For all the talk about its benefit to the “economic graph,” one of the main things LinkedIn is recognized as being is an online resume - it's a social network that most professionals understand how to use to its advantage. But what about those that aren't working yet, specifically college students who are about to graduate but have no idea about what they want to do afterwards?
It's a question that some of us face: What jobs could you get with your major? LinkedIn saw this problem and has developed LinkedIn Students, an app that gives you a starting point in exploring the first stage of your professional career. Available right now to those in the U.S., it highlights companies and job titles that might be suitable for you based on what school you attend and the program you're majoring in. Students can also get started with building their network as LinkedIn Students lists alumni that work at each recommended company.
Above: Screenshots of the on-boarding process for the LinkedIn Students iOS app.
Making job hunting less daunting
As a professional social network, LinkedIn's usefulness comes from taking the data from your profile and personalizing the experience. But for those about to enter the workforce, that information is negligible. So joining LinkedIn can be pretty daunting, so the company simplified the process for those at a much earlier stage in their professional lives, which happens to be one of the fastest growing demographics on the site - LinkedIn told VentureBeat that there are 40 million students on the social network.
Students begin by either authenticating using their existing LinkedIn account or by entering in their name, attending university, major, and when they'll graduate. From there, LinkedIn Students provides tailored jobs-related recommendations. Instead of multiple tabs you'll have to navigate through, the app displays the information in a card-like format which requires you swipe a la Tinder through a series of options.
Above: Screenshots of LinkedIn Students iOS app displaying what role you might be interested in.
The first card displays suggested roles you might be interested in. If you're a psychology major, but don't want to be a psychologist after you graduate, here you might find alternate jobs that someone with a psychology degree may be suitable for, such as a corporate trainer. Tapping on it will provide more details about the profession, including salary range, growth rate, a description of the role, jobs that are available, and alumni from the university that have done this.
Additionally, it lists out companies that are hiring for the role, what skills are needed, and similar roles you might be interested in. All of the data that is provided comes from information that LinkedIn has on its 414 million members.
Above: Screenshots of LinkedIn's Student iOS app detailing what looking at the influencer content is like.
LinkedIn Students also shares articles it recommends you read, written by influencers and displayed based on how close you are to graduating. All the content is managed through an algorithm and human curation. There are 500 articles already queued up, but Ada Yu, a senior product manager at LinkedIn, said that number is growing. The company's team will be developing campaigns around things that will resonate with students, such as articles about what influencers went through when they were 22 or what their first job was - content that professionals would see on the professional social network may not necessarily be featured within LinkedIn Students and LinkedIn's team won't be creating original content.
Above: Screenshots of LinkedIn's Students iOS app showing a company you might want to apply for and alumni from your school you should connect with.
Two other cards include recommended companies and suggested alumnus to reach out to. With the former, LinkedIn features those firms that are actively recruiting at your school and that it thinks you may be a great fit at. When digging deeper, you'll see alumni that currently work there, the company's information, what specific jobs they're hiring for now, and more.
With suggested alumni, the idea is to give students an opportunity to begin establishing a network of peers in their space. This card shows those alumni that you might be inspired by and have the same major. Ideally the ones that are listed graduated from college between 2 to 5 years ago, but if LinkedIn can't find any, then it'll pull in more seasoned alumni. Yu said that part of the goal is to increase alumni outreach and have them become mentors - there are some that want to volunteer for this and help answer students' questions.
Above: Screenshots of LinkedIn's Students app showing a job posting you might want to apply for.
The last card suggests jobs you might be interested in doing, displaying actual “help wanted” postings. You can learn more about what the respective company is hiring for, but LinkedIn is encouraging you to save the job and view it on the desktop - something Yu acknowledges isn't efficient, but thinks the experience in applying will be better on a larger screen.
In any of these cards, you have the option of “starring” anything to save it for later reading. In doing so, LinkedIn takes that into consideration and will adjust its algorithm accordingly to display results that fit your preference, no matter whether you've starred a specific role, company you liked, alumnus, or job title.
LinkedIn Students has additional sections on it, including a place to find all your saved items and even a search option to look up specific roles you might want to know more about but the app didn't immediately surface for you.
Getting “extra credit”
This app won't provide you with lists of companies, roles, or job titles like you'd expect when using a search site like Indeed, Monster, CareerBuilder, or even LinkedIn's own app. Instead, each “cycle” gives you one item per card. You can refresh the app to get new results but each card displays only one item.
Above: Screenshots of LinkedIn's Students app “extra credit” section that includes sponsored content and other career tips for students.
And if you've gone through them all, LinkedIn Students even has a section Yu calls “extra credit” that features more information students can use to build out their profiles, such as entering in projects they've done. Additionally, universities can submit events to the app, such as career fairs, recruiting sessions, and more. Yu said that sponsored content also has a place in the app with JP Morgan being the first partner that'll have articles featured in this section. However, LinkedIn has no plans to monetize its newest apps with the exception of sponsored content that will only be found in the “extra credit” area.
Less about news, more about building network
It might be simple to think that students can simply create a LinkedIn profile and accomplish the same stuff that the Students app does, but it's not. It's more overwhelming when you have all these fields to complete but little information to enter. College students are looking for a resource just to get started and explore their options and as they peruse through LinkedIn's new app, it's going to start their profile using the bare essentials that students can flush out later.
For the most part, professionals using LinkedIn are looking for news and insights from their connections. But students want to begin building their network, connecting with people with things they can best relate to: the school they attended and major they pursued. “This is a soft introduction to students who may not know the value of networking and introduce LinkedIn's value proposition,” Yu explained.
Above: Screenshots of LinkedIn Students introductory screens on iOS.
Prior to today's launch, LinkedIn tested out its student app in a pilot program that involved San Jose State and the University of Central Florida. Now that it's available to everyone in the U.S., the company has made additional moves to streamline its resources. We're told that its education portal is being shuttered save for a couple of features: the alumni connections and university pages. A company spokesperson said that based on feedback it received, a student's top concern was getting a job, so LinkedIn is focusing its university efforts towards the Students app.
Appealing to college students is a necessary move for LinkedIn as it seeks to show that it can continue to grow and remain relevant in the constantly changing technology landscape. While working professionals are its bread and butter, it needs to look at the next generation and that's going to be with college students. While LinkedIn Students is beneficial to soon-to-be graduates, it's also a way to get them hooked on the professional social network and help them realize the potential, as well as buy into the “economic graph” that the company is selling.
What's missing from LinkedIn Students is the Lynda.com integration. As students are being shown job titles and companies that they may be interested in, if there's a specific role that they're drawn to, shouldn't they have the ability to know what courses they should take to better succeed? Lynda.com's recently launched “Learning Paths” feature could have an impact in this area, but for the most part, LinkedIn hasn't really integrated its acquisition into the core app.
LinkedIn Students is available now for iOS and Android devices. While it's only available for those in the U.S., there are plans to roll this out internationally later this year.
More information:
LinkedIn's newest app helps college grads find a job
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