Gyanda Sachdeva, Vice President of Product Management at LinkedIn, spoke with Gizmodo for the latest installment of our “AI Unlocked” video series.
Watch the interview above and check out the transcript below. This transcript of this conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Thomas Germain: Everyone is worried that artificial intelligence will take their jobs, but now LinkedIn has a new set of tools to help you find a job. Today, we’re talking with LinkedIn’s VP of Product Management about what the future of AI in job search looks like.
TG: So is LinkedIn an AI company now? Can you tell me about the tools you’ve been developing?
Gianda Sachdeva: In many ways, LinkedIn has always been an AI company. We have over a decade of experience building AI products, and in many ways they have always been behind the scenes. But now we’re rolling out very important new features that members can experience and interact with directly. So that’s changing, but we’ve always been an AI-first company.
TG: What types of AI tools are we talking about here? Is it like a chatbot? Or what would it look like from a consumer perspective?
GS: So we’ve been rolling out a lot of AI-powered features for our premium customers that can help members do a lot of different things, especially unlock new opportunities. This way they can learn about a new topic, gain a deeper understanding, or most importantly, for many of our members, help with the job search process, which we know can be very lonely and difficult for almost anyone. bearable. In fact, if you think about the job search process, frankly, it’s divided into two parts. One of them is your basic part, where you go through every job description, research the company, see where there are matches, push out your resume, cover letter, etc. This is what everyone must do. And then there’s the extra piece, which some job seekers do, they contact people at the company, identify who might be a good person to give them advice, contact mentors, send a thoughtful message to the hiring manager.
But ultimately, when you combine the two jobs, job hunting can feel like a full-time job in itself. Over the years, our goal has been to make it extremely easy for members to find the right person for their career. With the help of artificial intelligence, we may be able to take a giant step forward in achieving this goal.
So the perfect example is the new features we’re rolling out. When you look at a job description page, people often spend a lot of time reading the details. What is this job really looking for? What skills are needed? What are the qualifications? needs time. But now, with just a click and using artificial intelligence, we can help you assess whether you’re right for the job. So you quickly get a report that says, “Hey, you’re a good fit for this job.” Or, “You’re not a good fit for this job.” And then it breaks it down into “why” or ” why not”. It can then help you take appropriate action. You may find that I actually have some of the skills needed for this job. I just never put them on my profile. Let me go fix my profile or the skills I don’t have and then I can go get them. These are just some of the changes we’re making, and there are a lot of great features related to this, but it’s all about making the job search process more efficient and effective.
TG: So it helps surface relevant information, tells you what things to focus on, and helps you improve the way you present yourself?
GS: Yes. In fact, the second part of what you just said, improving the way you present yourself is so important in these processes but often overlooked. So we’re using artificial intelligence in a number of ways to help you do that. When you find a skill you don’t actually have listed on your profile, we’ll help you write it down. Many, many times people will hit some kind of writer’s block when they look at their profile and they’ll say, “I don’t know what to say in my title. I don’t know how to write about my experience here. I don’t Know what to write in the “About” section. I kind of want to see how other people do it.” With the help of artificial intelligence tools, we can give you this starting point. So you’re not starting from a blank canvas. We’ve written some content for you and hope you’ll edit it and make your own.
The same goes for AI-assisted messaging, let’s say you’re on a job description page and you see a hiring manager listed there, you want to contact them, but sending that first message can be very difficult. “I just don’t know what to say and what would be appropriate at this point.” So, helping you write this and incorporating the company research you’ve done into that first note can be very powerful. So not only does it help you with the transactional part of the job search process, it also helps you with the reward part of the job search process, which can often be the more difficult part.
TG: So how do people access this thing? Is it free or does it require payment? How is this going?
GS: Yeah, so it’s actually available to all of our premium customers. It’s being rolled out slowly. Some of these features are available to all premium members worldwide. Some of these are still being added and are available to our customers at no additional cost. So, no matter who the previous customer was, they will only get these features in addition to all the others.
TG: What is your favorite AI tool that LinkedIn is launching right now?
GS: I have a few, but I would go with the assessment tool. So when I go to the job page, I can quickly see if I’m a good fit for the job with one click. Not that I’m looking for a job, but when we did this research it was so cool to see it come to the right conclusion so quickly. I don’t think this is the kind of research that anyone has the time to delve into a company, an industry, the people you know in the company, your skills and having or watching an AI do all of that in batches and second, tell you, “Hey, this is Final Assessment.” Saves a lot of time. So I really like this feature. I know this resonates with our members as well.
TG: Are you worried that if this thing works well enough, it will land you a job at a company other than LinkedIn? It pushes you to say, “Hey, do we really think you might be good at something like Meta or Google?”
GS: It might try and then I’m going to have to give it some credit, but I like LinkedIn.
TG: Of course, you’re a loyal LinkedIn user. You never will.
GS: no way. Until many of our members have discovered the value you just described. Because ultimately that’s the beauty of it, you don’t even have to look for a job. We proactively tell you, “Hey, something just came out that might be a better fit for you. Check it out.” I think that’s the real unlock, and it’s going to really help everyone, including myself.