LinkedIn is looking to take on scammers who falsely present themselves as recruiters or company representatives in the app, with an expansion of its company verification option, while it’s also making workplace verification required when a member adds or updates a leadership or recruiter-related role.
And both could be significant additions.
First off, on the expansion of company page verification. In August last year, LinkedIn launched company page verification, with a limited number of pages able to gain a verification tick in the app.
LinkedIn’s company page verification essentially sees LinkedIn’s team confirming a business’s information, so it’s not verification in terms of public standing or status, but more a measure of assurance that this is the official presence of said brand.
Which is a good initiative, and will clearly help to address misrepresentation in the app. But with almost 60 million company pages in the app, verifying all of them is a lot of manual labor, so it’s not something that LinkedIn is able to offer to all brands.
But it is now expanding the option, though initially only to businesses that pay to use the app.
As per LinkedIn:
“Until now, Company Page verification was available only to a limited number of organizations and by request. That changes today. We’re increasing access to all companies with a Premium Company Page subscription unlocking access for more businesses.”
So as noted, it’s not a full mitigation effort to combat scammers pretending to represent any business in the app. But for those who pay for LinkedIn Premium, it’s another value-add option, while LinkedIn will also be hoping that enough businesses end up getting verified to make it a more valuable indicator in the app.
Though at an average price of $99 per month for Premium Business, it’s likely not going to be worth it for a lot of brands. But for bigger corporations, having that official checkmark could become a good indicator of trust, assisting particularly in recruitment efforts.
On that front, and what could be a more significant addition, LinkedIn’s also rolling out Recruiter Verification, which will ensure that all users with job titles related to hiring decisions will need to go through its verification process.
“LinkedIn now requires members who add or update recruiter-related titles, such as ‘Recruiter’ or ‘Talent Acquisition Specialist’, to verify their workplace on their profile.
This change helps job-seekers identify legitimate recruiters and avoid scams, while enabling recruiters to build trust in potential candidates from the first interaction.”
This could be a key update in combating scammers in the app, ensuring that only verified entities will be able to list themselves as such for big corporations.
Finally, LinkedIn is also adding executive-level job title verification, meaning that all ‘high-level’ titles such as Executive Director, Managing Director, and Vice President, and need to undergo verification.
“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.”
It seems like a significant undertaking for LinkedIn to verify all users in such roles, so it’s going to take time, but it could be an important step in providing more assurance, and safety, in the app.
These are some good updates, which expand on LinkedIn’s efforts to offer verification, providing more assurance that people are who they claim to be in the app. And the more LinkedIn can expand this, the more it’ll help to secure the app, and make it a more trusted, valued tool for professional connection.
