Business-skewed social network LinkedIn today launched a new service which could become a key future revenue stream in the notoriously hard-to-monetise social space.
The new product, “Apply with LinkedIn“, provides an embeddable button which recruiters can place next to job posting on their website, which prospective candidates can use to apply for the job in question with a single click.
The button cleverly brings social aspects to the application process by scanning your LinkedIn contacts for employees of the recruiter and providing a quick interface with which you can request a reference (according to LinkedIn’s slides, referred applicants are seven times more likely to be hired).
LinkedIn is obviously talking up the new functionality, calling it “The future of job applications, today”, and claiming the standardised format of the LinkedIn profile provides an easy way for recruiters to sort the wheat from the chaff. Recruiters looking for creative staff such as designers may be less excited, as such employees often use their CVs to showcase their creative flair.
Employers can add additional prompts to the application process, for example to query hours of availability or request a covering letter – however there is a worry that the Apply With LinkedIn button makes applying for positions a little too easy, and recruiters may be inundated with low-quality or unsuitable applicants who simply mash the button with their fingers crossed.
Quite how the new service will be monetised is unclear at this point. It is currently open to anyone, and it appears the site will not be charging a finders fee, as a traditional recruiter would. Having gone public last month LinkedIn’s management will be looking to maximise revenue to keep all those new shareholders happy. LinkedIn shares débuted high, and after an initial dip have since risen higher still since the firm’s IPO in May.
