5 Ways the New Microsoft-Acquired LinkedIn Could Help You Find Your Dream Job
LinkedIn announced on Monday that it was just acquired by tech giant Microsoft. The news may seem completely irrelevant to your day-to-day, but in an email that LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner sent to all employees and then posted on the network, he outlined some important changes the network is hoping to make. These updates could seriously change how we see our digital professional networks and make landing your dream job even easier.
1. Your professional network will get bigger. If there’s one thing Microsoft has access to, it’s audience. The corporation’s products are used by over one billion people. If all these people were also on LinkedIn, it would more than double the business network’s users (the main reason LinkedIn sold). Theoretically, these new billion LinkedIn’s users will be inextricably woven into Bing searches and Microsoft Office products, meaning you’ll have TONS of new connects to help you on the next phase of your career.
2. LinkedIn will integrate with Microsoft Office. If all goes according to plan, LinkedIn data will be available on Microsoft Office products like Word, Outlook, Skype, Calendar and Cortana. That means that if you’re typing a project on Microsoft Word, Office assistant can pop up and recommend experts that could help you complete the work. Calendar and Outlook will link up to LinkedIn and organize your professional meetings while building your professional network.
3. We’ll all learn from Lynda. If you don’t know Lynda yet, LinkedIn hopes you will soon. Lynda is a video tutorial system teaching software, creative and business skills. The training program is owned by LinkedIn, but the acquisition hopes to integrate Lynda technology into Microsoft products. So theoretically, if you’re stuck and can’t figure something out on Microsoft Excel, Lynda technology will pop up and teach you all you need to know in video form. Plus, once you’ve learned the skill, you can add it to your LinkedIn profile.
4. LinkedIn will be more relevant in your workday. Chances are, you aren’t using LinkedIn when at your desk. But you probably are using at least one Microsoft product. In the future, you could use LinkedIn as your company directory, weekly newsletter and digital meet center for collaborations. Those that freelance could use LinkedIn as a point of contact for their employers. More active daily use on LinkedIn will let future employers see exactly what it is that you do.
5. You might start using LinkedIn when you AREN’T even looking for a new job. If there’s one thing we all know to be true, it’s that everyone is most active on LinkedIn when they’re actively looking for a new job. But this new acquisition hopes to make LinkedIn even more than a job-seeking tool. It’s aspiring to become a complete business social network that employees and bosses use every day in their nine-to-five to make work more social and productive. That would mean actively collaborating via LinkedIn and forging new business connections even while you’re happily employed.
Are you excited about the upcoming LinkedIn updates? Let us know @BritandCo!
(h/t LinkedIn, photos via Getty)