New LinkedIn desktop version what you need to know! University of Manchester Careers Blog

New LinkedIn desktop version what you need to know! Well, it’s all change at LinkedIn, and they seem to have finished the roll out of their new desktop user interface.   It has been given a bit of a makeover, to bring it into line with the mobile version which has also changed some of the functionality.  We’re in the process of updating our LinkedIn resources, but in the meantime, here’s our top 5 things you need to know… UPDATE YOUR BROWSER You need to be using the latest version of your web browser for it to work best   not always the case in PC clusters we have discovered!    If it is becoming unreliable when using one browser, try using a another (we’ve found Firefox to be most reliable on campus, and Chrome is usually fairly good too). IT’S ALL ABOUT ‘ME’! If you want to update your profile, you now need to select ‘Me’ from the top menu.   Most of the functionality there is similar, with a few subtle differences.   To insert a new profile section (like Projects or Skills), the options are on a drop-down menu on the right rather than at the top of your profile as before.   They’ve also removed the option to notify changes to your network from the main profile edit screen, though it sometimes prompts you in each section.   As before, our advice is to switch off notifications using via ‘Me Settings Privacy Privacy Sharing profile edits’ before you start any complex overhaul of your profile. PROFILES NOW HAVE A FIXED STRUCTURE In the past, you could move the sections of a LinkedIn profile to better reflect your experience (like moving Education to the top of your profile).   Not anymore!   It is therefore even more important to have a strong profile Headline and Summary, to highlight your educational achievements.  Check out these 5 tips to give your profile a mini-makeover. SEARCHING ON LINKEDIN In the latest desktop version, all searches start with the Search box at the top of the screen.   It is no longer possible to perform an Advanced People Search (booo!) or filter out group searches, but there are still ways to perform specific searches once you know how. Search filters: when you type in some text, LinkedIn will suggest filters you can apply to narrow the results. In the example below, you can specify whether you want to search for jobs, people’s job titles or groups containing your search text. Search operators: you can also narrow your results by using 5 ‘search operators’, which allow you to search specific parts of profiles. They are: firstname Finds members based on first name lastname Finds members based on last name title Finds members based on their current job title company Finds members based on their current company (keyword search) school Finds members based on schools attended (keyword search) The example LinkedIn gives is to search for current software engineers not named Doe, who have attended either Harvard University or Stanford University, try: You’ll notice in this example that it uses NOT and OR to refine the search (you can also use AND too).   These are called Boolean searches and, though at first glance look complicated, are not too difficult to master. It’s worth taking time to learn how to perform searches on LinkedIn and their help pages are the best place to start. Searching on LinkedIn ALUMNI SEARCH HAS CHANGED BUT YOU CAN STILL USE THE OLD ONE (FOR NOW) To do an Alumni search, type ‘The University of Manchester’ into the top search box, or select the logo in your profile.   There is a preview of the new look Alumni search interface but we prefer the old version as it tends to be most reliable at the moment.   (Never heard of Alumni search? Check this out!) By Suzanne Creeber Careers Consultant All Careers advice Graduate International Undergraduate Undergraduate-highlighted advice career research careers CV LinkedIn