Two New Features Of Microsoft & LinkedIn That Are Great For Professional Networking

For anyone looking for a job or new staff, the coming together of Microsoft and LinkedIn is interesting to say the least. So far, the merger has resulted in new integrations between the two platforms which offer nifty tools for professional networking purposes. Let’s take a look at the two new features you can use for your professional jobs networking purposes.

Office 365 Profile Cards

One of the fantastic outcomes of Microsoft’s new partnership with LinkedIn is the improvement on Microsoft Office 365’s personal profiles, or “profile cards”. Until recently, if your contact had little information on their profile card, you’d have to go to LinkedIn in order to learn more about them. Now, profile cards pulls personal information about your contacts from LinkedIn, giving you a full overview of the person right within your Microsoft products like Outlook. This makes life easier, but it also lets you retain a bit of anonymity because your contact wont get an email when you’ve viewed their profile.

How to Use It

1. Profile Cards appear in your Cortana, Outlook for PC, and many other Microsoft applications.
2. If you want to change your profile information, go to Outlook for PC > File > Office Account > About Me.
3. Enter in up-to-date information about your professional role, organisation and skills, and upload a photo to complete your profile.

Linkedin Resume Assistant

The other new integration is Microsoft’s Resume Assistant. Powered by LinkedIn, this feature also pulls data from LinkedIn to give you more complete information in Microsoft. While creating a resume, resume assistant appears on the side, allowing you to view examples of great resumes from experts in your field, or read industry news to inform your what you put in your CV. You can also use the feature to view job ads right within word and share your information with recruiters. We’ve tried Resume Assistant ourselves and found it to be an excellent tool for people in construction and engineering.

How To Use It

1. In Microsoft Word, go to Review > Resume Assistant.
2. View what keywords your peers are using to describe their skills, or read industry news to find out what employers are searching for.
3. If Resume Assistant is not appearing, click File > Options, and on the General tab select Show LinkedIn features in my Office applications.

For more news, tips and articles about jobs in construction & engineering, head to Quadrant Exec blog.