While LinkedIn has grown to be the foremost place for business networking on the web, it has also evolved. Now more than a business social network or a place to look for jobs, the platform now also wants to develop professionals. The Microsoft-owned company is rolling out Career Advice to some of its 530 million members.
At its core, Career Advice on LinkedIn gives users the ability to connect with a mentor to guide them in their career. These mentors are free and can help with all aspects of career development.
LinkedIn was the first to the party with this kind of feature, debuting it in preview in Australia and San Francisco this summer. Since then, we have seen Facebook respond with its own very similar mentoring feature that will launch in the future.
Now the company is launching Career Advice in the United States, United Kingdom, and India. Among the roles taken by a mentor are helping to find job avenues, giving feedback, and advising on training.
Naturally, you will need to be in one of the participating countries to use this ability. If you are, then head to your LinkedIn profile and find the Career Advice tab on the dashboard.
The network will ask several automated questions to decide what you are interested in. For example, what your career goals are, whether you need a local mentor, and what your profession is. Once these questions are answered, LinkedIn will provide recommendations for people who may be able to help.
These potential mentors are displayed on a swiping card-style UI. Users can swipe away any mentors they do not want and browse until a connection is made.
Mentors
Of course, there are two sides of this feature as some people will use Career Advice as a mentor. For people wanting to help others, the process is similar. LinkedIn will ask several questions to see what sort of mentoring can be provided.
Under its preview, the network has been automatically selecting mentors. However, the plan is for any user to eventually be able to become a mentor, provided they are qualified.
Once a mentor and mentee are connected, they can message each other and organize together.
Last Updated on February 17, 2021 10:01 am CET by Markus Kasanmascheff
