Microsoft, LinkedIn to boost job search

New tools are designed to help users craft more effective resumes

Job seekers agonizing over how to craft the perfect resume on Microsoft Word might find the solution to writer’s block on LinkedIn.

On Wednesday, Microsoft and LinkedIn said they were rolling out a new tool to help job seekers revamp their resumes.

“We all know that finding a new job can be daunting,” said Bryan Goode, general manager of Microsoft Office 365, at a press conference. “All at once you have to think about your LinkedIn profile, updating your resume and how you represent yourself professionally.”

Called Resume Assistant, it’s the latest example of how Microsoft and LinkedIn have been blending their products together since the tech firms merged. In 2016, Microsoft purchased LinkedIn for $26.2 billion.

Microsoft Word users will see the resume assistant pop up on the right, allowing them to view how people on LinkedIn

described similar jobs on the business- oriented social network. They can also view the top skills and postings for other jobs, allowing users to better tailor their resume to a specific role.

Job hopping has doubled in 20 years, and 40 percent of job seekers pivot their careers, according to LinkedIn.

Writing a better resume can give job seekers a leg up on the competition, especially if they’re trying to change careers.

LinkedIn’s Director of Product Management for Careers Kumaresh Pattabiraman said that he once struggled with switching careers.

When he was working as a software engineer, he applied to product manager jobs, but wouldn’t hear back.

Then, a friend suggested that he read LinkedIn profiles to improve his resume.

“It made all the difference,” Pattabiraman said. “I noticed how these product managers that had been engineers in the past, they highlighted skills that were in the intersection of engineering and product management.”

Instead of focusing on his expertise in machine learning or a specific programming language, he highlighted his data analysis and product planning skills.

The revamped resume caught the attention of more recruiters, eventually helping him land his job at LinkedIn.

Resume Assistant works best with an old resume, he said. There currently isn’t a way to transfer the changes made on your resume to your LinkedIn profile.

“In the near future, we plan to introduce features that will make it super easy to bring LinkedIn information onto the resume and vice versa,” Pattabiraman said.

The tool will be released Thursday to Microsoft Office Insiders — a program that gives subscribers early access to new products — and then to Microsoft Office 365 subscribers in the coming months.