Professional networking platform LinkedIn is to launch LinkedIn Referrals, a new employee referrals programme.

The product is one of a new raft of products and developments announced at LinkedIn’s Talent Connect conference in London yesterday.

Speaking to an audience of about 1,000, LinkedIn head of talent solutions Eddie Vivas said LinkedIn Referrals will allow users to easily see all available jobs within their companies, plus all their connections that would be a good fit for the roles or vice versa, and make a referral with a click of a button. 

It will be officially launched next month and integrated into applicant tracking systems. Users will have access to a special page where they can track the progress of all the referrals they make.

Early next year, LinkedIn will launch the next generation LinkedIn Recruiter, which will include built-in 'spotlights'. This will allow users, when searching for candidates, to see those that are already engaged with the company, have connections working for the company and past applicants.

It will also allow recruiters to see candidates who have told LinkedIn they are looking for a new role. This 'Something New’ button, announced at Talent Connect by LinkedIn senior vice president, global solutions, Mike Gamson, will allow people to secretly tell LinkedIn they are looking for new opportunities without it being shown on their profile.

Seven spotlights will be launched and will be customisable in the future.

The new LinkedIn Recruiter will also allow someone to search current employees and be shown other LinkedIn users with similar profiles.

Heavy investment in technology developments over the last couple of years is about to pay off, Gamson said. For example, LinkedIn Jobs will allow recruiters and companies to show a greater "human element" of a job. This includes the ability for candidates to see their own connections already working at the company or allowing videos and/or pictures from careers pages to be used on LinkedIn job ads.

Speaking briefly about April’s acquisition of online training platform Lynda.com, Gamson said LinkedIn had noticed a lot of people applying for roles who whose skills or experience didn't quite meet those required. Tanya Staples, senior VP content at Lynda.com, added that Lynda.com’s courses were already helping upskill people to improve their job prospects.

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