracts might be able to introduce them.

In 2009 it had 50 million worldwide users. But the jury is still out as to whether it will continue to be the site of choice for job seeking professionals. Compared to other social networking sites like Facebook, users spend far less time on Linkedln. Take, for example, Ms. Nejaime, a San Francisco real estate agent, who uses Linkedln to check out job prospects. She reports that she only logs in a few times a month due to lack of features on the Linkedln site. "I would like to get more use out of it," said Ms. Nejaime "I just don't know how." By contrast, the 47-year-old says she uses Facebook every day to touch base with friends and professional contacts. In contrast to Linkedln's 50 million members Facebook has over 350 million members.

Linkedln CEO Jeff Weiner, a former senior executive at Yahoo! Inc., wants to give people reasons to spend more time on Linkedln, which is primarily used by professionals to post resumes. One of Mr. Weiner's solutions is to take a page from Facebook's playbook. He recently opened LinkedIn's site to third-party developers so they can create applications that will draw professional users to the site when they aren't looking for work. For example, software maker SAP AG has written an app that allows certified SAP developers to highlight their credentials by adding a "badge" to their Linkedln profiles. A recently announced partnership with micro-blogging service Twitter Inc. enables Linkedln members to link their Twitter accounts to their Linkedln profiles.

Linkedln expects other developers will target specific interest groups. For example, a developer might build an app that enables lawyers to highlight their case histories on their profiles. Unlike Facebook, which includes games, Linkedln said all apps for its network must be professionally oriented. Submissions will be approved on a case-by-case basis.

Although Facebook doesn't specifically target the professional market, hundreds of companies, such as Ernst & Young and EMC Corp., use the site to highlight their firms and recruit new candidates, said a Facebook spokeswoman. Special groups for lawyers, accountants, engineers, sales people and other professionals have cropped up all over Facebook as well.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Do you think Linkedln is a good idea?

2. Does Social Networking really work for professionals?