LinkedIn is more than just a place a typical social media page where people go to brag about their achievements. It is a place where anyone can network with others within their industry. For many people, it is also the best place to find potential connections to other industries they want to expand into or to advance their own reputation in their sector. Thanks to a new feature on the site it is even possible for members to find new employment opportunities.

Invading Employee Profiles

Employers have openly inspected the social media sites of their workers to learn more about the people they employ. LinkedIn is a popular destination for managers and executives checking up on their staff because it is basically a public way of posting a resume. Many of the users of the site have been unable to post their willingness to seek out new ventures out of concern for their current employment.

Protecting Job Searchers

To encourage people to advertise their desire for new challenges, the social media site has now added a feature to their Open Candidates tool that prevents the public from knowing their availability. The feature allows the user to privately notify recruiters of their interest in new positions and their desire to be contacted if an acceptable match is available.

Adding the Feature

To use the feature all the candidate does is add the identification as a contractor in their preferences. By taking this step, the candidate is shown as available to a recruiter when they access a special filter that searches the site and offers relevant candidates. It is a good tool for people that want a new career as well as those that are looking for additional work.

By using the feature, professionals like Greg Youman are able to find out the information they need to perform an informed recruiting process. The recruiters have valuable information about the education and experience of the candidate before making contact as well being able to see any personal references left for the candidate on the site. More than three million members currently use the feature and recruiters have been impressed with the speed of response they now receive from candidates.