Ever wonder what happens to your resume when you submit it and never hear anything? Sometimes you have to think there is no way that the hiring manager even saw your resume if they really did, they would have seen the perfect match that you saw. Well now LinkedIn is doing their part to ensure that your resume is seen and stands high atop the rest.
LinkedIn has launched the which is similar to the offering of the Basic account but with advanced features that job seekers who have been at the job search for a while will welcome. The Job Seeker Premium Account not only takes your resume and places it above all non-member applicants, it allows you to contact up to 5 hiring managers directly with InMail messages even if you are not connected (an a la carte feature for the Basic membership). InMails are response guaranteed so if yo do not get a response within 7 days, LinkedIn credits your account back that email. What if you do not use all of your 5 InMail credits in a month? They roll over and accumulate from every thirty days for up to 90 days while you are a subscriber.
In addition to the InMail messages feature, the Job Seeker Premium Account offers 15 introductions to inside sources at companies. Now you will be sure that the hiring manager is seeing your resume and you are able to find out some information on the company through you new introduction. For those have friends that have been looking for a job you hear them say over and over I wish I knew someone there or does anyone know someone at X Company. It is a constant struggle to try and stand out above the other candidates who are doing the exactly same thing that you are. People hire people not pieces of paper. Getting to know someone at a company you are eying, gives you that edge as they have a feel for you or have seen your profile and now see your resume and it clicks “I have seen this person before.”
Parker Barrile, Director of Product Management says:
“We spoke with hundreds of job seekers to understand their needs and designed a package of features to help them stand out from the crowd, reach out to hiring decision makers, and manage their job search more effectively.”
How does the Job Seeker Premium Account Work?
The premium account and the basic account are tools that help you to march to the top of the line to try and help get you back to work. While I generally do not always feel that you should pay to get a job, I am starting to change my tune as for each job that is posted, there are hundreds of candidates that are applying. Unemployment rates are rising and people are remaining unemployed for upwards of 18 months. Something has to give and this just may be what gives.
The Basic account is $19.95 a month and has the same features as the Job Seeker Premium Account but with less being alloted each month (ex: 10 intros instead of 15). Each plan has is benefits. The premium account is $29.95 a month. There is an incentive that if you sign up and pre-pay for one year, you will receive 2 months free for both. There is also a job seeker plus account that runs at $49.95 a month.
I am not sure how this will affect and/or work with the employer tool of matching job seekers with the employer (and this is to go to a paid model at some point) but at least you will able to be out and about and apply for jobs, reach out to hiring managers with the Blackberry App for LinkedIn.
What do you think? Are you willing to pay a monthly fee to put your resume on the top?
photo credit: woodleywonderworks