LinkedIn on Wednesday introduced new verification and identity tools, including colleague vouching and company controls to remove accounts that falsely claim employment.. The changes also include tests that would require workplace verification for members seeking to associate with a company page, such as verification through a work email address..
LinkedIn will let members vouch for the experience of colleagues and classmates, past or present. The feature is meant to confirm that a user held the roles or affiliations listed on their profile, rather than act as a general endorsement.. The company said the vouching system includes safeguards against abuse.
A member giving a vouch must have a verified profile, must have been connected to the other user for at least a year, and must use two-factor authentication.. LinkedIn is also expanding a feature previously piloted with recruiters and executives that lets companies remove profiles that falsely claim employment from their page and related search results..
Page administrators can manually remove such profiles from a company page. That action will not alter the member’s own LinkedIn profile, but it will remove the clickable company-page link from the profile and the work experience will no longer appear as verified.. LinkedIn is focusing that feature on full-time employees.
Oscar Rodriguez, LinkedIn vice president of product, told TechCrunch that contractors and field workers will have other ways to claim a legitimate association with an employer.. “The backdrop for all this is that faking credibility has never been cheaper or easier than it is today; and conversely, showcasing credibility has never mattered more,” Rodriguez told TechCrunch..
Rodriguez told TechCrunch that LinkedIn’s existing verification tools have been used to verify 115 million users and more than 700,000 companies on the platform.. LinkedIn is also expanding partnerships that let members use verified identity credentials outside its platform. Truecaller and PeerSpot are joining existing partners including Adobe and UserTesting..
Truecaller users will be able to display their LinkedIn verified identity when placing a call. Rodriguez told TechCrunch that verified members receive on average 50% more post views than non-verified profiles and 90% more impressions.. Featured image credit.
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