LinkedIn launches 'Career Explorer' tool to help professionals pivot their careers

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, today launched new tools and resources to help unemployed professionals get back to work. These new additions come at a time when hiring in India continues to recover at a 12% year-on-year growth rate in August 2020, as per LinkedIn’s labour market data, but competition for jobs is 30% higher than last year.

As the world faces a global unemployment crisis with 140 million people out of work, LinkedIn is helping professionals identify new careers and how to get there, empowering professionals with insights on in-demand jobs and fastest growing skills, and making it easier for professionals to find people that are hiring.

LinkedIn’s new ‘Career Explorer’ tool helps job-seekers find new jobs by mapping their skills to open roles, and the new #Hiring frame helps hiring managers share that they are hiring right from their profiles, enabling job-seekers to see open job opportunities directly in their feed. To help members prepare for the new up and coming technology roles, LinkedIn has also added new ‘Skills Assessments’ based on top trending skills so members can showcase their proficiency.

“Today, the job market is fiercely competitive and LinkedIn data shows that competition for jobs has spiked 30% since last year. In this global unemployment crisis, we are committed to helping job-seekers with the right insights and tools such as Career Explorer to find new careers based on their skills, and continue advancing professionally. The new ‘Hiring’ profile photo frame will also make it easy for job-seekers to find open roles,” said Ashutosh Gupta, India Country Manager, Linkedin.

LinkedIn’s new Career Explorer tool matches job-seekers to new careers based on their skills

62% Indian professionals are willing to pivot their careers

According to LinkedIn’s Workforce Confidence Index findings, about 3 in 5 (62%) Indian professionals are willing to pivot their careers to navigate these testing times. LinkedIn data also shows that professionals from Recreation & Travel, Retail, and Corporate Services are more likely to look for jobs outside their current industry. Professionals in Recreation and Travel are 3.8 times more likely to make the switch, whereas professionals in Retail are 1.5 times more likely, and those in Corporate Services are 1.4 times more likely to look for jobs outside their current sectors.

LinkedIn’s new Career Explorer tool helps professionals identify new career paths where most required skills overlap with their current roles. The tool also highlights any additional skills that may be required to make the transition, along with the right LinkedIn Learning courses to build these skills. Giving more momentum to those pivoting their careers, the new feature also connects professionals to other LinkedIn members for advice and support as they navigate the transition.

Python is India’s fastest growing skill of 2019-2020

LinkedIn data suggests that if professionals list five skills on their profile, they have a 27x improved chance of being discovered by recruiters. To help members learn the right skills at this time, LinkedIn has identified the Top 5 fastest growing skills that professionals have added to their profiles at the greatest rate this year. In India, Python (Programming Language) emerged as the fastest growing skill, followed by Machine Learning, Data Structures, Digital Marketing, and HTML 5.

LinkedIn data also estimates that the platform will see 150 million more technology-related jobs globally in the next five years and the demand for digital skills will continue to surge. India is witnessing this firsthand, as LinkedIn’s Top 5 In-Demand Jobs list for India is dominated by tech-led roles with Software Engineer topping the list, followed by Application Developer, Full Stack engineer, System Analyst, and Business Analyst.

LinkedIn has added nearly 100 new ‘Skills Assessments’ to provide members with a new way to validate their skills and showcase proficiency, while also allowing them to display a wide range of skills. The platform also introduced new interview prep features for globally in-demand jobs to help professionals improve their virtual interview skills, to prepare them for their job search journey, and help them land the right opportunities.

New #Hiring frame to discover more job opportunities

LinkedIn is introducing the new #Hiring frame, which makes it easier for recruiters to signal open roles to their networks, right from their profiles. There are 14 million jobs open on LinkedIn globally, and the #Hiring profile photo frame will help make them even more visible, thus making it easier for job-seekers to discover the right roles. Further expanding the number of open opportunities on the platform, LinkedIn is allowing all members to post a job for free, and this will be rolled out to all members globally in the coming months.

Hirers can use the new #Hiring profile frame to share open roles directly from their profiles

To know more about these new resources and how LinkedIn is helping job seekers get back on track, read here.