LinkedIn Launches Relationship-Powered Job Network
Palo Alto, CA — March 1, 2005 — LinkedIn Corporation, creator of the world’s largest and most effective business network, today announced the release of LinkedIn Jobs, the Internet’s first relationship-powered job network. The company also announced the public availability of the LinkedIn JobsInsider™, a browser companion that informs job seekers of inside connections they have to employers when they browse major Internet job boards. LinkedIn Jobs is LinkedIn’s first premium service. It follows the preview release of a services marketplace, which enables professionals on LinkedIn to find business service providers recommended by their trusted contacts.
The launch of these new applications further strengthens the value of LinkedIn to its more than two million users, where over 500,000 introductions have already been facilitated to help users get in touch with the job candidates, industry experts and business partners they want to reach. LinkedIn Jobs is a relationship-powered job network that connects job applicants with the hiring managers, HR professionals or recruiters representing the jobs listed on LinkedIn.
On LinkedIn Jobs, candidates not only find open positions that match their interests, but also get background information on the job poster that can help them tailor their cover letter. More importantly, job seekers can learn which of their existing professional contacts can introduce them to the hiring manager or recruiter — or to someone who knows these key contacts. Candidates who come referred by a company employee have a significantly higher chance of landing a job than those who apply via traditional Internet job boards.
According to a recent study by CareerXroads, employee referrals account for 28.5 percent of external hires, while the largest online job board accounts for only 2.8 percent of external hires. Since referrals are the preferred source of candidates for employers, LinkedIn Jobs dramatically increases the chances that job seekers land the job they want by helping them identify which of their existing contacts can refer them to the hiring manager or to someone who knows the hiring manager. Rob Sullivan, author of Getting Your Foot in the Door When You Don’t Have a Leg to Stand On, explains, “LinkedIn Jobs is unlike anything currently available. It enables candidates to network their way into target companies on the strength of their existing business relationships. At the same time, companies benefit because they gain a ready-made network of referrals and independent references for the candidates under consideration. For companies, this is particularly compelling because it provides valuable insights into the trustworthiness, reliability and work ethic of potential candidates — factors that are difficult to assess through resumes and interviews alone.”
Hiring managers, HR professionals and recruiters have flocked to LinkedIn Jobs because it enables them to leverage referrals from their existing professional relationships to prioritize applicants and to discover which of their own contacts know people who have had experience working with the candidate. 75 percent of all listings posted on LinkedIn Jobs so far have been for mid-to-senior levels, and 7 percent have been posted for senior executive positions. Said LinkedIn user Allan Techko, regional recruiting manager at Compuware Corporation, who filled a project manager position using LinkedIn Jobs, “By posting our open positions on LinkedIn, I was able to reach a pool of candidates that is not available on traditional job boards. Since professionals use LinkedIn to find business partners, industry experts and recommended service providers, LinkedIn Jobs gives me access to a group of highly-qualified candidates who are currently employed and therefore not spending their time on Internet job boards.”
Another LinkedIn user, Will Lopes, VP and general manager at Audible, had tried various job sites including CareerBuilder and Craigslist to find the right candidate for a director of project management position. Within one day of posting the position on LinkedIn Jobs, Will received Stephen Harris’ application, and it instantly stood out. “The resume looked similar to some of the others I had received, but I saw on his LinkedIn profile that David Simpson, a former colleague of mine at Audible, knew Stephen. Stephen had also asked David to reach out to me via LinkedIn about his application, and David sang Stephen’s praises. I asked Stephen to come in for an interview right away. He was highly qualified and the interviews went very well. As a result, we extended him an offer for a full-time position, which he accepted.”
For Stephen, the job listing on LinkedIn stood out when he saw that one of his contacts used to work at Audible and was linked to Will Lopes. “I had no idea that I was so close to someone at the company, and I appreciated being able to learn more about Will and the company through some of the people we both knew,” he said. In a recent survey of LinkedIn users who searched for a job on LinkedIn, 58 percent of the 1,400 respondents rated having an inside connection to the hiring manager as very important; 51 percent of respondents rated it as somewhat or very likely that they will find their next job through LinkedIn Jobs.
LinkedIn is committed to helping professionals find inside connections for jobs whether or not the position is listed on LinkedIn. To support this endeavor, the company also today released the LinkedIn JobsInsider, a browser companion that informs users which of their existing contacts know people who work at target companies as they search major Internet job boards. The LinkedIn JobsInsider operates entirely in the background. It only activates when users search major job boards. At that point, a research pane opens on the left-hand side of the browser showing users inside connections they have to the company posting the position. All employees listed at the target company are registered LinkedIn users who have specifically indicated that they are willing to help job seekers by providing them with additional information about the position or referring them on to the hiring manager. Job seekers can then choose which of their own contacts they’d like to make the introduction to help them land the job they want.
“Almost half of the contact requests we have facilitated so far have been related to employers looking to hire, or professionals seeking out new positions,” said LinkedIn CEO Reid Hoffman. “With over $8 billion in revenue and significant dissatisfaction from both hiring companies and job seekers with the status quo, the recruiting industry is an attractive market for us. However, over half of the activity on LinkedIn is unrelated to hiring, so we will also be launching additional premium services to help users be more effective in their work. We expect these premium services to take us to profitability by early next year.”
LinkedIn already aggregates over 300,000 job listings and expects to reach over a million job listings this summer, so it is a compelling place for any professional to start their job search. There is no charge for professionals to view or apply to positions listed on LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn users also have an opportunity to showcase their reputation through a LinkedIn profile, which can include public references from former managers and colleagues in addition to past positions and accomplishments. There is no charge for maintaining a professional profile on LinkedIn. Hiring managers, HR professionals and recruiters can list positions on LinkedIn for $95 per job. Listings run for 30 days, and there is an option to promote jobs on the LinkedIn home page for an additional fee. There is a 50 percent discount for the first job users post. Invoicing and subscription packages are available for HR departments and recruiting firms wishing to purchase listings in bulk.
About LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the world’s largest and most effective business network. On LinkedIn, over two million professionals find jobs, people and business opportunities recommended by their existing network of trusted contacts. Through referrals from the people they know, professionals can get in touch with the job candidates, industry experts and business partners they want to reach. LinkedIn Corporation is located in Palo Alto, CA and is funded by Greylock and Sequoia Capital, the venture capitalists behind Google, Yahoo!, Cisco and Apple.