LinkedIn launches new ‘Tinder-style app’

LinkedIn is breaking away from catering to professionals already in the job market to help students and new graduates land their ideal role with a new ‘Tinder-style’ app.

According to VentureBeat, the LinkedIn Students app will work to help young people nearing the end of their studies get a foot into a competitive job market in the lead up to graduating.

Speaking with Fortune, one of the app’s lead developers, Ada Yu, described how the app will help students know what to search for, realise what they’re qualified to do, and also give them an insight into the caliber of jobs available post-graduation – all things young people may not be aware of.

Fortune also reports on how LinkedIn actually rolled the app out at around 300 colleges in the US, among 1,500 students, months ago and that feedback has been “positive” with users hailing its “snackable approach” – something already popular among young users with apps like Tinder.

On the whole, the main way in which the app will help match students up with their ideal career is by using data relating to the university they’re at and the degree subject they’re studying.

Explaining the process further to VentureBeat, LinkedIn said that students sign up to the app either by using their existing account or by entering their basic personal and education information after which the app – in the style of Tinder – gives the user tailored job recommendations in a format which requires students to swipe ‘yes’ or ‘no’ through each option.

The new app has come shortly after news that Wall Street had given LinkedIn “the cold shoulder” due to poor numbers in February.

The app is launching in the US on Monday but would, no doubt, be welcomed here in the UK after a recent survey by Accenture Strategy found more than half of British graduates were working in a job they believe did not even require a degree.

Managing director of Accenture Strategy, Payal Vasudeva, said graduates expect good work opportunities and employer-provided training, but many remain “underemployed and dissatisfied” with their work situation.

She added: “As a result, a large number aim to return to university or college to position themselves for better jobs.”

In an email to the Independent, LinkedIn said that, in terms of global expansion for the app, there will firstly be a plan to conduct a pilot phase in select locations internationally later this year.

A spokesperson said: “We want to gather feedback and fine-tune the app for international markets as we realise the challenges facing graduating students across the globe are different and vary region to region.”

Ful article in the Independent

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