I just got this e-mail from LinkedIn. Someone in my network wanted to know if I could help fill a job opportunity.
What was neat was that it showed me who in my network I might be able to forward this to. Instead of just telling the person who was looking to fill the position, it was helping me be a more useful contact by letting me vet the candidates:
I've long thought that LinkedIn had done a piss poor job in helping me understand my network. It was a great way to connect everyone, but for a long time the actual networking aspect of it has been little more than just a rolodex on steroids. Actually figuring out who's in the rolodex and how I can leverage them, or how I can help, is something they've never really focused on.
What I'd really like to do is create some active searches... like allowing me to see who's actively looking for a job, looking to post a job, looking for funding, etc... or when I see a profile I like, to allow me to turn that person into an active search. "Tell me when people like this appear in my network."
I'm long on products that help make me look smarter. That's stuff I'll even pay for.