LinkedIn is making thing s a little easier for job seekers with its latest feature. Called "Ask for a Referral," the feature allows you to do just that with a new button next to jobs ads from companies where you know someone.
According to LinkedIn (opens in new tab), people searching for a job will now be able to take advantage of a new job search filter that lets you look specifically for jobs at companies where people from your network work ("in your network"). Once you've found a job, you can tap the new "Ask for referral" button and LinkedIn will show you people you're connected to from that company. Select the one you want to reach out to, and LinkedIn will then give you a pre-written generic message to send out, but you can create a custom one as well.
Ask for a Referral follows last month's introduction a new Resume Assistant feature, which integrates Word with LinkedIn to help job seekers build better resumes. That was the latest feature to stem from Microsoft's acquisition of LinkedIn, which has also spawned other integrations – including bringing LinkedIn profiles to Outlook.com.
