LinkedIn / Elyse Betters Picaro / ZDNET
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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- LinkedIn might verify your next job update to the site.
- LinkedIn will verify companies, recruiters, and executives.
- The news comes amid rampant job and recruitment scams.
The job market is tough enough already — but recruitment-related scams make it tougher. On Thursday, LinkedIn outlined several ways it’s making its platform more trustworthy to mitigate scams and executive spoofs.
Verifying members
LinkedIn is rolling out three new verification options that will authenticate companies, recruiters, and executives.
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“These updates help ensure that the people and organizations you engage with on LinkedIn are who they say they are,” the company writes in a press release.
LinkedIn is increasing Company Page verification to all companies with a paid Premium Company Page subscription. Previously, the verification feature was available by request to a limited number of organizations, LinkedIn writes in its press release.
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The site will now verify members who are hiring managers with titles like “Recruiter” or “Talent Acquisition Specialist.” This ensures that job applicants aren’t getting duped by a pseudo-recruiter or offering up their personal information through fake applications that scammers can take advantage of.
Executive impersonation
Lastly, if you claim to be an executive at a company, LinkedIn will verify that claim. Higher-level titles like “Executive Director,” “Managing Director,” and “Vice President” will now be vetted. The move could stop job seekers from making unchecked flourishes on their résumés.
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“This move is designed to guard against executive impersonation, and to ensure that those in senior roles are able to reflect their company authentically to build and maintain trust and credibility,” the company writes in its press release.
Recruitment scams run rampant, as the economic landscape makes it harder to find work. Reports about job or recruitment fraud more than doubled within the past two years, according to data from the BBC. Just this week, the Better Business Bureau issued a scam report for a fake recruiting agency that targeted victims through texts, requesting job interviews for a flexible, remote role.
The verification updates are one way LinkedIn is stopping scammers from taking advantage of users desperate for work.
