Credit: https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/03/linkedin-is-rolling-out-a-free-tinder-style-service-to-pair-users-with-mentors/
Finding someone to mentor you will never be a nightmare as LinkedIn has just rolled out a free service to connect you with the right person. The service is aimed at identifying potential mentors and connecting you with them.
Test on the free service was carried out last month, and will be available to people in San Francisco, and Australia, the company’s Head of Identity Products disclosed to Fast Company last month.
The free mentor program still being trialed by users in select location could be rolled out across the globe if the test is concluded without any hitch.
LinkedIn, according to TechCrunch, handpicked a list of potential mentors, while users that indicate their interest in the service will be able to view the list and select the professional that best suit their career.
Mentors on the other hand, will be free to select options about the type of people they would be willing to offer professionally sound advice to. Such people will, however, be those in their professional group or network as well as those who attended the same school, and those within and outside their local environment.
“We have done research and found that among the senior ranks of our user base, nine out of 10 people have said they want to give back,” he said. “Paying it forward is a powerful force. All of them received help on the way up and now want to find a way to give that help back to others,” Hari Srinivasan, Head of Identity Products at LinkedIn said, per Ingrid Lunden of TechCrunch.
There are lose ends though—LinkedIn still needs to trash out issues like how much help is too much, how to prevent the service from being abused by mentors and mentees alike among other issues.
Will it or will it not be a success is not the big question for now; what matters is being able to help people achieve their career dreams. If LinkedIn pulls this through without much of a problem, then we could see the largest professional social media network helping more people achieving their career objective.
The professional network group recently announced that it has over half a billion members in its community. Recently acquired by Microsoft for $26 billion in 2016, the LinkedIn said in a blog post that it now has half a billion members in 200 countries.
A breakdown of the very important landmark according to LinkedIn’s Vice President, Growth & International Products Aatif Awan, shows that LinkedIn now has more than 10 million jobs listed, more than 9 million company profiles, and over 100,000 business articles published each week. LinkedIn presented its facts behind the figure with fun infographic. From the graph, you will discover that the United Arab Emirate is the most connected country, while London is the most connected city.
For the most connected job function/industry, HR got the top spot; which won’t come as a surprise to anyone considering the number of people who rely on LinkedIn when it comes to getting their dream job.
