The hiring landscape is continuously being reshaped by the internet and the increasing data available to employers.
On Oct. 4 in Nashville, LinkedIn.com unveiled its latest human resources product offering: LinkedIn Talent Insights. It will most likely impact how you, the job seeker, experiences the hiring process.
Talent Insights is a technology that will be used by the human resources department (and potentially the hiring manager) to better understand employment trends.
It allows the human resources manager to pull data on demand, in real time – in a format that’s easy to digest and is sharable. One goal is to increase collaboration between the hiring manager and company executives so they may create more effective hiring strategies.
Eric Owski, head of product at LinkedIn, says LinkedIn developed the Talent Insights product using data from its more than 530 million members, representing 18,000 companies, 29,000 schools and 50,000 skills.
LinkedIn will offer two reports. One shares data around the available talent pool, and one shares company data.
Here’s a window into how the talent pool portion of the product might work: If a hiring manager wants to hire a new electrical engineer, they will most likely reach out to human resources for assistance. The hiring manager will have many questions about the competition, and how likely it is that they will find the perfect engineer for the job. The new tool will enable the human resources manager to answer a number of questions for the hiring manager, including:
n The number of electrical engineers located nearby
n The number of electrical engineers who changed jobs recently
n The number of job openings for electrical engineers nearby
n How challenging it is to hire for electrical engineers
The company report within Talent Insights will provide the ability to benchmark a company’s competitors. It will allow the human resources team to research information, including how many people are coming and going from a particular company.
It also will provide a look into the skills the employees at a company have, and from which universities competitors recruit talent.
This type of data will have positive impacts on the hiring manager, human resources department and the company overall. It will help employers to locate top talent outside of their local area. These insights may even encourage companies to adopt more flexible work environments (in order to recruit the best and brightest).
As a job seeker, these changes will likely create a ripple effect that will impact you. It may be easier for a company to find you – even when you’re not looking for a job. When you’re applying, the company may be more likely to see your resume. Companies may even choose to selectively show you job postings that they don’t show other people.
Although the full impact of these changes is yet to be seen, one thing’s for sure. The internet plays a critical role in today’s job search.
Ensure you are using sites like LinkedIn so you can win at the job search game.
Angela Copeland, a career coach and founder of Copeland Coaching, can be reached at copelandcoaching.com.