LinkedIn introduces its own job search app
LinkedIn has launched its first standalone job search app that provides a dedicated service for users looking to search and apply for jobs on the social network.
The decision to release LinkedIn Job Search on iOS comes as no surprise, with 40 per cent of the network's 300 million users accessing the site on mobile devices.
The company also revealed that the free app would not publicise your job search to anyone else within your network.
"It can be hard to search for a job while you're at your desk, not to mention the potentially awkward conversation with your current boss", product manager Daniel Ayele said in a blog post. "Our goal is to help make this process easier for you and to help you be discreet. Everything you do within the app will be completely private and not shared with your network".
The app, which is currently only available in the US, is LinkedIn's latest attempt to make applying for jobs more accessible on mobile devices, and follows a similar update to the company's main app in August 2013.
New features available for LinkedIn Job Search include a more detailed, customizable job search function, tailored job recommendations based on your profile and a notifications service that tells you when new jobs are coming up or deadlines approaching.
The new app sees LinkedIn expanding the kind of content it offers and opening the platform up as a means of increasing traffic, and therefore, ad revenue. In the last quarter, "Talent Solutions", which includes recruitment advertising, made up 58 percent of LinkedIn's revenue at $275.9 million.
This sector also grew by 50 percent last year, providing a thriving area of growth for the company and the firm is likely to have noted the way other social networks like Facebook are diversifying their app portfolios with the standalone Messenger app and Slingshot.
The new app, which the company said will launch in other markets soon, faces stiff competition from already established job search apps, such as CareerBuilder and Monster.com, as well as many smaller competitors, like Proven, that emphasise user feedback.
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