LinkedIn Jobs Review | Job Search Sites
LinkedIn is a universally recognized professional network brand, but is it the best way to find a job? We take a look at the social networks’ features and benefits to see where it ranks among the best job search sites.
Table of Contents
- LinkedIn’s Services
- LinkedIn’s Credentials
- LinkedIn’s Accessibility
- LinkedIn’s Customer Satisfaction
LinkedIn Overview
- Recognized as the world's leading professional network
- Large user base means more opportunities for job seekers and hiring managers alike
- A+ with the Better Business Bureau
- Multiple features and tools to facilitate the job hunting process
- Low rating on Trustpilot
- Live chat customer support only available with a premium account
- Company has been victim to hacking leaks in the past
LinkedIn is an information technology and services company based out of Sunnyvale, California. It offers both an employment-oriented online service where users can search job postings, connect with recruiters and find open positions fit for their particular skillset, and a business-focused section where hiring managers can post openings.
The company touts itself as the world’s largest professional network, with more than 700 million members in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The company was founded in 2003 and was acquired by Microsoft in 2016.
LinkedIn’s Services
LinkedIn Jobs’ primary service is connecting job openings with job seekers, facilitating the hiring process and helping users shape their corporate image. The company’s revenue comes mostly from selling access to information about its members to hiring managers and job recruiters.
What they offer
- Job postings - LinkedIn allows job seekers to search and apply for employment opportunities, allowing users to search by job title and interact directly with hiring managers and job recruiters.
- Networking - Formerly a tool to only find already established connections, the professional network now allows recruiters, hiring managers and job seekers to create new connections and improve their positioning in the job hunting market, a reason it has been frequently touted as one of the best job posting sites for employers.
- Employer services - LinkedIn allows companies to post job opportunities for both full-time and part-time positions, allowing big and small businesses alike to compete on an equal opportunity job board. Companies can be as specific as they want on their job descriptions, stating job title vacancies and health care offerings without the need for referrals.
What they don’t offer
- Advanced features for basic accounts - Although LinkedIn offers a free basic account, some of the site’s flashier features, including the ability to send a message to anyone regardless of connection, is behind its LinkedIn Premium paywall, with its pricing being from $29.99 a month for job seekers to $119.95 for recruiters.
LinkedIn’s Credentials
When dealing with a company that will handle sensitive information such as your job history, you want to be sure they’re prepared for the task.
Licenses and Registrations
The job search industry isn’t regulated and no special licenses or registrations are required.
Awards and Certifications
As a social media website, LinkedIn is not ranked by JD Power’s Customer Satisfaction surveys. However, the company won four Comparably Awards in 2021, which rates a company’s internal culture, including Best Company Culture.
Third-Party Ratings
The site has no third-party ratings from industry publications.
Regulatory or Legal Actions
The site is not licensed or regulated by any specific organization or association. While there are no regulatory or government actions pending against the company, there is a pending class-action lawsuit that claims LinkedIn and Facebook colluded in 2015 to monopolise the professional social networking industry.
LinkedIn’s Accessibility
As an online social network, LinkedIn has no brick-and-mortar presence, but rather is available for free to users around the world. However, most of its customer support features are only available for its premium users.
Availability
LinkedIn is available online nationwide and in more than 200 countries and territories in 24 languages, which is one of the reasons it is a leader in the job search market.
Contact Information
The company has a dedicated live chat for premium members, while a basic free account is invited to visit the LinkedIn Help Center, use the search engine for troubleshooting and open a support ticket if the answer is not listed.
User Experience
You can make a free account in minutes by filling out some general information about yourself and uploading your CV directly to your LinkedIn profile, or allow the platform to help you create one by following its simple steps.
Limitations
Being a fully online platform with no dedicated toll-free customer service support, LinkedIn does not have a lot of variety as far as contact options go, and users with a free account will have to upgrade to premium if they want to use the company’s live chat option.
LinkedIn’s Customer Satisfaction
LinkedIn’s customer satisfaction reviews are somewhat divided, garnering high ratings from some institutions while low scores from others.
Customer Complaints
Most common complaints listed on BBB or Trustpilot involve problems with the company’s premium service and comment moderation problems within their user base.
Third-Party Ratings
LinkedIn has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau, with 488 complaints closed in the last three years. The company has also been rated by Trustpilot, with an aggregate score of 1.5 out of 5.
LinkedIn Jobs FAQ
Is LinkedIn good for finding jobs?
Is LinkedIn safe to use?
What does it mean when a job is in review on LinkedIn?
Do LinkedIn jobs expire?
How We Evaluated LinkedIn Jobs
We evaluated LinkedIn primarily as a job search site more than as a professional network, taking into account the number of users serviced, third-party ratings and past problems compared to other companies in the information technology and services industry.
We also took a look at how user-friendly the website’s interface was, its customer support availability, and the range of industries covered.
Summary of Money’s LinkedIn Jobs Review
As a hybrid between a traditional employment website and a social network, LinkedIn Jobs benefits from building an organic talent pool which can attract recruiters searching for a specific skillset.
This aspect also entails its biggest criticism, as it suffers from the woes of complaints of poor comment moderation that plague most social media sites. All in all, even with its history of security breaches, anyone participating in the job search process will benefit from a LinkedIn profile.