Last October, professionnal network LinkedIn introduced ProFinder, a freelancer marketplace to help consumers and small businesses hire talent in many areas such design, writing and editing, accounting, real estate and more. ProFinder initially launched as a pilot program, but LinkedIn announced today that they are ready to expand the platform to everyone in the US.
Here is why the company thinks ProFinder is the perfect answer to the growing “gig economy”:
The freelance economy is on the rise. In fact, the number of freelancers on LinkedIn has grown by nearly 50% in just the past five years. As the workforce evolves, we, too, are evolving to ensure we’re creating opportunity for the expanding sector of professionals looking for independent, project-based work in place of the typical 9 to 5 profession.
LinkedIn ProFinder makes it easier for you to hire the right freelancer for the job by leveraging the power of our trusted LinkedIn network. In its pilot stage, the platform already features more than 50,000 freelancers across more than 140 service areas – each of whom have been hand-picked based on their expertise and high quality recommendations.
Employment growth trends over the last five years.
If you’re looking to use LinkedIn ProFinderHere to hire top local freelancers, here is how the process will work:
- Head to the Profinder website and submit your project request by answering a couple of questions about your needs.
- LinkedIn will then search for the best candidates in your social graph, and you will receive up to five detailed proposals including a personalized message, price quote and access to the pro’s LinkedIn profile.
- It will now be up to you to evaluate the different candidates with the help of the the ProFinder concierge team. To make your choice, the social network will provide you full details about common connections, recommendations from past clients, skills, experience and more.
In the long term, ProFinder could allow LinkedIn to turn its network of more than 450 million members into a true economic graph that supports more than just the freelance economy. Let us know in the comments if you can see many freelancers and small businesses using Profiler in the future.
