As Microsoft continues to transform LinkedIn, it, by proxy, transforms the world of recruitment. However, as LinkedIn evolves, it appears Microsoft seems disinterested in helping recruiters. Is LinkedIn abandoning recruiters? With a continual push into a more mainstream social media market, this is a valid question. A tougher question, however, relates to the privacy of LinkedIn's users. Does the reliance on LinkedIn taint the perceived legitimacy of recruiters who rely so heavily on LinkedIn.

Video:  Does it sweeten or sour the deal?

LinkedIn's addition of video support supposedly enhances users’ abilities to share data with prospective employers. While that may seem effective, the reality is most users would never use such a feature. In fact, rather than helping, such a feature could have adverse effects. Additionally, LinkedIn has made no announcements to support live feed video. As a result, this eliminates the case for video as a remote interviewing tool, at least in the immediate future. What video really suggests is that LinkedIn is making a push to be recognized as a more mainstream social media platform. This hurts the perception of LinkedIn as it relates to business professionals and those who recruit them.

Is your data safe?

LinkedIn abandoning recruiters is not the only concern. According to a recent article in the Washington Post, the executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy is quoted as saying “Microsoft is further transforming LinkedIn into a data-driven marketing powerhouse that harvests all its data to drive ad revenues.” The implications of this should be alarming. If LinkedIn continues to push toward a mainstream social media market, recruiters will suffer. This could equate recruiters with email spam. Users are savvy and only grow more so each day. If they associate your name with LinkedIn, they will also associate the legitimacy of your business with LinkedIn’s legitimacy.

LinkedIn:  The New Recruiter

This topic deserves its own article (possibly its own book, considering the massive effect it could have on the recruiting industry). LinkedIn has made no mystery of its efforts to perform certain functions of the recruiter. From suggested job openings to streamlined application services, the social network’s continued incorporation of recruiter-like technologies only reinforces the idea of LinkedIn abandoning recruiters. LinkedIn only continues to add features that promotes its own recruiting capabilities. Forbes has reported that LinkedIn is in the beta stages of a mentoring service for jobhunters. This further encroaches on recruiters' territory.

We have to find a way to deal with the possibility of LinkedIn abandoning recruiters. Ultimately, it is the individual recruiters and firms that have established their own presence and brand separate of LinkedIn that will survive and thrive in the recruiting industry. LinkedIn is clearly making moves to be the recruiter of choice for its users. Its moves to be seen as a mainstream social media platform injure its legitimacy in the field. It also hurts the legitimacy of recruiters whose sole presence exists on LinkedIn. A strong digital ecosystem built around a unique website is the best avenue for the recruiter of the future.