LinkedIn is launching a new free tool that allows its members to find other senior leaders who can give them the much-needed career advice. A LinkedIn director says the new feature is geared towards providing professionals an extended platform to talk with field experts.
LinkedIn is currently releasing a beta test for Career Advice Hub, a tool that allows professionals, especially budding ones, to look for people who they can ask for career guidance. LinkedIn members can sign up to become a mentor or a mentee.Participants will be asked to include some of their information to make matching easier, such as specialisation, region, industry, school etc. Types of advice will also be determined by the options.
Participants will be asked to give out some information to make matching easier and more precise. These include specialisation, region, industry, school etc. Types of advice will also be determined by the mentor according to the choices given. This new platform is private and can be accessed either on desktop or mobile.
Once done, LinkedIn will automatically match mentors and mentees. Tapping a mentor will notify the person that a mentee is interested to connect. Once both parties agree, the conversation will begin either online or offline.
According to Hari Srinivasan, LinkedIn's director of product management, it is innate for people to talk to their co-workers and ask for professional advice. However, he stresses that "people spend less and less time at a company", making it difficult for them to find the right people to converse with when searching for advice.
In a data released by LinkedIn, 89 per cent of senior leaders in the platform is interested in sharing advice. Meanwhile, career options is one of the top issues that mentees want to discuss with their mentors.
Suzi Owens, LinkedIn's group manager of Consumer Products, says the new feature is pretty straightforward. "Think of it as a new form of mentorship that's virtual, lightweight, and that fits today's changing workplace", says Owens.
She notes that 'Career Advice Hub' is not meant to replace a long-term mentorship, but it aims to meet people in one place for "quick question" requests, most especially when seeking for an advice on a specific scenario.
