Missing ‘Linked’
Site buys biz course host to aid jobseekers
LINKEDIN MADE a valuable connection Thursday.
The networking site for business professionals said it was buying Lynda.com, a website featuring courses and video tutorials on a range of business-related subjects, in a $1.5 billion deal set to close this quarter.
The purchase of the privatelyheld Carpinteria, Calif., company, which offers paying members more than 5,700 courses and 255,000 videos teaching tech, creative and business skills, promises to enhance the way LinkedIn users search for jobs as well as the way companies recruit employees.
“LinkedIn’s integration of Lynda.com content and tutorials will give companies a distinct advantage when seeking out qualified candidates,” Jonathan Sellers, director of social media at EMSI Public Relations, told the Daily News. “The ability to post a job posting in a community of professionals, clearly detail the skills needed to perform the job, and provide resources for candidates to learn those necessary skills, should increase the quantity of qualified candidates applying and create a more competitive, applicant pool,” he added.
Jobseekers, meanwhile, can save time and effort by seeing whether they have the necessary skills for an opening, Sellers said.
“If not, they can decide if they are interested in taking the time to acquire the skills and immediately dive into the information.”
Purchasing Lynda.com is the latest move by LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner to boost content on the social media site, which has featured contributions by business leaders such as Google chairman Eric Schmidt and financial expert Suze Orman.