LinkedIn Jobs Gets A Search Boost

10 Social Networks For Special Interests (click image for larger view and for slideshow)

LinkedIn is continuing its ongoing makeover with an improved LinkedIn Jobs feature. There's a new look and feel to LinkedIn Jobs, but the biggest change is under the covers: search.

The new LinkedIn Jobs functionality, which will be rolled out to LinkedIn users in the next few weeks, boasts an advanced search function that lets users more effectively target opportunities. For example, they can search by country, zip code, industry and function. The new LinkedIn Jobs also lets users quickly identify new results from saved searches.

The page itself is set up to put everything in closer reach for users. For example, the Jobs You Might Be Interested In feature, which is based on your experience and resume, is more prominent on the page, and the Save Job feature lets users keep track of interesting opportunities.

[ Have you been giving endorsements on LinkedIn? Don't bother. Here's why: Why Soliciting LinkedIn Endorsements Is A Bad Idea. ]

The most promising opportunities are the ones where you have an "in," and LinkedIn makes it easier for you to see this now by highlighting your connections at different companies.

Subscribers to LinkedIn's Premium edition also get a feature that enables them to search for jobs that meet certain salary requirements; there are also embedded tips that help users throughout the job search process.

The new LinkedIn Jobs feature is just one of a raft of changes LinkedIn has recently made to its platform. Many of the changes have made LinkedIn feel more like Facebook and Twitter. Updated LinkedIn Profiles, for example, integrate elements reminiscent of Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

Most of LinkedIn's new features have been met with mixed reaction, but none more so than Endorsements. LinkedIn Endorsements, announced in September, let LinkedIn users recognize colleagues for specific skills with just a click. The endorsements pile up (or maybe a better term is "tile up") on your profile page, and the idea is that prospective employers or others looking at your profile can see at a glance what you are most skilled at, based on the recommendations of people who should know because they have worked with you and experienced these skills first-hand.

But that's not what's happening, say critics of the feature. The "just a click" part is what has many people looking askance at the Endorsements feature, as they feel it encourages meaningless recommendations and even a tit-for-tat environment: "I'll endorse you if you'll endorse me." To see just how provocative Endorsements have become, check out the dozens of comments on this article by my colleague David Nour.

How do you think LinkedIn is shaping up? Are the changes improving the site, or is it trying to be too much like Facebook and Twitter? Please let us know in the comments section below. Follow Deb Donston-Miller on Twitter at @debdonston.

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